Interesting Article on Time

[jay44224]

thegiss said:

tautog said:

You guys sort this out I just wish Harness Eye would go on the net like trackmaster they would probably make some bucks doing it. Listening Keith? I mean you can't even buy it out there every sale would be a new customer without the delivery costs or sharing it with a newspaper distributor . Without giving out too much info I will say a certain owners horse who posts all the time is on that list.

We want to sell it. Daily Racing Form, which owns it, says we must sell a minimum of twelve copies, with no return credits. When we had it in the past , we sold about 3. If enough people make definite commitments to buy it from us, I will talk to our programs/admission people.

I'm in - I'll commit to three months and will pay up front.

[kassracing]

Guys,

Going back to longtime's comments on buying a yearling, it is probably the worst investment one can make in respect to this business on financial grounds.

When buying a yearling, its not just about the buying, the breaking and the training, but also the staking. I haven't had to stake a horse in a while, but have been offered a decent bred Ohio yearling. The cost is nearly next to nothing. But when i started talking to people about the staking costs purely in ohio, I would nearly be doubling the cost of the horse with all the training and expenses included with the staking.

You would be much better off buying a horse that is qualified, and or racing at a higher amount, trained down, staked and able to make money then throw money into the bottomless pit that is a yearling

From talking to different trainers, as well as people I have trained for who have or had horses at Northfield, the prices are all over the spectrum, from as low as $20 per day(don't know how it can realistically be done, and the horses being taken care)-$35 a day(I know trainers in NJ getting $65 per day.

I was on the phone yesterday with a friend of mine stabled at Northfield and we were going over what it costs me to keep a horse, turned out where I am, and what it costs him stabled at Northfield.

These are rough estimates, not including time.

Feed(Grains): $2.00
Feed(Hay): $1.25
Supplements $2.50
Bedding $1.25
Blacksmith: $2.25*

This does not include the price of paying someone to jog a horse $5.00 per horse. Cleaning stalls @ $2.50 per stall. This is on a per day basis.

This puts us at $16.75 per day, not including workmen's comp. It also does not include vet work, even in the remotest amount, and with the older the horse being the more than likely the more it needs. Lasix, i am assuming in the $20.00 a pop range. Paddocking a horse. $30-50 a pop. If the horse isn't stabled at the track $50-75) depending on distance. The more you race, the more you spend, the price of shoeing increases also.

I know i have repeated alot of what Jay said, but just figured some of you might find it interesting in the break downs.

One more thing. Longtime brought up a couple of horses that went cheap that have done very well. My friend own a horse named Artstanding. A very nice, now 5 year old. His last race was in the 2005 Cane Pace in which he finished fourth. The horse has made $600,000 life. The horse got hurt, missed a year, all the bills included. He has had about 8-12 yearling that year and since. Nothing overly extravagant. And is in the red. Give that some thought!

One last parting comment. I have been in this business for almost 20 years, in every facet from owner to breeder to driver to groom to trainer and even going to the U of A in the race track industry program. I am a fourth generation person in this business. I have only seen one way in which someone can own horses. With limited loses. IE partnerships. You know going in how much you can lose and thats it. Otherwise their is no end until the papers are signed over to someone else.

Sorry for the longwinded comment!

[trackrat]

Off the top of my head, I think the majority (more than 50%) of Northfield's races are NW200-250-300PS. If a horse is healthy enough to race 52 weeks a year, and most are not, all of these horses are losing propositions. While I know Dan Kennedy is a millionaire, how does the average Northfield horseman survive?

[kassracing]

They actually don't. Owners or trainers. Of course there are some who do. But even when successful, you have to worry about getting paid. I know of, one of the more well known trainers as Northfield, who has made his owners some substantional winnings(ie purses) being owed well into the 10's of thousands of dollars. Anyone who is doing it at the smaller tracks le, largely has to be doing it for the love of the gam not to mention many can't do anything else. Sadly as this may sound there are some that are gamblers(not using or knowing anyone at northfield who are) and look to make money on the big score and nothing else.

You cant own a horse if you can't afford to lose money, alot of it.

If you think the purses aren't too good here, the first horse that I raced was a $1,000 claimer who raced for a purse of $700 and that was in 1991. I vividly remember the last race he was in, because one of the drivers, Walter Case Jr's brother, Stephen(ev) Case was barred for life trying to fix that race. Trying to knock the favorite down during the race. Lets just say my horse got to eat, I didn't!

I have two horses that will be racing at Northfield next month. I have every hope and intention for them to make money the first 2-3 months. If I have them after that, im in trouble, for the bills will more then likely start passing the earnings. I have horses that fit in cheaply and should, if all goes as planned make some money. But once they are out of those classes. Uh-oh!lol