Where a horse is born....

[citycat]

I realize that this message board is made up of alot of handicappers/horse lovers but to the lot of us that own thoroughbreds it does make a difference where the horse is bred/born.

As CannonShell pointed out good horses can come from anywhere and without great pedigree but that is the exception rather than the rule.

One of the biggest reasons would be purse structures. If you look at a condition book/program you will notice that on allowance races there is generally added purse money for state bred horses that comes from state thoroughbred associations (or slots). This is important to an owner with respect to their particular situation and their trainer. For example if you have a nice LA bred horse it would be of value for you to run the horse in Louisiana on occasion to make extra purse money. In that situation you might want your trainer to "winter" in Louisiana. However if your trainer winters in Arkansas or Florida it might not be the best financial situation for you. That is when you go to sales to purchase yearlings/two year olds you generally do look at where the horse was bred. This is where your trainer/owner relationship comes into play. You have to know where your trainer runs horses. All things equal at a sale I would take a KY/FL bred over a NY/LA/ILL bred horse (in general) because my horses run in KY and winter in FLA. That gives the trainer/owner the best opportunity to make the most money.

Again, nice horses can come from anywhere but for owners/trainers it is not just as simple as "who cares" where they are born/bred.