If you assume that your horse is going to be average, and this is a reasonable assumption given that most racehorses are average and never win a race, you are looking at two costs:
- The initial cost of the horse
- The ongoing training costs
I find it easier to stomach the initial cost of the horse than the ongoing cost of having the horse in training.
Training costs for a horse in training, I understand, range from the bottom of the range at €1,000 per month to €1,500 per month and more at one of the more successful racing stables.
What would concern me is the ongoing cost to simply look after and feed the horse and have him/her stabled in a racing yard.
If I was paying rent on a premises and deriving an income or paying a mortgage and acquiring a residential or commercial asset, I have no problem. But the constant drain into the future to simply ‘keep’ a horse who was generating no income would soon become annoying.
However, one way to address this is to put by a certain amount of money for a punt and give it to a trainer with the following instructions: buy a horse, I will pay for the horse and his keep for 6 or 12 months and then I sell.
The trainer’s job would be to see whether the horse was any good or not and 6 or 12 months should be enough time for this.
Having a definite, finite timeline would certainly make the discharge of the training fees more palatable.
