Post by lordhelpus on Feb 10, 2006 10:05:50 GMT -5
I know I am prejudiced, but I think the best OTTB's come from KY -- Many of them are beautifully bred and are gorgeous. A high proportion are also good movers.
Right now I am not in Ky, but I have been for many years and I have gotten a number of lovely horses off the tracks there, so I thought I would pass along my "secrets".
The best time of year to find a nice horse is late spring. This is when the two year olds are starting to be sent to the track from the training centers and trainers are motivated to move the slow horses out in order to make room for the next crop of Ky Derby hopefuls.
At other times of the year, trainers are less likely to voluntarily admit that they have slow, sound horses because they need to keep horses in training to make a
living.
Ky does not have a CANTER division. It used to have ReRun, but I am not sure if it still does. In any event, RERun is different and many strings are attached to their horses. One reason is that the bottom level claiming race in Ky is still higher than in other states, so horses which cannot compete in Ky are sent to Ohio or Mountaineer and dropped down to $4k claimers to end their racing careers.
BUT, if you find a trainer and owner who care more about their horse's future than about $$, you have found a goldmine.
I go to The Training Center (on Paris Pike) about 10:30 am with a bunch of business cards that have my name, number and a line reading "giving racehorses a second chance to be famous" or something like that.
I DO NOT get in the way of trainers who are busy, nor do I just leave a card. If I can't have a 5 minute chat I leave and come back later. I make notes of which trainers are friendly and might be a source of future horses, even if they have nothing now.
If you have a picture of an OTTB doing something impressive, take along a 4 x 6 and show the trainer (trotting is not impressive -- we are talking jumping or a big dressage movement). The point is to impress the trainer with what his horse can become.
Check back every 2- 3 months just to remind the trainer that you are out there, and you just might end up with a gorgeous horse.
But do not expect to get such a horse for $2000. I am talking the creme de la creme of the (slow) race horse world. I pay $5000 for most of mine and they end up in the $40k - $80k range. Right now I am waiting for a syndicate of owners to officially give up on a 16.3 Unbridled's Song colt who just wants to hang out and eat all day. Because of his temperament, his trainer has named him after the Austin Powers character who had the same habits. Yes, the horse's barn name is Fat Bastard.
And I hope that soon he will be eating his heart out in my barn. ;D
Right now I am not in Ky, but I have been for many years and I have gotten a number of lovely horses off the tracks there, so I thought I would pass along my "secrets".
The best time of year to find a nice horse is late spring. This is when the two year olds are starting to be sent to the track from the training centers and trainers are motivated to move the slow horses out in order to make room for the next crop of Ky Derby hopefuls.
At other times of the year, trainers are less likely to voluntarily admit that they have slow, sound horses because they need to keep horses in training to make a
living.
Ky does not have a CANTER division. It used to have ReRun, but I am not sure if it still does. In any event, RERun is different and many strings are attached to their horses. One reason is that the bottom level claiming race in Ky is still higher than in other states, so horses which cannot compete in Ky are sent to Ohio or Mountaineer and dropped down to $4k claimers to end their racing careers.
BUT, if you find a trainer and owner who care more about their horse's future than about $$, you have found a goldmine.
I go to The Training Center (on Paris Pike) about 10:30 am with a bunch of business cards that have my name, number and a line reading "giving racehorses a second chance to be famous" or something like that.
I DO NOT get in the way of trainers who are busy, nor do I just leave a card. If I can't have a 5 minute chat I leave and come back later. I make notes of which trainers are friendly and might be a source of future horses, even if they have nothing now.
If you have a picture of an OTTB doing something impressive, take along a 4 x 6 and show the trainer (trotting is not impressive -- we are talking jumping or a big dressage movement). The point is to impress the trainer with what his horse can become.
Check back every 2- 3 months just to remind the trainer that you are out there, and you just might end up with a gorgeous horse.
But do not expect to get such a horse for $2000. I am talking the creme de la creme of the (slow) race horse world. I pay $5000 for most of mine and they end up in the $40k - $80k range. Right now I am waiting for a syndicate of owners to officially give up on a 16.3 Unbridled's Song colt who just wants to hang out and eat all day. Because of his temperament, his trainer has named him after the Austin Powers character who had the same habits. Yes, the horse's barn name is Fat Bastard.
And I hope that soon he will be eating his heart out in my barn. ;D