Panel Provides Insights for Owners on Expected Expenses

As the dream of owning racehorses begins to take shape, it's important to have an understanding of the costs involved and the various expenses one can expect. In the July 7 edition of OwnerView's Thoroughbred Owner Conference Series, a panel of experts with firsthand knowledge of these costs provided insights. Those experts included Tracy Attfield of TLore, an all-in-one system to manage racehorses, Emily Anderson of Dean Dorton Equine, and trainer David Donk. All three panelists said there are a number of factors that can impact annual expenses, such as the region the horse is raced, the health of the horse, and how much the horse is shipped throughout the year, but they settled on $50,000-$60,000 as a good estimate to begin with. The full video seminar is available Following are some of their thoughts on topics of interest during the panel discussion that ran about an hour. Anderson noted that every year they're seeing trainers' day rates (charges to owners for daily care) continue to go up. Knowing that, she said it's especially important for owners to find out what services trainers will include in their day rate bill and what services an owner could expect to see as additional charges from month to month. She noted that different trainers have different approaches in terms of what expenses they include in their day rate. "Depending on the trainer, sometimes we do see additional workers comp charges added," Anderson said. "We do see additional charges like supplements or additional stall rent charged. Sometimes we'll see these as an extra line item. So I think it just depends on the trainer. And that's a good conversation to have with your trainer, if you're wondering what's included and what's not included." Donk said such conversations are especially important when it comes to understanding charges for veterinary care. "(This is) one of the most important questions clients and new clients could ask trainers. This could be a very controversial subject as veterinary (treatments) can be very expensive. So, ask them, 'How do you use your veterinarian?,'" Donk said. "I would like to say an average cost for me is a couple hundred dollars a month, but if you get into where we need new diagnostics—maybe the horse is lame or has an issue, maybe we need to block them, we need to X-ray them, maybe you inject something or shockwave; that should be discussed with the client." Donk believes such treatments should be discussed, so that the owner understands any additional charge when they see it. "Every trainer is different. Some trainers like to use a veterinarian for a lot of stuff. I'd like to think that with the new (Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority) regulations that that's been tampered down a bit. But it's a cost that should be discussed with their trainer going forward. There just needs to be transparency between both sides." Donk and Attfield encouraged potential owners to talk with other owners who have had horses with the trainer being considered. Donk said for some owners it might make sense to initially partner on a horse in the range of 10% to 25% just to see what kind of expenses to expect from a trainer. Attfield offered ideas on the decision-making process for a new owner in hiring a trainer, both in looking at their approach to fees and billing; along with an overall fit. "There's an easy way to do research on anybody nowadays, so between the internet and the OwnerView website; you can do a little research on trainers that you're interested in. Talk to the owners that you know that have horses with them, as (Donk) just said as well," Attfield said. "I personally feel that you should meet the trainer. It's important to talk with the trainer because the personalities are a big part of it. You'll get some trainers are very social, and they're quite happy to do things with their owners and happy to talk to them on the phone all the time—'call me whenever you want.' Others are more standoffish; very businesslike—'this is the way we do this.' It's just various personalities and ways that trainers deal with their owners."