PHUMELELA MEDIA RELEASE RE: STAKES.

Got to agree with both magic and pirates - unless perhaps if one get's really serious and invests in the breeding game - but then imo you need to go big (set up your own farm, provide boarding for mares, invest in a stallion - and it could still all go belly-up)

Eastexpo my opinion on owning - testosterone levels too high leads to a strong desire to compete - True horse punters are like mini owners for the 60 seconds plus that it takes to run a race without the aggravation and financial burden of real ownership - It is the competitive nature of the sport that needs to be fostered on all levels if it is to thrive

the tragedy of all this is that there are trainers bloodstock agents out there who actually bullshit clients into believing that owning horses is an investment and these owners leave the game with bitter memories...the list is long

For those who look at horse ownership as a business.

I’ve had a look at the 2009 season stats for horses. I choose 2009 and not 2010 because with 2009 I have a full year of stats. It makes for interesting reading. There were 7021 horses who ran at least one race. The top twenty stake winners look like this

Name Runs Total Stakes

PIERRE JOURDAN b.g 3y 2006 8 3174425
IRISH FLAME b.c 3y 2006 11 2740830
MOTHER RUSSIA b.m 4y 2005 8 2315750
BOLD SILVANO b.c 3y 2006 9 2295625
RIVER JETEZ b.m 6y 2003 9 2085140
REGAL RANSOM b.g 4y 2005 10 1440375
ASLAN b.g 4y 2005 8 1302000
NOORDHOEK FLYER (SNL) ch.c 3y 2006 9 1248500
POCKET POWER b.g 7y 2002 7 1139380
ANCESTRAL FORE gr.g 3y 2006 13 1099000
SMART BANKER b.g 5y 2004 8 1007500
ORBISON b.g 3y 2006 10 977630
NOBLE HEIR gr.m 4y 2005 12 971750
HERE TO WIN (BRZ) dk.b.f 3y 2006 9 935875
MOKARO ch.g 6y 2003 7 875000
CAPTAIN'S GAL b.m 4y 2005 11 752500
J J THE JET PLANE b.g 5y 2004 2 750000
GALILEO'S GALAXY (AUS) b.c 3y 2006 8 711500
FISANI b.f 3y 2006 9 706750
IMPERIOUS STAR b.f 3y 2006 9 675380



And the bottom of the pile... 2206 won nothing. So if you buy a racehorse you have a 31.4% chance that it does not even earn a cent! The average earnings per run of all the horses was R6757.88 per run and the average earnings per horse for the season was R43213.46.

Now take the cost of buying the horse plus training fees and vet bills and the other many hidden costs and you would have to be extremely lucky to turn a profit. Imo the most probable outcome is a very expensive hobby.

Thanks Gents for your views.
I respect them and I am sure you are right about the ownership issue.

It is just that,with the prices that one has to pay for decent stock and the stakes offered ( now reduced) just does not make sense. It's a no win situation.