Ex Racers

Madam_max

Madam_max

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I see Horsequest have a new section for this. Is it really possible in today's horse market that people buy these horses from the sales and sell them on for these prices
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Silly isnt it? I bought my lad for £1700, which I thought was fair for a nice young horse - they never mentioned the ex-racer bit and I never thought to ask - but it turned out they bought him 4 weeks before for £300 at Ascot sales!! They had done nothing with him either as he had been gelded and had been off work with an infected sheath... Still, I didnt know they cost so little so my fault for paying so much - though I still think he is worth every penny of £1700 and more...

The bit that i dislike is the ones that are eligable for ROR classes but have never raced or even been in training - the ex-racer section should have ex-racers in it, not just Tbs, it shows how 'professional' the ROR classes now are, its not for ex-racers but professionally produced TB's.... Plus they are extotionately priced....
 
I have to admit I paid way more than that for Owen when he was barely off the racetrack. No one knew that he was an ex-racer !! Still, even if I had known that he was an exracer, I wouldve still paid that much for him, he is the most beautifull and perfect horse I've ever seen!(bar the xc brain) in my eyes anyway!
But I agree, for the type of animals they are advertising on there, they are very overpriced..
 
Thing is, anyone with a bit about them can pick an ex-racer up very cheaply. My horse D'Accord was advertised as free to good home having come straight off the track. I'm looking for another now as unfortunately D'Accord has forelimb soundness issues but I can't afford to pay huge amounts for a horse that is going to completely need re-scchooling. I would rather take my chances talking to trainers who might know of something or go to the sales direct.
 
But not everyone can re-train one from scratch.
Also, as you've found out, theyre not very good at staying sound so there is benefit in buying something thats been out of racing a few months and been proven sound enough to cope with a different lifestyle!!
 
Minimum price at Ascot is more than £300. Even so the ones that go very cheaply often have something wrong with them. There are definatly some bargains to be had, but you have to be able to pick them out from the rubbish. And you have to be good enough to re-train them.
Someone who buys a lot from Ascot can probably afford to send back the ones that aren't sound enough and take forward the ones that are (mentally as well as physically). If you are only buying one then you have to be certain it ticks all the boxes, based on a very brief assessment.
 
I think the point of the thread is that people are selling horses who are straight off the track at an inflated price without doing any reschooling at all first, again there is still the risk (just at a higher purchase price) of the horse not staying sound. I agree that not many people have the ability to cope with doing the re-education themselves, unfortunately people seeing a horse at a higher price will probably expect them to have had more schooling than they have actually had. D'Accord was fine for 2 years after he retired from racing, unfortuately he is showing signs of navicular which he would probably have developed regardless of whether he had raced or not due to his conformation
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Just thinking it on the sellers point of view, if you were going to the sales with the view to buy something to sell on, firstly you may be losing a days pay, travel and diesel money to get there, a gamble that the horse is going to be sane and sound enough to sell on, if he turns out to be quiet and sound then i think £1,700 is a fair enough price to pay, if you are aiming to sell them at around the £3,000 plus then you would have hoped they had started to have proved themselves in some other field, i have had some fantastic ex racers that have gone on to event. But all said and done, somethings only worth what someone is prepared to pay!
 
like some one said before it does take a good eye and also luck to manage to get a good sound ex racer at rock bottom prices.It would also possibly depend on whether they were flat horses or hurdlers beforehand as to the amount someone could get for it too. But if you think that it would cost you approx a thousand pound to break a horse in anyway and ok they are not going to be highly schooled but they are broken then think about the price that horse would have cost to be bred in the first place that horse is already worth on paper three grand upwards.I have always said that a horse is only worth as much as someone is willing to pay for it. After all if some people are willing to pay four thousand for something that hasnt even been backed these sought of prices wouldnt suprise me but it doesnt mean always mean higher price better horse.I got my horse for £650 a year later at a show i was offered £13,000 for her didnt sell her to the people though
 
I currently have 2 with a combined 2 yr old value in excess of £100k!!!!!!!!! Both of them were given to me by a friend who knew a syndicate member. They both have different complications and neither would be saleable as such, both are pretty spot on conformation wise and *touchs wood* have stood up to the rigours of eventing and hunting. It really depends on why they are at the sales. Emerald is/was a non-trier (he is still very immature at 6) and Sov is just a psycho who would set out to win a 21/2mile hurdle or 3 mile chase in the first 3 furlongs, by the time they were near the finish he broke down with nosebleeds. And as Christmas Derby said of Owen, Sov is actually the most beautiful and kind horse you could ever wish to meet.
 
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