Quote:
Originally Posted by Rupert Pupkin
Money has always been a part of it. It's not all about money. Owners are also in it for the sport but money is important too.
I'll give you a good analogy. A horse owner is sort of like a person that goes to Las Vegas. When you go to Las Vegas, you probably don't expect to make money but that doesn't mean that you won't try your hardest to make money. Whether you win or lose, you will probably have a good time, but you will have a better time if you come home a winner. You will try to use god money management and you will probably play the games that you think have the best odds. You don't want to throw your money away. If you play craps, you're not going to bet "the field". That's a sucker bet. When you go to Las Vegas, you will use your best business sense to try to win money even though you know it's a tough game. I think it's the same with most horse owners. Most of them know it's a tough game and they don't expect to make money at it, but they will try to make good business decisions and try to come out on top.
Why do you think you see really good horses being sold? Darley just bought Zada Belle for $3 million. The guy who sold her was a wealthy guy and he wanted to keep her, but the offer was so good that he sold her. It was a business decision, plain and simple.
It's not all about sport and it's not all about money. It's a combination of both.
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If any owner or fan is in it for the money... there are much better investments. Vastly better investments. My analogy would be the lottery. Almost everybody loses except the middle men. The ones that provide the entertainment. And the business men that get into horses do it mainly for the competition imo. They grow a little bored and want to try something very difficult and of course they use business sense, it would not be fun if they did not. That is part of the challenge. But they absolutely have to know there are much easier ways to make money. So I dont believe its about the money. Its about decision making in an extremely difficult game. And a little recognition for the ego outside of their line of business.