Will Less Stud Income Help Keep Horses Racing

[GenuineRisk]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

But what you dont know (but you will now) is that of those 100 mares there are a whole lot who arent paying that fee. Most bigtime stallions are syndicated. I would guess most are 50 shares now though some are still 40 and others are 60. Each share holder gets a breeding season for his share and for lesser stallions 2 breeding seasons for years 2 and 3. Those people arent paying. A certain number of clients will want to do a foal share which a few years ago was unheard of for a high profile, first year stallion but times are changing. Some people connected to the horse like the trainer get a comp breeding right. Virtually all stallions are stands and nurses so you dont get paid for a year and nor at all if the mare aborts or the foal is born dead (or in bad shape or is crooked because they are often reported as dead)

The restrictions would fly in the face of the realities of the stallion business and would serve to further punish owners of sucessful horses. We need to do what we can to get and keep owners, not restrict their ability to make a windfall profit which will not only help them recover losses but keep them in the game.

It's a valid counterargument, and it also serves to highlight a big issue with horse racing, which is that it's not possible to make a profit racing; money has to be through getting the home run horse who can succeed at stud. Racing wants big horses on the track to attract fans but the owners need big horses they can retire to stud. And most of them will fail at stud, but you won't know that until it's far too late to bring them back to the races.