How Much Money do you Need to Buy a Racehorse?

I’m sure you have seen all these expensive racehorses bred from the most talented stallions and mares. They are the ones you hear about costing millions of pounds. It’s no wonder some of these foals and yearlings cost so much money. For example, the stallion fee for Frankel is £175,000. That’s what it costs irrespective of the horse having ability or not. There are no guarantees. In fact, many very expensive horses are so slow that they never race.

However, it is much more likely an expensive purchase will have ability than lets say a yearling which costs £500.

Stallion fees range from hundreds of pounds to the likes of super stallion Galileo, who is probably worth about £250,000. I say probably because you will only hear the price on application. It’s private.

From following two-year-old horse racing for thirty-plus years, I have seen many cheap purchases, often called bargain buys, win races. Some have proven themselves to be very talented and competing and winning at a high level.

Some have cost as little as £500.

That’s what you call a bargain buy.

You may be thinking that owning a racehorse is quite feasible. But don’t forget you will need someone to train your horse, feed, water and make sure it is kept in the best of health. All this comes at a price.

In fact, for many, the cost of training a horse far exceeds the cost of buying it in the first place.

With your average training bill of £20,000 per annum it’s an expensive hobby and you’ll be banking that your little star is a winner in waiting.

You’ll need that prize money and pay its way.

Very few horses make their owners a profit.