2004 LEADING BREEDERS BY AVERAGE $ PER START

[louis finochio]

SOMEDAY FARM 11 STARTS 687,600

AARON U. JONES 141 283,800

JUDDMONTE FARMS 279 178,400

SAM-SON FARM 316 151,300

WIMBORNE FARM 311 89,900

KEN & SARAH RAMSEY 640 74,900

[henthorn]

The rule of thumb when I became an owner was that a horse was considered a superior runner if he/she averaged $2500 per start. With the purse structures so skewed recently based on racinos and state-bred monies, I would find it hard to figure a number, but I bet it's no more than $4000 per start. The Ramseys have some impressive numbers when you factor in all the doubtless slow or poorly conformed horses that inevitably take to the racetrack, and their large number of starters. They must be breeding and/or buying the best and culling severely to get those stats. I'd like some of their leftovers.

[LSB]

I can't believe that Ramsey horses had 640 starts last year. That seems like a huge number to me.

henthorn, I'd imagine their results were lifted significantly by the success of Kitten's Joy and Roses in May. And if you'd really like some of their left-overs, there are two options. First they tend to sell off a bunch of "culls" at many of the Keeneland sales. And second, most of their Catienus offspring start their careers in maiden claimers. The Ramseys seem to want the quick win with them (to add to the sire's stats). It doesn't apparently matter to them whether they lose them or not.

[henthorn]

LSB, that makes a lot of sense. We already know from recent events that the owners Eclipse Award was very important to Ken Ramsey, such that he was dealing outside the track to reduce the numbers of competitors to get in his way. Makes sense that he wants to have high win percentages, which of course in racing means placing your horse where it can win, often even below its natural ability level. Lots of the culling apparently takes part in placing lesser horses in claiming company to lose them early.

This is one of the reasons why statistics have to be taken with a grain of salt. Reasons for success for a racing stable other than talent: avoiding first-time racers or juveniles, placing horses below their ability level, keeping good horses with best trainers, and moving lesser horses out of the barn, infrequent racing to optimize chances each start, breaking them down before they hit the races, etc. Appearances are very much more important to some than to others.

[marknickolas]

Really bad math here. The numbers by Someday Farms is correct, but the rest are mistakenly inflated by a factor of 10! Certainly nothing to sneeze at, but the $7,377 per start for the Ramseys is much closer to Earth, which as an owner, I am quite thankful!

According to www.equineline.com, the numbers are as follows:
Leading Breeders - 2004
Ranked by Total Purse Earnings
Name Starters Starts Wins Seconds Thirds Earnings

Someday Farm 2 11 6 1 0 $7,563,853 (avg $687,623)
Aaron U. Jones & Marie D. Jones 25 145 30 25 19 $4,033,129 (avg $27,815)
Juddmonte Farms 62 283 55 35 36 $4,989,627 (avg $17,631)
Sam-Son Farm 53 317 51 39 47 $4,782,501 (avg $15,087)
Wimborne Farm, Inc. 48 317 49 42 47 $2,812,351 (avg $8,872)
Kenneth L. Ramsey & Sarah K. Ramsey 103 655 111 93 84 $4,832,083 (avg $7,377)

[llbean]

LSB, that makes a lot of sense. We already know from recent events that the owners Eclipse Award was very important to Ken Ramsey, such that he was dealing outside the track to reduce the numbers of competitors to get in his way. Makes sense that he wants to have high win percentages, which of course in racing means placing your horse where it can win, often even below its natural ability level. Lots of the culling apparently takes part in placing lesser horses in claiming company to lose them early.

This is one of the reasons why statistics have to be taken with a grain of salt. Reasons for success for a racing stable other than talent: avoiding first-time racers or juveniles, placing horses below their ability level, keeping good horses with best trainers, and moving lesser horses out of the barn, infrequent racing to optimize chances each start, breaking them down before they hit the races, etc. Appearances are very much more important to some than to others.

You must have misheard that story about Ramsey, he was not trying to get one less competiter in his way, he was trying to get someone to scratch a horse from a race so his horse could get in at all. In other words, the race was oversubscribed.

I don't see anything wrong with putting a horse in a race where he actually has a chance to win (and culling is the root of all success in this sport). I don't like the infrequent racing though.

-llbean

[marknickolas]

Not to bag on the Ramseys, because their $7,377 average is impressive, but a cursory look at the breeders' rankings show that a number of other breeders more than double their $ per start:

Phipps Stable $22,833 (81 starts)
Margaux Farms $20,829 (93 starts)
Clovelly $17,824 (83 starts)
Mary Lou Whitney $13,219 (112 starts)
Beclawat Stable $11,982 (131 starts)
Firmamento $11,793 (128 starts)

Also, Allen Paulson $7,322 (421 starts) and Stonerside $7,087 (373 starts) among others are certainly in the same league.