There are some trainers who are known for totally ripping off their owners when they buy horses for them. It's amazing that everyine knows about it except for the owner. There is one trainer in particular who is pretty brazen about it. Any time you see that he bought a horse for $1 million at auction, everyone knows that he pocketed at least $100k on the deal.
This trainer usually picks out nice horses but the prices he pays are way out of whack. For example, you will see a horse with dead-average breeding that has a good workout at a 2 year old sale. It will be the type of horse that you would expect to go for somewhere around $300,000-$400,000, but it is always possible that the horse could go for a little higher. The horse will end up being bought by the trainer I was referring to for over $1 million. It is often times from the same consignor. All the insiders just shake their heads and say, "We all know that "Mr X" pocketed $100,000-$200,00 on that deal."
The thing that is surprising about it is that often times there is a paper trail, so if an owner does decide to sue, his case will be easy to prove.
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