Thoroughbred Racing?

Soo..my mum decided she wants me to breed Alahna when I get her weight up to a racing stud and either sell the foal to a trainer/breeder or race it myself.

Of which..I was debating on getting into racing..I was going in cleaning stalls/feeding/walking at Mountaineer and trying to move up to assistant trainer and such, continue moving up, etc.

Soo..any ideas on how to do such a thing? I figure I can keep a part time job and retrain my ex racers to resell as well as breed and send them to a race trainer? I just wanna see if there's any chance at making it a career since my mum kinda offered to help with the finances of getting started up.
Posted via Mobile Device

Does she have a history of racing herself or throwing foals that have gone on to be successful at the track? Tb's seems to be a dime a dozen (I have two :) ) and from the people I talk to that own tb racing farms in Kentucky, they don't breed a mare just because it's open- for the time and cost it takes to produce a foal, you'd have to be pretty lucky right off the bat to make your money back for the costs you've incurred for the first two years of the foal's life... The people I know have spent upwards of $50,000 on a good stud.... and even that doesn't guarantee a winner every time... Not that it can't be done, but it takes a lot of resources. I'd rather see talented people put time into retraining the ones that need to be retired from the track, than producing more animals. But that's just my two cents :)

She has a race history, 5 wins out of 25 starts. Her breeding seems decent..Storm Cat, Native Dancer top/bottom, Secretariat top/bottom, etc.

From what I know she's never been bred. The only fault I see in her currently is over at the knee, which I've seen in just about every race horse I've seen.

I'd be racing up in PA/OH/WV tracks if I raced myself and farther if the foal was a winner.

I was told stud fees go down after the studs first or second breeding season, and there's a few that have good racing records semi-close for under 10k.

I was also wondering if I could do the breaking and just send the colt/filly to the race training.
Posted via Mobile Device

Yea, I guess I just err on the cautious side when it comes to breeding animals, I'm more confident in my retraining ability than breeding/raising ability, especially with a horse market right now that has no shortage of thoroughbreds... a close family friend put a lot of money into training and breeding before they were ever successful and saw a paycheck, they didn't rely on their first foals to make there money back... took years. The idea of raising and training your own horse and winning on the track certainly sounds wonderful, I'm just trying to play devil's advocate :) But if it's something you want to do, I'm sure you'll find a way to make it happen!

What aspect of racing do you want to get into it? Training, riding, groom? Find local trainers, and see about getting some experience with them. The majority of people will start at the bottom - hot walking, ect and work their way up. I got friendly with a few of the trainers at my local track years ago and started out that way. I now work with a trainer on the admin side of things.

Training a racehorse successfully isn't just about having a fast horse. Also, much to the surprise of some - racing isn't about going as fast as possible from the start. Some horses are pace setters, some need to settle in the back, ect. You have to know where to settle a horse to keep the mindset right.

Before you breed, I would suggest having a bloodstock agent evaluate the pedigree and see if it is worthwhile getting her covered. I would also discuss you choice of stallion at depth with somebody knowledgeable in the industry as there is no point sending her somewhere cheap - you want to send her to a stallion who will compliment her history and page.

I'd like to do my own breeding/training if I go into it.
I definitely plan on going down to the track sometime this or next month and trying to get in mucking stalls/walking/etc and hopefully get in with a trainer.
Posted via Mobile Device

You probably won't be allowed to walk straight in. Look up trainers at your local track - you should find a statics table on equibase and contact them directly. If it is something you want to be involved in, I wouldn't leave it on the long finger. We're in March now, and our first turf meeting this year is the 23rd and it will kick into gear fairly sharp from there.

Explain to the trainer what you want to do, but the majority of successful trainers have worked and had an interest in racing from their early years. The very successful will have worked up the ranks, hot walker, groom, assistant trainer, and up to trainer. If you do go ahead and do things right - you want the foal to be trained properly. The here a serious difference between a proper trainer and a backyard trainer - and this will show on the racetrack. If you want go breed your mare, you want the foal to live up to it's full potential, otherwise you'll just have a TB that didn't make the cut and we all know there are plenty of those hanging around.