It sounds so simple — get together with your high school buddies, kick in a few thousand apiece, and you, too, can own a horse that wins two-thirds of a Triple Crown.
But the Funny Cide saga, as inspiring as it is to wannabe horse owners, is more complicated than that.
The high school buddies who own the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner started a stable in northern New York with $5,000 each in 1995. Five knew nothing about racing.
So they started small, learned about horses and networked at tracks. A trainer who knew they were looking for a New York horse pointed them to Funny Cide. They sold another horse to help raise the $75,000 for Funny Cide — the stable’s ninth purchase — trained him well, and the rest is history.
Experts warn it’s risky to think that for the price of a decent used car, you could be sipping mint juleps with the governor in the winner’s circle at Churchill Downs.
But anyone can invest in horse racing for as little as a few hundred dollars — with the same caveats that go along with any investment. “Don’t leave your brains at the door,” said David Switzer, executive director of the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association.
Horse racing is a business, not a bet. “If you’re going to invest in this business, you’re using discretionary income. You’re not using the mortgage money you’re not using your children’s college fund,” he said.
People in the business talk a lot about the fun of racing, because only fun can make up for the expense and heartache of running horses.
Patty Gentry of Richmond, Ky., bought her first colt in December 2001. Brian’s Echo — named in honor of her first husband, a paramedic killed in a helicopter crash — has won three times in 10 races. The colt produced enough profit to allow her to buy a filly last summer.
“It would never be anything I would go into to make a living or to eat day to day,” she said. “There’s no way I could stand the roller-coaster ride.”
Gentry has been around horses most of her life. Her brother, Bob Elliston, is president of the Turfway Park track in Florence, Ky., and she also has a brother-in-law in the business. “It is fun,” she said. “There’s nothing quite like being out ... at 7:30 in the morning and watching the horses work out.”
Her advice is to find good people. Her brother and brother-in-law guided her to trainers and others she could trust. “It’d be tough getting into (racing) if you didn’t know somebody or have connections,” she said.
How does a novice get connected? On the Internet. Switzer recommends a Web site called The Greatest Game (www.thegreatestgame.com), an introduction to the business of horses and a matchmaking service for people serious about investing in horses. The National Thoroughbred Racing Association, the Thoroughbred Owners and Trainers Association and Keeneland, the legendary racetrack in Lexington, Ky., sponsor it.
Gay Fisher, executive director of The Greatest Game, said that while racing is heavily regulated, the business of buying and selling thoroughbreds is hardly regulated at all. The Greatest Game, she said, reviews consultants and makes them adhere to a code of ethics. It can then match prospective investors with those consultants, who act as their mentors in the business.
Investors apply for mentorship and are matched with consultants, who pay a fee to be part of The Greatest Game. Those consultants could be trainers, bloodstock agents, current owners, partnership managers or others involved in the business of thoroughbred
racing.
Getting to know the business “is a lot of networking,” Fisher said. “We always stress that if you’re going to invest in this, you contact people personally and interview them like you’re interviewing for a job.”
©The Lafayette Daily Advertiser
June 15, 2003
Article link
But the Funny Cide saga, as inspiring as it is to wannabe horse owners, is more complicated than that.
The high school buddies who own the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner started a stable in northern New York with $5,000 each in 1995. Five knew nothing about racing.
So they started small, learned about horses and networked at tracks. A trainer who knew they were looking for a New York horse pointed them to Funny Cide. They sold another horse to help raise the $75,000 for Funny Cide — the stable’s ninth purchase — trained him well, and the rest is history.
Experts warn it’s risky to think that for the price of a decent used car, you could be sipping mint juleps with the governor in the winner’s circle at Churchill Downs.
But anyone can invest in horse racing for as little as a few hundred dollars — with the same caveats that go along with any investment. “Don’t leave your brains at the door,” said David Switzer, executive director of the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association.
Horse racing is a business, not a bet. “If you’re going to invest in this business, you’re using discretionary income. You’re not using the mortgage money you’re not using your children’s college fund,” he said.
People in the business talk a lot about the fun of racing, because only fun can make up for the expense and heartache of running horses.
Patty Gentry of Richmond, Ky., bought her first colt in December 2001. Brian’s Echo — named in honor of her first husband, a paramedic killed in a helicopter crash — has won three times in 10 races. The colt produced enough profit to allow her to buy a filly last summer.
“It would never be anything I would go into to make a living or to eat day to day,” she said. “There’s no way I could stand the roller-coaster ride.”
Gentry has been around horses most of her life. Her brother, Bob Elliston, is president of the Turfway Park track in Florence, Ky., and she also has a brother-in-law in the business. “It is fun,” she said. “There’s nothing quite like being out ... at 7:30 in the morning and watching the horses work out.”
Her advice is to find good people. Her brother and brother-in-law guided her to trainers and others she could trust. “It’d be tough getting into (racing) if you didn’t know somebody or have connections,” she said.
How does a novice get connected? On the Internet. Switzer recommends a Web site called The Greatest Game (www.thegreatestgame.com), an introduction to the business of horses and a matchmaking service for people serious about investing in horses. The National Thoroughbred Racing Association, the Thoroughbred Owners and Trainers Association and Keeneland, the legendary racetrack in Lexington, Ky., sponsor it.
Gay Fisher, executive director of The Greatest Game, said that while racing is heavily regulated, the business of buying and selling thoroughbreds is hardly regulated at all. The Greatest Game, she said, reviews consultants and makes them adhere to a code of ethics. It can then match prospective investors with those consultants, who act as their mentors in the business.
Investors apply for mentorship and are matched with consultants, who pay a fee to be part of The Greatest Game. Those consultants could be trainers, bloodstock agents, current owners, partnership managers or others involved in the business of thoroughbred
racing.
Getting to know the business “is a lot of networking,” Fisher said. “We always stress that if you’re going to invest in this, you contact people personally and interview them like you’re interviewing for a job.”
©The Lafayette Daily Advertiser
June 15, 2003
Article link
