It's Easy To Make $$$ As An Owner
 

Check out Fiery Forest, winner of last nights R1 at Mountaineer.

Was claimed by the previous connections back in late December for $6,250.

Owners paid over 4 months of training/vet fees in excess of $8K only to have the trainer make a mea culpa that the horse can no longer compete and should be given away for free in order to cut losses.

Competent horseman at Waterford takes him, spends a few weeks getting things straightened out and not only wins going away first out of the box but gets claimed by another competent outfit.

Purse $5,220, claim $5,000 and whatever was bet at the window. Not bad for a 30 day investment in time and feed.

Pity the previous owners. Out close to $15K out of pocket and leave $10,220 on the table. Let's hope they get a cut of whatever private deal their trainer made on the giveaway to cut their losses.

Every outfit should have as dedicated a watchdog on them as a certain outfit has in you.

Imagine if there were a Shemp Howard watching every single partnership outfit out there...the sport would be so much better off, would it not? You could be highlighting every single "mistake" made by every outfit in existence...

You should set up a picket line outside the barn you despise the most in this world...

A couple of questions for Mr. Shemp:

1. Have you or do you currently own a race horse;

2. Have you every actually claimed a horse;

I have owned thoroughbreds and standardbreds for over 18 years. If it is such an easy game would you please provide me the details. For those of us who operate in the claiming ranks I can attest to the following:

1. You will have your share of 'bad' claims;

2. Most of your horses will be claimed for an amount that is less than you spent to acquire them (whether by claim or by purchase;

3. Due to #2 you must always run your horses where they can be competitive so they can earn their keep and maintain a spot in the barn;

4. A trainer is not a miracle worker he/she can not just give a magic pill (sorry to put to rest the belief that a magic pill exist and is being utilized by the successful trainers). Therefore not all horses will work in a trainer's program;

5. I am thankful that my trainers will actually be honest with me the owner that a horse is not worth keeping around;

Owner/trainer relationship...
 

The only way I would be an owner is put down $20k or whatever to claim a horse and then tell the trainer exactly where and when I want to run him.

I doubt there is a competent trainer that would let me do that.

Also, I'd go harness first, at least I could get 35-40 starts a year. Way too much pressure if a horse starts 8-14 times a year.

There are a ton of trainers that will let you run your horse wherever you want. Some are damn good some are awful. But then there are some that will run them where they think the horse can win. Trainers also get paid 5-10% whatever the horse makes so they want to run the horse where it can earn some purse money which means the trainers will get 10% of that purse money.

I would think many in reality , get into the game knowing the overhead.
I would also assume they want to be in it for the thrill and they can always hope for the wins . It's a chance you take , part of the dream .

Harness. Depends greatly on the circuit. In most cases, the purses are pretty small at minor circuits.
Yes, Standardbreds are more durable and have longer racing careers. They also can be effective purse grabbers at an advanced age.

you only live once!!:)

You are quite the optimist already!

I think I'm a realist.
 

I'm not saying 8-14 starts is wrong, but I couldn't deal with that pressure.

I follow a couple of partnerships and one 'good' one has 4 horses at this moment and they have had fewer than 10 starts total this year. I couldn't deal with that.

I have always thought that owning a horse is the meeting place where a fool and his money part company. Very few got rich owning horse and whole bunch got poor owning them. I dare say it easier to make money betting on them than it is owning them and we all know hard that is.

if it was so easy to make money owning horses, trainer's wouldn't have any clients. Todd Pletcher, Robert Baffert, William Mott, and other top successful trainers, don't have owning horses as part of their business model in the most part.

from yearling to 2 year old, it cost about $25,000 to get the horse to their first race. many times the purse isn't even $25,000. and this does not take into consideration how much you paid for the horse.

I tend to agree...
 

I have thought of the concept if picking 5 horses at the start of the year and promising to bet $100 across the board every time they run during the year.

If they run 10 times if costs me $3000 per horse, but no vet bills or other expenses. Multiply by 5 and that is $15k for a year - if I hit a few bets maybe I make a few bucks.

Haven't done it yet, maybe '14 or '15

Making money when owning a piece of a "public" partnership is tough. First, you have 100% of the day rate, vet and van bills. Second, when you win 30% (or thereabouts) comes off the top to trainer, jock and Partnership Manager. In addition Partnership Manager is incented to run horse where he will not be claimed in order to maintain a steady stream of 10%s. Owner is incented to spot horse more aggressively as he needs wins (not 2nd, 3rds, 4ths) to make ends meet.