$800,000 for an unraced virtually not a proven race producer? She’s bred but!
Name: Leather n’ Lace
DOB: January 10, 1998
Gender: Mare
Status: Broodmare
Color: Liver chestnut
Markings: Star, RF Coronet, LF Coronet
Height: 15.2h
Location: First Edition (KY, USA)
Sale Price: $800,000
I agree that is way too high even if she is in foal to I’m A Classic.
With what we pay for some horses around here. If I was new I’d give it a shot 
True. Though if I were new I wouldnt have that kind of cash. I still dont lol.
I think Paul meant “give it a shot” as in, “see if anyone wants to pay $800,000”.
Though most of the high prices are fetched at auction, simply due to bidding driving prices up…not to mention, most horses who are worth 800k (and I’d argue against this mare falling into that category) are worth putting into an auction to get the most money possible.
With what some pay for horses around here…I’m talking millions upon millions…you have to stop and ask yourself if it’s makes sense business-wise. Can I reasonably see a return on my investment and how long will it take? There have been several cases where I just can’t fathom how there could possibly be a positive business outcome. The more money I make, the more conservative I get. It’s just way too hard to come by. This, once again, is very reflective of the real world. People with tons of cash pay more than they could ever expect to regain. For me, this is about running a business. $800k is too rich for my blood, but you see over-the-top purchases all the time.
I spent $5 million on Faith Hill, knowing that I’d likely never get it back. Even if she does end up foaling another King David, the cost of racing alone has gone up, so the horse has to earn more to amount a profit.
Still, I liked her bloodlines, and I’ve got tons of cash, so for me, $5 million is equivalent to s smaller stable spending $500,000…a large amount to spend on one horse, but I could do it a few times before really noticing. (Rather similar to real world auctions, where princes in Saudi Arabia spend millions on untried yearlings.)
I think shipping will have an effect on earnings and thereby on the prices of horses.
Shipping certainly effects the smaller stables, simply as you have to budget for where you can race your horse, doubt the bigger stables would even notice the difference 
It would have been good if all horses were transported to their ‘home’ track or farm before shipping came in. I’ve currently only got 3 racehorses but they are spread over 3 countries 
They have all been told to perform otherwise I may not be able to afford to ship them home 
I will say shipping has to be the best change to the game since I started playing, certainly makes the game more ‘life’ like. You really need to think about which horse you may travel with to target o/s carnivals with. 
I concur, Andy I know I’m feeling it when it comes to shipping… Oosh. One of my prized horses hasn’t gotten to run ONCE yet this year, and all because I can’t make up my mind where to ship him, and if I want to focus on sticking him in more allowances or stakes… Meep. ._.;
But, as for 800k for one horse–I think it’s obscenely expensive myself, but that’s the world of horse racing I guess 
It could be worse, as some others pointed out. But, (and of course, it’s just my opinion), I’d rather pay less and hope for more, than pay more and end up with less… if ya get my drift
If it gives you any hope at all, I have three fillies I spent a grand total of no more than $40,000 total, two of them cost me a grand total of $500 each. They have all placed in stakes races in the last year. This is why I let the big spenders do their thing. I have the money to spend but just don’t see it. We’re all playing different games/strategies. As I said earlier, if you have the money and want the horse then do it. For me, it has to make some sort of dollars and and whole lot of business sense in order to write the check. There are bargains to be had but you have to be patient.
The best bargains, IMO, are the babies in the December auction. They require the longest wait for payoff, but many people have gotten multi-millionaires for less than $10,000…sometimes even less than $1,000.
The three of which I speak all came from that auction.
My best runner right now came from the Weanling/Yearling and the 2 y/o Auctions… and the one for only $500… I’ve also picked up a couple of horses through claiming that are showing promise…
Those are the 2 auctions I wait patiently for… Many a star emerges from them…
With the exception of one horse that I bought from the 2009 foal auction and Gryfalcon, who came from the select auction and was injured, all my two year olds won a race last year. All of these horses also came from the foal and 2 year old auctions. Sure, some did do better than others, but out of these horses came MSW Salem, SW Silent Lightning, and SP Sugar Rogue. You don’t have to spend a lot to find some really good horses, just look them over carefully and pick horses that you think will turn out to be the best runners for your price range. And, you never know when one will surprise you!
Oolagah, Shanthi, Dawn, and Taylon–Thanks very much for the information :3 It really does add hope for those of us that are new or just starting to figure things out Really appreciate it!