As in any business venture, it is important to have a plan with realistic goals when you are getting involved in breeding thoroughbred racehorses.
The first decision that needs to be made is whether you are breeding to race or breeding to sell. If your dream is to prepare a stunning yearling and sell it for a large sum of money, you are going to have to make a significant initial investment. In New Zealand terms, if you are going to sell a K1 or K2 yearling, then you’ve got to own a mare with the commercial appeal for her progeny to be selected for these sales in the first place. Such mares do not come cheap; nor do the service fees required for such yearlings to be produced.
If you have only a few thousand dollars to invest, then you’re much better off forming a partnership with other like-minded individuals or changing your focus into breeding to race. Sound racemares with winning form and adequate pedigrees can be bought at the moment for only a few thousand dollars. These could be mares which have just finished racing or young broodmares which have just embarked on their breeding careers. Last week’s posting contains some pointers which should aid the selection of such mares.
The policy of choosing a young mare with a reasonably good pedigree and mating her with an appropriate stallion in order to maximise her strengths and minimize her weaknesses has a number of advantages. In particular, you will be able to assess the quality of foal your mare can produce without spending a fortune. If the foal is a good type, you will have a range of options as to what you can do with it. Selling as a weanling or taking the foal through to the stage at which it can be leased as a racing proposition are just two of the possible courses of action. Attractive individuals can make good money as weanlings; leasing stock you have bred will not bring you any immediate cash return but if you offer the lessee a right of purchase and your horse wins some races you could gain a significant return on your investment.
Please feel free to contact me if you would like further details on leasing out horses or on any of the other issues I’ve mentioned.
