Trainers doing deals with owners

Jim, your figures.... are they from 7 years ago ? Please feel free to list the costing in itemised form.

Jim, your figures.... are they from 7 years ago ? Please feel free to list the costing in itemised form.

Louis - It would be most interesting & informative if you or another trainer would post a hypothetical monthly bill for all to see.

I have not owned a horse for the best part of 3-4 years and can imagine how costs must have rocketed in recent times. I am, at least, honest enough to admit that I cannot afford ( correction : am 'not prepared' ) to own horses any longer when I evaluate what that kind of ongoing expenditure can buy in lieu of monthly 'entertainment'. In particular - the recent spike in fuel must be having a huge impact as it normally takes up to 9 months before the consequences fully trickle through to the end users in the form of service provider increases.

'Keep' remains one of the great 'unspokens' in racing as it tends to vary quite significantly from yard to yard. It's a pity that yearly renewable training contracts are not mandatory as these might go a long way towards eliminating the 'I didn't know/how can this be?' aspect of horse ownership & possibly also provide trainers with some measure of protection against tardy payers.

Louis we have a horse at randjes vaal and ashburton as well as spelling in mooi river so all current actual accounts

Perhaps the move to incentivise ownership to the commoner is backfiring?
When I started taking an interest in racing ownerswhip was still the sport of "kings"....................owners were all kings of business with shareholdings in business/s.
Affordability was the prestige factor and was more important than stakes or returns...............does anybody think that that has not being diminished by the fact that the Boss might be racing against a horse owned by 10 of his clerks(which they can barely afford and cause the credit control problems in yards)
When I got my colours I had to prove that I could afford to own a horse and the checks were more onerous than applying for a mortgage.............lol. (and the bar had already being lowered by then)
Interesting as well that a strong defence of the MR system is to keep horses ,many unaffordable ,in racing longer............weird thinking in the circumstances IMO.
Maybe racing is one industry that needs a few steps back to the "good old days"

(Before the huggers have a go ,there were probably more black owners when ownership had a snob value)

We in PE charge R5500.00 for basic keep. Shoes R350.00 , noms etc app R200.00. Dewormers every 3 mths. Vacs compulsory at least 4times a year. That's without any kind of vet bills. Most of the basics we do in the yard. Teff and lucerne now at least R75 per bale if you want decent quality. It costs us between R600 to R800 per horse on bedding alone which we manufacture ourselves as we want the best quality. Our horses have the best quality of food, bedding and time

And on this we just about break even......

I will work on itemised billing and submit.
Shams correct. At R5500, you are very lucky to break even and yes, costs are rising.
Love the post, Rob Faux, those are facts! Yes, we need the runners to create the fields to create the turnovers, but that very need has created many "necessary evils....." and some of those evils are very bad for the industry.

if shams break even at 5500 then so do natal and gp - feed costs the same everywhere as does labour
point is the op - can a trainer make money at no keep and 50 % stakes
I say they need 60 to 75 k to cover costs so the horse has to earn 150 to break even. again how many horses earn over 150 a year and how many don't ? as a proportion I reckon lots fewer earn than don't

jim thats true. As Rob says, we must not sell Ownership as an investment. It is not. It is a passion and a status thing.