Psst wanna buy a decent horse ?
Ok, so some people may be snobbish about buying other peoples 'cast-offs'. Well that's their prerogative and also their problem!
Whilst it is perfectly true that every horse on the site had to originally come from the Sales Ring and you could just take your chance on getting lucky and pulling the next 'monster' it is much more likely that you'd now be licking your wounds after getting your fingers burnt. So forget snobbish and start thinking moneywise (unless you're one lucky sob to whom money has no real meaning).
As in any buying/selling scenario enthusiasm has to be tempered with a certain amount of caution as it is a fact of life that there will always exist a number of unscrupulous people interested only in how to make a fast buck. This site is unfortunately no exception.
You may wonder why any other owner would sell a horse that is raceable and potentially profitable. There are many reasons for doing this; an owner may be closing down their stable and moving on, they may be downsizing the number of horses they have, they may be short of funds and need a cash injection without making a deposit, they may have a surplus of a particular type of horse in their stable and so on. There are definately bargains to be had as has been proved many times in the past.
There are two ways in which to buy and sell horses outside the Sales Ring .....
Auctions
The frequency of Auctions on the site has tended to fluctuate in the past but it now seems to be fairly consistent that there are two Auctions every month so it's never that long to wait if you decide you want to take this route for buying (or selling) horses.
For unraced horses the system incorporates a facility for you to buy a look at the last three Time Trials to give an indication of the ability of the horse for sale. To purchase these Time Trials you will first need to have transferred some cash from your regular site Account into your 'Auction Wallet'.
When purchasing Time Trial information it is important to be aware that even though it may not show shoes or blinkers as having been tested, it is perfectly possible that these have been applied and later removed.
It is not recommended that you enter the realm of purchasing unraced horses until you have a good understanding of the information on show and a feel for the standard required.
For horses that have already been raced this facility does not exist. For such horses you need to investigate their racing form, taking into account factors such as:
• the quality of races they have run in (including the size of the fields)
• the quality of the opposition they have faced
• how they have performed comparative to the random factor they received
• average earnings per race
• details of the selling owner (are they new or an experienced long-term owner)
• profitability thus far
• an estimate of potential profitability for the future
If you have investigated a potential purchase or two and are still interested in buying then you will need to understand the Auction process.
Before you can make any bid you will need to have transferred some cash from your regular site Account into your 'Auction Wallet'.
The minimum sale price for any horse in Auction is the same as if it were being bought from the Sales Ring. There is no maximum sale price. Every horse for sale by Auction may optionally have a reserve price set by the owner, this is indicated for each horse alongside the current highest bid and the next minimum bid required. To bid on a horse you are not limited to just making the minimum required bid, the system operates an automated bidding system whereby you are at liberty to place the maxmum bid you are willing to pay and the system will bid the minimum amount on your behalf. If another owner later outbids you the system will bid the new minmum amount on your behalf (assuming you have enough funds in your Auction Wallet) to maintain your position as highest bidder until such time as your maximum bid is surpassed.
It is wise to be aware that as soon as a bid is made for a horse the system treats that money as being set aside solely for that purpose and you are no longer able to use those same funds to bid on another horse unless your maximum bid on that horse is no longer enough to maintain your position as highest bidder. At that point those funds are freed up and available for use again.
If you are looking to sell at Auction you must be aware that there is an entry charge per horse which is only refunded after a successful sale. If any horses fail to sell the entry charge for those horses is retained. Successful sales will incur a fee equivalent to 15% of the final sales price of each lot.
Claimers
There are Claiming races almost every day and these can be a good source of raceable horses. A large percentage of my profitable horses have been purchased from Claimers, certainly more than I have managed to acquire from the Sales Ring.
The price at which a Claimer may be bought is indicated in the title of the race, with G2 horses able to be bought at less than the cost of a single Sales Ring purchase.
Like Auctions the key to purchasing from Claimers is to research every prospective buy prior to deciding whether or not to put in a claim. The same process should be applied as for raced horses in Auctions. The only difference for Claimers is that no Time Trial information is given for unraced horses, so you really are buying 'sight unseen'.
It should be noted that once a claim is placed on a horse the claiming price will be deducted from your site Account and held in lieu of that claim.
All claims must be placed prior to the race being run.
Because there is no element of outbidding other owners for Claimers, multiple claims on the same horse are settled by a random draw at the end of the race. Unsuccessful claimants are refunded the claiming price in full.
If you enter a horse in a Claimer you cannot retain the horse should a claim be made on it. The number of claims on your horse will be shown on the right at the bottom of the Horse Details page for that particular horse. If your horse is claimed you will incur a 15% fee of the claiming price. If your horse finishes in the prize money for a Claiming race you will receive those prize monies irrespective of whether the horse is claimed or not.
There are two different categories of Claimers, open and restricted. Open Claimers are those that have no conditions applied and are effectively Level Weights races, as such can attract a higher level of ability in competitors. Restricted Claimers are only open to horses with less than a defined number of wins and are identified by both their titles and looking at the conditions for the race. These races often attract decent sorts, especially those horses whom owners deem might not be truly competitive in open Claimers and where one more Stakes win will no longer enable them to meet the entry conditions, often such horses see out their careers in these events as that next Stakes win would effectively end their racing career.
Claiming races close for entries either 24 hours prior to the scheduled time of the race or when the field becomes full (14 runners).