Sample economics on the high end

By Bob Kasinow

The overspending at sales can be sobering.  I took a look at the 17 highest from March 2016 OBS, sold for almost $12 million.  Total purse earning to date  just over $300 k, with two minor stakes. Sure there may be more positive developments, but the entire picture will still tell the same story. It’s sobering indeed, and remember, those numbers don’t include any training bills!

Unproven horses or fast gallop outs all looking for a home run. We know swinging for the fences means a lot of strikeouts and there sure looks to be a lot of strikeouts here!   We often see these younger horses pushed for the sales and never get to where they might have been with patience.

I went through the sales results to see where these high priced horses are today (see chart below). There are a few blanks where couldn't connect the dam or hip number to the named horse so didn't keep digging as the point I was seeking is very evident regardless.  Paints an even worse picture for the syndicates that mark-up their purchases by 200-300 percent or more.

Interesting also to see the number of stakes winners purchased for the price range Kenwood (and others) buy in ($20,000 - $125,000 +/- ) that really are highly profitable.  You’d think the dozen or so billionaires would figure it out and stop paying a million plus to outbid a rival and buy 10 really nice horses for 100k each, but I guess fortunately for less wealthy owners like us, ego triumphs over common sense.