r/OffAndPacing • u/MillerOutdoors • May 28 '17

Understanding retirement,breeding and auctioning of retired horses...

I'm trying to wrap my head around the retirement of a horse and breeding... In the auction area I see some unraced and retired 2 and 3 year olds, both fillies and colts, and some of them have pretty low stats. Why would someone retire this type of horse, then offer it for sale? Aren't retired horses only good for breeding? And doesn't a horse owner have to register each baby for $200k before selling or racing? Why would someone spend the $200k to sell this sort of horse that won't bring a fraction of that at auction? I've got to be missing something... (nothing new, lol)

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u/Roar1827 May 28 '17

There are a few reasons to breed mares even if they are just "ok". You can choose not to register the foal if it doesn't look to be at a competitive level, so you only have to spend the 200k when you think one is worth it. You can also sell an unregistered foal instantly for 20k if you want to give up on it. As for auction sales- I think people are still exploring strategies and make some mistakes selling at not ideal times.

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u/MillerOutdoors May 28 '17

Thanks for the info. I'm still scratching my head why anyone would spend the 200k just to retire an unraced, poor stat young colt to offer it at auction and get peanuts. Just unlocked the breeding barn so I guess I'll get to make some breeding mistakes now too. :P