Buying a Horse

There are several ways that you can purchase a harness horse with time, budget, availability and trainer’s advice some of the deciding factors on what option suits you best.

Yearling Sales
Buying a young horse at the yearling sales is probably your best chance of owning and racing a future champion. 

These horses are only one-year-old and are unbroken and untried. Many of the very best bred horses are sold each year at the annual yearling sales and a high proportion of these horses make it to the racetrack and win races.

Yearlings are sold at a public auctions around Australia each year and there’s something to suit every budget.  Prices start at $4000 and the average price at the big Australian Pacing Gold Melbourne Sale in 2008 was only $14,459.

At a yearling sale, you and your trainer will have the opportunity to physically inspect each horse before it goes through the sale ring. Detailed pedigrees are also supplied on the horse and its family for you to consider.

Yearlings that are purchased at the sales need to be broken in and then educated and trained for a minimum of 10 months before they are ready to begin racing as two-year-olds. Some horses will require more time than this before they are physically mature and ready to race. While the wait may seem like a long time, history shows that for many owners it is well worth the wait as a high proportion of leading horses were initially acquired from the yearling Sales.

The two major yearling sale companies that conduct annual yearling sales in Victoria in February/March each year are Australian Pacing Gold and Graeme Board and Co/Aussco.  Contact details for both of these companies are as follows:

Australian Pacing Gold
Phone (03) 9372 9833
Website:   www.apgold.com.au
Email: davidb@apgold.com.au

Graeme Board and Co
Phone (02) 6884 8355
Website: www.graemeboard.com
Email: g_board@graemeboard.com

Private Sale
A private sale brings a buyer together with a seller. An existing owner may want to sell their horse for a number of reasons; they may want to buy another horse, they may wish to dissolve a partnership, they may decide to sell when their horse reaches a particular age or they may simply get an offer too good to refuse.

A number of horses that are either racing or in training are available via private sale. Private sale enables you as an interested party to negotiate directly with the owner and if the horse has trialled or raced, you have some knowledge of its capabilities on the track. If the horse is currently racing or at an advanced stage of fitness, buying a horse via private sale allows you to start racing the horse in your name shortly after purchasing it.

Trainers are often a good starting point for those wishing to buy privately. They might know of horses that are for sale, sometimes within their own stable, and they regularly liaise with bloodstock agents who are often engaged to sell horses privately.

A number of horses that are available for private sale can also be found in the weekly industry publication, Harness Racing Weekly, which is available from all major newsagents each Thursday.

The Trading Ring section on the national website www.harness.org.au is also a good source for finding horses that are available for private sale.

Claiming Races
Claiming races are those in which each every horse competing is for sale. Each horse has a pre-determined sale price, ranging from $1000 to $50,000, advertised in the form guide and can be purchased right out of the race.

On average there are four claiming races conducted in Victoria every week and these provide a good opportunity to acquire a horse that is experienced, fit and already at the races.

Claiming races are often a good option for new owners as it allows them to get involved immediately with a horse that is usually experienced and whose form and capabilities are well known. A claiming horse is already at the races and can start for you in a race within a week of acquiring it.

To claim a horse the buyer must lodge a claiming form and the amount of the claiming price with the Racing Club Secretary no later than 15 minutes prior to the start of the race. Title to the horse will pass to the new owner immediately after the race and the old owner will get any stakemoney that the horse earns from that event. If there’s more than one claim for the same horse then the stewards will conduct a random ballot.

The challenge with claiming races is that you usually won’t have the opportunity to inspect the horse close up or to get a vet check done on it prior to the race and if it performs poorly in the race you can’t rescind your claim. 

Public Syndicates & Licensed Syndicators
Licensed syndicators who sell shares in horses that they syndicate and manage will often advertise these shares in industry publications.

The major advantage that you get when buying a share in a public syndicate is the fact that a licensed syndicator, who is experienced in racing horses, professionally manages the syndicate.

The trainer of the horse will already be selected by the syndicator which means that you do not have to worry about finding a trainer and the costs involved in racing a syndicated horse are spread over a number of owners.

For these reasons, public syndicates are a great way for new owners to dip their toe into the water and experience harness racing ownership.

For a list of current horses that are being syndicated by licensed syndicators, please refer to www.raceapacer.com.au/syndications.cfm.

Leasing A Horse
Horses, like any business asset, can also be leased. This option means that you don’t require any funds up front to acquire the horse, but can still enjoy the ownership experience through a lease agreement.

In a lease arrangement, you will have control of the horse for a fixed period of time. During the period of the lease, you as the lessee will generally pay all of the expenses associated with racing the horse, as well as a stated percentage (often 33%) of any stakemoney won to the owner of the horse. The benefit is that it is usually cheaper to lease a horse than to pay the cost of buying one.

The rules of harness racing require that all lease agreements be lodged with Harness Racing Victoria to ensure that all parties to the arrangement are protected. Horses that are available for lease can often be found via your nominated trainer, in the Harness Racing Weekly or in the Trading Ring section on www.harness.org.au.