We recently received an inquiry from an owner looking to privately purchase one of our horses

This horse has run 2^nd and 3^rd in $16,000 claiming races at Laurel Park in his last two starts there, his offer to purchase the horse was $10,000. We thought this is another interesting “teachable moment” as to how the thoroughbred business works.  We’ve copied the entire chain of emails below, removing only the last name and contact information of the party who contacted us to protect his privacy. As usual, comments and questions on our blog posts are welcome and appreciated.

From: Louis
Sent: Monday, February 17, 2014 6:15 PM
To: rob@kenwoodracing.com
Subject: Big Apple Brit

Hi Rob:

I am inquiring if you have any notion to sell Big Apple Brit, I race primarily in NY but have been doing OK at Parx and would like to purchase a few 3 yo claimers to send to ---------------. If you have any interest please contact me via e- mail or cell.
Thank You.

Louis

-----Original Message-----
From: H Robb Levinsky <rob@kenwoodracing.com>
To: 'Louis
Sent: Mon, Feb 17, 2014 6:21 pm
Subject: RE: Big Apple Brit

Hi Louis

Thanks for the interest. ALL our horses are for sale anytime. Feel free to call me, 732-775-1930 or email.  We’ll sell him for a fair price and happy to have you vet him out.

Best

Robb

From: Louis

Sent: Wednesday, February 19, 2014 8:05 AM
To: rob@kenwoodracing.com
Subject: Re: Big Apple Brit

We are looking to spend in the $10,000.00 range.

Let me know if interested

Louis

-----Original Message-----
From: H Robb Levinsky <rob@kenwoodracing.com>
To: 'Louis
Sent: Wednesday, Feb 19, 2014 9:11 am
Subject: RE: Big Apple Brit

Hi Louis;

If we were willing to sell you a horse that’s highly competitive for $16,000 claiming for $10,000, there would have to be something seriously wrong with it and you don’t want it!  A word from someone who has been in the game for 30 years and knows it from the inside; don’t buy horses from ANYONE at ANYTIME under ANY circumstances this way. If you are looking for bargains, just claim the horse. You may get a bad one, you may get a great one.  Some horses are really worth the $$ they are running for. If you buy privately, anyone who is selling a good horse with no hidden problems will want the price they are running for PLUS a winning purse. Otherwise, they are better off just running the horse themselves for nice purses and letting someone claim it at some point. You pay a premium when you buy privately to vet the horse out and get to run it for the purse yourself, unlike with claiming where it’s buyer beware and the original owner runs for the purse. Either way works, buy privately and pay a premium for a decent, sound horse, or claim, take your chances and maybe get a real bargain, but if you buy horses privately running for $16,000 for $10,000 you are going to end up with a stable of really bad horses and lose a lot of money.

www.kenwodracing.com We are here to help new owners succeed in a very tough game with honest, no BS advice.

All the best,

Robb

From: Louis
Sent: Wednesday, February 19, 2014 9:19 AM
To: rob@kenwoodracing.com
Subject: Re: Big Apple Brit

It was an offer made based on the the horse pps, sheet #s and beyer figs, and the tracks where the horse has run. Believe me I know that it costs more to buy privately as I have done it many times in the past with allowance type runners, just the same I have sold horses that didn't fit our profile for less than we paid for them just to stop the monthly bill and trading of dollars.

Thanks for getting back to me and good luck with the horse.

Louis

Louis; No problem at all, we welcome any offer at any time for any of our horses, believe me we are not insulted. The point to note I think is, this horse is earning way more than his monthly bills running at the $16,000 level. If he’s sound and making money, we’d be crazy to sell him for less than the claiming price plus some kind of purse $, UNLESS he has a hidden problem and we are trying to get rid of him before it shows. I can assure you that’s the case at least 99% of the time, owners don’t sell good horses for less than they are running for. If you like a horse like this, just claim him when you think he’s running for a fair price based on your figures.

All the best

Robb