Ownership FAQ
How much does it cost to purchase a horse?
The price of a horse can range from a few hundred to more than a hundred thousand dollars. Claiming or buying a horse that’s already racing is a less risky way to start because you can look up the horse’s past performance. Check out the claiming races in a recent program for claiming prices or auction results from the latest sale. It’s relatively easy to figure out a horse’s value simply based on what it’s capable of earning.
Buying a young horse is more speculative. The potential rewards are greater purchasing a yearling or breeding your own and raising a foal, but the risks are greater as well. Some horses simply don’t have what it takes to race. A good quality yearling can be bought at auction for $3,000-$10,000. But keep in mind that the expenses of training, feeding, and caring for that horse until it races will add to your cost.
How do you pick a winning horse?
Finding a good horse at a fair price is part experience, part science, and part luck. When purchasing a yearling, breeding and bloodlines are important, but evaluating a horse’s conformation is also critical. An experienced horseman can judge a horse by its physical attributes and “the way it moves.”
Yearling videos have become very popular in recent years, because they provide prospective buyers the opportunity to see a horse in action prior to the sale. Breeders know that not every trainer can get to the farm to see a particular yearling, so they make video available for each year’s crop.
Many experienced horsemen will tell you that “breeding is everything.” Winning stallions bred to good mares with a history of producing winners is the basic recipe. There are no guarantees, but it’s a good predictor that has been proven over time. Auction sales catalogs provide several generations of relatives including their past racing performance and earnings.
If you want to purchase a horse that’s already racing, whether at auction or by claiming it, be sure and do your research. There are bargains to be had, but it can be a tricky business. Everyone believes they can do better with a horse and improve its performance. Smart buyers spend what a horse is worth now, not what it ‘might’ be worth down the road.
It depends on exactly what services your trainer will provide. In a traditional owner/trainer relationship, the trainer provides all care, training and nutrition for a monthly rate of $750-$1,300. Vet bills, stake and futurity payments, medications, shoes, transportation, and other miscellaneous expenses can add to that monthly cost.
Some trainers are willing to structure a rate based on you providing all, or some, of the basic care for the horse. Cleaning the stall, feeding and watering, grooming, even exercising—once you’ve learned the ropes—are things you can learn to do which can help keep your costs down. Not all trainers are able or willing to accommodate such arrangements, but some will.
How do I know if a particular trainer is right for me?
Any good trainer should be willing to discuss their philosophies about care, training, and racing. It’s also smart to speak with other owners to gauge their experience with a particular trainer.
What questions should I ask a prospective trainer?
In what type of horses do you specialize—yearlings, claimers, pacers, trotters, etc.? How much is your daily training rate? What does it include? What is additional? How much are average vet bills? Are you willing to share some typical monthly invoices? How do you typically communicate with owners—regular updates, only when they stop by the stable, or on race nights at the track? Everyone operates a little differently and it’s important to understand how before you make the decision to partner with a particular trainer.
Can I change trainers after I’ve purchased a horse?
Yes, but depending on the type of ownership path you’ve selected, it can be tricky. If you own 100% of the horse and decide to switch trainers, it’s usually as simple as finding a new trainer who will take your horse and notifying the current trainer of your intentions. If your horse is owned by a partnership, the other partners either need to purchase your share of the horse, or sell it (at auction or otherwise) and divide the proceeds accordingly.
What if I decide that I no longer want to own a horse?
All of the ways you can acquire a horse—auction, private sale or claiming—can be utilized when you decide that you no longer want to own a particular horse. Hopefully, the horse will bring more than you paid, but it’s ultimately only worth what someone else is willing to pay for it based on its performance and earning potential.
If you’re a harness fan, you probably frequent race tracks near your home and wonder what it would be like to watch your own horse to race there. Like most sports, there are various levels in harness racing and purse money varies from track to track. Ultimately, you and your trainer will race your horse where it can best compete. And by compete, we mean race fast enough to win part of the purse money. Like in baseball, the goal is to make the majors, but not every horse will have what it takes.
Should I choose a pacer or a trotter?
Pacers represent approximately three out of four harness race horses. There are more opportunities to race pacers, but the purses for which they race tend to be lower. Because of their sheer numbers, you are more likely to find a pacer at the right price. They are also less prone to go off stride or ‘break’ and during a race.
Trotters have a beautiful stride and generally race for slightly higher purses than pacers. However, they are considered a little more difficult to train and are more likely to break during a race. Trotters are a source of great satisfaction to their owners, but require a little more time and patience.
How does claiming a horse work?
Look at any racing program and you’ll see plenty of claiming races. Depending on the track, claiming prices can range from a few thousand to tens of thousands of dollars. It all depends on the quality of horses racing.
The career path of many race horses starts with stake and futurity races at two years old—primarily at fairs. At three years old, most horses start competing in ‘condition’ races at pari-mutuel tracks. Condition races set certain criteria for entry—usually based on the number of races won or the amount of purse money earned. As your horse wins more races and earns more money, it must “move up in class” and compete against better horses.
Eventually, after winning enough races or earning enough purse money, many horses are raced in claiming races. At that point, horses are entered in races based the “claiming price” or amount for which others can purchase the horses in the race. Claiming races are a way balance the competition and provide opportunities for veteran horses to race.
Licensed owners or trainers can claim a horse simply by contacting the Race Secretary at the track prior to the race. The buyer completes some paperwork and pays the claiming price applicable to that particular horse. Once the race has started, ownership transfers and the person claiming the horse must take possession once the race is over. The previous owner(s) keep whatever purse money is earned during the race.
The specific logistics for transferring the horse vary slightly from track to track, but the buyer must be prepared to care for, and transport, the horse after the race. It can be an emotional time for the previous owner, especially if they have never had one of their horses claimed. Generally, track officials are on hand to supervise the transfer.
As the new owner, you can turn right around and enter your new horse to race the following week. In fact, many claimed horses will show up in the same claiming race the next week. It’s not uncommon for the previous owner to claim the horse right back the next time it races in a claimer. A common requirement is that claimed horses may only be raced at the track where they were claimed for a certain number of days. That rule is intended to help control the availability of eligible horse or “horse supply” at each track.
