photo by bobfeld.com
Once you have decided on your team of consultants, it is then time to start talking about the stage of horse racing you want to embark on. Not everyone comes in at the same level. First off, with budget in hand, decide how much your willing and able to realistically spend on your racing investment. Keeping in mind that the purchase of your thoroughbred/thoroughbreds is only the beginning of costs–take time to research the pros and cons of “points of entry” into the game. Let me break it down to you. You have the option of buying horses three different ways–at auction, at a private sale, or a claim.
At a public auction–like the Keeneland Sales, you have the best chance at seeing the widest variety of stock available at fair market value. The sales calendar looks like this: Yearling sales are between July and December, 2yr old sales are Feb. through May, weanling and broodmare sales–Oct. through Feb.
If your looking to purchase a yearling, the pros are– there’s a huge selection from which to choose. You can oversee the breaking and training of your new thoroughbred, and you have the option to “pinhook” if that’s your cup of tea. Pinhooking is a term used by the industry for those that buy weanlings and yearlings to sell them in the 2yr old in training sale. The con may be the expense of the 8 to 12 months before you ever get to see that horse race. Even worse still–some yearlings never make it to the races. At the 2yr old in training sales, you get a better idea of where that horse is in their training and you can gauge how soon it will be ready to race. They are more developed and have been in training for about a year. The con — many of these horses have developed stress and injury do to the rigorous training to get them up to par to go that 8th or quarter. With weanlings you also have the advantage of overseeing breaking and training, as well as pinhooking for the 2 yr old in training sales. But it will be difficult to evaluate ability this early. 18 months is the least amount of time needed before they will ever race. You may decide to own the whole “kit n caboodle”. In broodmare sales, you get to decide the matings, with the ability to sell foals or keep them as homebreds. Mares can be purchased in-foal, barren, or with a foal at her side. The downside, Pregnancy can be complicate with lots of risk, time, and cost involved.
Another option is to purchase from a private sale. Pretty much all breeding farms allow potential owners to come to the farm, and see the stock available for sale. At a private sale, you can even bid on stock that may not be for sale–all they can say is no. Besides, everything is for sale at the right price. It’s a good idea to bring your agent, vet, or that friend or individual already operating in the equine world for support.
The last way to purchase would be a claiming race. A claiming race is one where all the participants are for sale at the value stated in the conditions of that race. The advantage–your buying a “racehorse” with no wait time. The disadvantage— there may be potential problems that require time to heal.
