Bit of a heartbreaking dilemma - buying a horse out of racing at what cost?

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kit279

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I have a little 4- year old TB who has been with me all summer, riding out and seeing a bit more of life. He is well bred, by Halling, and was in training and they thought a lot of him but he has been an unlucky horse and had an injury on the gallops where another horse struck into him behind and he had to have a tendon repaired although no residual soundness issues from that. He was a colt but now gelded.

I really like this horse - he is super special (you'll just have to take my word on this, I've seen a lot of TBs and he really is special). I've been wanting to buy him all summer and the stud who sent him to me said they would mention it to the owner who had been sort of ignoring the horse, not really knowing what to do. Now the owner wants to ship him out to Qatar ostensibly to sell, but no buyer yet. I think the owner had very high hopes for this horse and still thinks of him as being high value, talking about $20K (US dollars).

However, the horse has no racing form, is a gelding and is now nearly 5 with a funny looking back leg. Under different circumstances, he would be worth very little. I worry very much about the little Halling going out to Qatar to a very uncertain future and I would very very much like to buy him. I have offered to buy him for the cost of shipping (maybe £2.5-3K). I know many of you will think that I am mad to offer this but this horse is very special and I know him well and like him very much.

The question is how much I am prepared to offer for this horse. I am reluctant to offer stupid money for him but I also would feel very bad about seeing this very nice little horse go abroad to a very uncertain future.

How much would you be prepared to offer and is there anything I can do to secure his future beyond throwing money at the problem?
 
Do some research - get an idea of what he would achieve if for example, he went through Ascot. Also what a horse like that could for in Quatar and how much he would cost to ship over there and prep for sale. I would also have a chat with your trainer and see how much work or time the owner would have to put in to achieve the horse going over and what would happen if the horse didn't sell.

With that info in your hand, you should have a pretty good idea of the real value of the horse and supporting evidence. I would then go in with a slightly lower offer with all the salient facts - probably through your trainer, on the proviso that you could well be asked to up it a bit. I would also, though set a limit so your heart does't overule you. Good luck
 
I may be presumptuous here but I very much doubt that even offering your highest bid within your budget would take this horse if the owner does not want to relinquish ownership therefore a different tack may be required. You may have more luck appealing to the owners emotional side. Perhaps if you wrote a letter to him/her, asked to meet the owner, or ask the trainer to forward your case for offering this horse a good non-racing long term home. Contrary to impressions given on this forum many racehorse owners DO want their no-hopers to end up in good homes and often will pull out stops to try to make that happen when a specific private buyer shows interest. I wish you well and I think you should offer what you feel comfortable offering as I honestly don't think the actual amount of money is going to make much of a difference.
 
A horse is worth as much as someone is prepared to pay for it.
I have a mare by Halling which I bought at auction in August for £400 when she had a foal at foot and in foal again! Three for one! She has a lovely nature, maybe that came from Halling.
Good luck with whatever you do!
 
If the mare has a bit of staying pedigree to her then suggest that the horse tries the National Hunt game. Gets the horse some form and it may turn out useless on the track anyway. That aside an unraced 4yo gelding that has been tried and injured is only worth 4-5k max if the bloodlines were right for jumping. It's pretty pointless starting a 4yo on the flat to be honest.
 
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