Thanks guys. A number of friends of mine are in the horse racing game in various capacities. One, in particular, owns a stable and quite a few horses, and offers shares up for sale very often. The stable has been up and running for a few years, but is really now getting into some pretty good horses. This particular offering came up a few months ago, and I liked it for a few reasons. First, the price was reasonable and most importantly, it's a one time fee which gives you ownership for 30 months, and I liked the idea of 3 horses. I only bought 5%, and a bunch of my friends bought other shares. Basically, we own the horse for the entire age 2, 3 and 4 racing seasons. After that, it all depends on how the horse does as to whether or not we'll have to invest some more or if they'll have won enough that we won't need to and/or could sell off our interest. Bottom line is that there are no hidden or surprise costs. You pay the up front amount, and that's it for the 30 months. I've got friends that own horses and it seems like every month, they have to cut a check for this or that, and when I told them what this would cost, they almost all wanted in because it was so reasonable.
My friend is a true horse man. He's at Saratoga every Thursday-Monday during the racing season, and loves the sport, and I trust him explicitly. He goes to everything, but he's never been to a Kentucky Derby, because he's vowed to never go until he's bringing one of his horses to the race. Having him running the point, whereas the rest of us are just silent investors, is perfect for me. The horses are being broken/trained by George Weaver, who I assume you guys have heard of, and have pretty damn good bloodlines:
Sire: Fusaichi Pegasus (Yes, that one. Winner of the 2000 Kentucky Derby, Wood, San Felipe and Jerome Handicap, 2nd at the Preakness. Won almost 2 million in a short 9 race career with 6 wins).
Dam: Gloomy I'm Knot
Sire: Langfur (Won 700k in 23 races, multiple stakes winner, including the Forego and the Vosburgh, in the money 17/23 races)
Dam: Twistaway (Won about 200k in 27 race career)
Sire: Bellamy Road (Winner of 800k in 7 races, including the 2005 Wood, came in 7th at the Derby and 2nd at the Travers)
Dam: Zaskar
My wife really enjoys the horses, and we're all hoping that at least one of them might be ready for a race during this year's Saratoga season, but considering the oldest will only be just about 2.5 at that point, and Weaver doesn't like racing 2 year olds as a matter of policy, that might be a bit optimistic, but I'll certainly let you guys know how it goes. If either of you are interested in potentially investing, let me know and I can send you a PM with a link to the stable's website and offerings.
