Whats involved in preparing a horse to run in, say, the Preakness?
If you purchased a horse, which anybody can do, you’d have to get a horse trainer. He’s the general manager, basically, of your horse business. The trainer pays all the expenses — the hay, the feed, the straw, the exercise boys — all the help that’s around, the groomers. All that he pays, and he charges you on a per-day basis. Different tracks have different fee schedules, as far as the trainers go. In New York, you’re probably going to pay about $75 a day. In Maryland, it probably averages about $45 to $50 a day. That’s what you’re going to have to pay to own that horse. It’s very expensive and, chances are, you’re going to lose money on it. Most horse owners lose money. If you take all the expenses involved in horses all over the country for a year, and then take all the purses that are given out, you’ll find that there’s not enough purses to cover all the expenses. So, then, who finances horse racing? The bettors. They finance it by the take that comes out of the pot, and the owne
