Case Study: How not to buy and sell horses.

In his last 7 races, The Fates (not pictured above) has won $422,500.  During that time his PSR's have averaged well over 100.  Sounds like a horse worth keeping, doesn't it?

Not so for Hutton's Horse Haven who sold the horse for a pittance recently to make room for the likes of Aftershock, Busby's Babe, Compass, Gypsum, Justice For All, Neptune, and Top Rank Suite.  These paragons of racing have combined for a record of 43-0-0-4, with career earnings of $29,000.  Eighteen of those 43 races have resulted in last place finishes. 

We've all made unwise and rash decisions.  I sold Stowaway, a horse I loved and who was very good to my stable financially for a rat $7500 because he had a couple bad races and I thought he might be done.  That decision was rash...and stupid.  But because I've done it myself, I can forgive Hutton for selling The Fates.  What I can't forgive or understand, is his propensity to buy bad racehorses.  Especially in this case when he's buying not one, but 7 bad racehorses.  If there was a Board of Directors at HHH, Jim Hutton would be fired and he would deserve it!  

Like Amanda said (I can't call her Mandy anymore because it annoys her very proper British husband), it's sometimes better to have a vacant stall than a stall inhabited by a worthless, money-consuming horse.

The formula is pretty simple:

1. Hang on to the decent to good horses and divest yourself of the bad horses.  
2. Occasionally, take a chance on an under-performing horse if there are mitigating circumstances that explain the poor performances, such as immaturity or improper management.
3. And most importantly, do not buy 7 bad horses at the same time.

Follow these simple rules and you may be able to remain solvent until you strike it rich.