Humes Racing

BREEDING PARTNERSHIPS

The enjoyment of owning broodmares is immense. Still, it's hard to have fun if you're losing a lot of money. In today's market, the guideline is recovery of the broodmare's purchase price and first-year expenses through the sale of 1.5 of her foals. In other words, after the sale of the second foal, the partnership should be operating "in the black."

Before potential investors see dollar signs dancing in their heads, it must be remembered how cruel Mother Nature can be with regard to a foal's conformation. They won't all be "beautiful babies," and their structural makeup will greatly affect the sale price. In the formative years, a broodmare portfolio with only two or three mares produces a yield that is more at the mercy of Mother Nature than in later years, when the risk is spread over several mares. Other intangible fluctuations in addition to conformation are insurance costs, appreciation or depreciation of the pedigree (based on progeny racing performance), fluctuations in the market, reproductive problems, and Murphy's Law. Horses are predictably unpredictable, and accidents happen.

Things to keep in mind:

The mares can be boarded at Humes Racing Farm in Oklahoma.
Each mare needs to be bred to a stallion with a stud fee of approximately one-third of her value. This will prevent "overbreeding" the mare--breeding to an expensive stallion when her value doesn't dictate it. It is very hard to turn a profit when overbreeding.
To be assured that the resulting foals will have value, the mares must be bred to stallions with significant market appeal.

Let's consider the possible expenses:

$ 2,000 per year in board (feed, hay, transportation)
$ 1,000 in vet and farrier charges
$ 5,000 stud fee for a marketable stallion
$ 8,000 in TOTAL ANNUAL EXPENSES PER MARE

Given the nature of the commercial market (and the principle that a mare should be worth three times the stud fee of a stallion to which she's bred), each mare will cost at least $15,000-probably more-in order to be marketable enough to recover her purchase price and first year's expenses through the sale of 1.5 foals.

To emphasize only the positive wouldn't do justice to potential partners. It takes a patient individual to breed, foal out, and then market a new crop of foals while simultaneously trying to predict what the market will be two years from now.

Current Breeding Offering

2004 Claiming Partnership

Pinhooking Partnership

Partnership Request Form

Dosage Past and Present

Understanding Thoroughbred Terms (Glossary)

Humes Racing, LLC
Telephone: 202.271.1009
Farm: 580.868.2348
Email: ghumes@humesracing.com

This Web site has been created by Humes Racing, LLC for the convenience of its Internet visitors. It is provided solely for information and background purposes. This Web site and information are not an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any security or investment interest.