General Advice for Buyers
Thoroughbred racing is without doubt the Formula One of equine disciplines, fast, bold, colourful and for some, spectacularly rewarding. Plenty of other similarities can be found between top end equine and brake horsepower displays, but they part company in one very important aspect - participation.
Whilst motorsport fans can only watch from their seats and buy a t-shirt to bring them closer to the stars, with its huge range of potential entry levels, horse racing brings an extra dimension, ownership, for all to enjoy.
If ever an advertisement was needed to publicise the potential benefits of thoroughbred ownership, the creators need look no further than to the recently retired Kiwi queen of the track, Sunline. At the close of her 48-start career, Sunline had won a staggering $13.8 million for her connections. And making the story even more of a fairy tale, Sunline, the second highest winning racemare in the world, cost her owners just $40,000.
Sunline was originally leased by her breeders to trainer Trevor McKee along with two partners, Thayne Green and Helen Lusty, with the trio exercising a pre-negotiated right of purchase when it became evident their filly was more than a little special. Being unbeaten in her 10 starts in New Zealand and out of the first three just 4 times in her 38 starts in Australia and further a field is indeed special.
The Sunline tale represents the sharp end of everyone's dreams and of course most racehorse owners are not lucky enough to have this sort of success. However they are guaranteed plenty of excitement and lots of fun and there is certainly no harm in hoping that with a little bit of luck, a bunch of mates could end up with a Cup winner on their hands.
So how do we make the dream come true? In this Ownership section, we take you through the steps to becoming an owner and bringing the dream a little closer. Firstly we look at some of the basic questions surrounding buying a racehorse.
Are the yearling sales the place to buy?
If you have decided to purchase the racehorse of your dreams, the yearling sales are an excellent place to start looking. New Zealand breeders offer almost a third of the annual 4500 foal crop as yearlings every year, most of these being sold at New Zealand Bloodstock's Karaka sales facility. With such numbers comes considerable variety and a range of prices from $1500 all the way up to the Southern Hemisphere record price of $3.6 million paid in 2003 for a colt at Karaka. That colt since won a Derby in Australia, tripling his value.
There are sales to fit all budgets, but unless you know what you are looking for, make sure you ask the advice of a trainer or bloodstock agent before you get the urge to flay your arm about in the auction ring. A trainer will advise, inspect and even purchase for an owner with the expectation of training the horse, while an agent will charge either a negotiated fee or a percentage of the purchase price (5-10%).
What sort of money is needed to buy at auction?
Depending on the session you are watching, anything from a few thousand dollars right up to a few hundred thousand. The high-profile Premier Session of the NZ National Sales held every summer is likely to post an average in the region of $100,000-$120,000 but the horses become more affordable as the sales go on. The next tier down is the Select Colts and Select Fillies. And at the Festival session many horses are sold for less than a couple of thousand dollars.
However, many great racehorses have been purchased for well below the average price at the sales. Bonecrusher was purchased for $3000 at the Waikato Sales and went on to amass a whopping $2,888,085 in stakes in his 18 win career.
The highest priced yearling is not necessarily the best racehorse, just the most sought after in the sale ring that day. It is important for potential buyers to identify what they would like to do with a horse (a potential Melbourne Cup starter will have different breeding and physical attributes to a horse bought to race as an early two-year-old) and to take the appropriate advice before making a purchase at auction.
Do I have to buy one?
Not if you can do what Sunline's astute trainer did and lease a horse. Leasing allows the easiest entry to thoroughbred ownership, removing the capital component and meaning the lessee's only costs are the actual holding and training costs. Put simply, this means you rent the racehorse, usually from its breeder.
Many trainers will find a horse to lease for a potential owner, while studs may also be able to assist in this regard.
