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Originally Posted by pgardn
Yes. Because other horses will improve. And thats because you are not a fan. Too much of a middle man. This very revealing. I think this particular thread illustrates the difference between the incredibly educated, in the know, ultrapragmatic horse people, and the ignorant masses (me). And the game as a whole takes a big fat back seat.
Dont be offended by my brashness/picking a fight. This is part of the fun of the board. I actually very much respect your opinions.
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By the way, if you did become an owner or a racing manger, you would certainly see things quite differently. Because there is so much money in breeding, your focus is going to be just as much about maximizing your horse's value for breeding as it will be about anything else. You're going to pretty much have something in mind for every horse you buy. You will basically have a game plan for every horse. In this day and age, you can't really expect horses to stay sound for a long time. They may stay sound for a while, but you can't expect it. You have to assume that you will be lucky if your horse runs 10 times in its entire career. That may sound like a short career but in this day and age you can make a fortune with a horse that only runs 10 times, if the horse is good. If a filly wins a Grade I race, she is going to be worth a minimum of $1.2-$1.5 million and possibly even much more. The horses we buy are usually in the $200,000 range. If the horse is filly, the main thing on my mind is try to win a big race. If she can win just a single Grade I race, we're going to make at least 6-7x our money.
What Oracle did with Wonder Lady Anne L is exactly what you want to do. You want to find a filly that wins a Grade I race and you will have a huge profit. Any black type that you can get will make a horse's value go way up but the ultimate is winning a Grade I.
The purses of the race are often times not even a big deal in comparison to what the win would mean for the horse's value. Sometimes I will tell a friend when we have a horse running in a big race. The first thing they will usually ask is how big is the purse. My answer is usually something to the effect of, "The purse is only $150,000 but it's a Grade II race. First place is only $90,000 but if the horse wins her value will go up by about $400,000 for breeding.
Anyway, the reality of today is that there is so much money in breeding that it affects all the decisions you make as an owner or racing manager. I don't know if it's a good or a bad thing but that is the reality of the business today.