HORSEPLOP.COM
General Category => Harness Racing => Topic started by: Locked in with pace on August 20, 2025, 04:25:05 AM
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Would be very interesting to see these actual numbers ?
1. How many horses they bought at the major sales 2 and 3 years ago?
2, How much money they spent for these horses?
3, How much money have these purchases made to date?
Would be curious to see these actual numbers. They usuually buy most of the more expensive ones, and you see many of their horses in the big races , but many don't do well. Some don't make it at all.
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There is a very active market in Europe and other parts of the world for well bred trotters of all performance levels. Often double and triple what the North American market will value them at. Trotters are king 🤴.
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in terms of getting quality and quantity yearlings its not even close, alagna leads by a mile with high priced yearlings and homebreds , results have not been great the last few years for that barn
ake is ake, no matter what he gets he can make them trot
takter actually doesn't buy as many high priced ones as you think
burke does a bit of everything but he stays away from the outrageously high priced yearlings and now has many homebreds to train down
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alagna stable looses between 5 and 6 million annualy witch is about normal for colt trainers
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Smarter to just buy em, leave em in a stall for a year and a half then amish em. Everybody wins and you dont have to cripple em up. Trainer gets paid and taxes get written off. Thats what its all about these days.
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Some do well, and some don't. Maybe there is an ebb and flow to it. Log the sales results, get the winter training roster from all the major training centers (some trainers won't show up on those because their facility doesn't publish one), and track the results. Top trainers start out with more than just what they/their owners purchased, because many are also sent horses (homebreds). Alagna is a good example. He's been sent some regally bred horses for years now. Good horseman, good trainer, but Tony has simply had a bad run. Even his owners say so, LOL. His earning were over $9m at one time. That dropped to 7 and change, 5 and change, and this year, he's what? Sure, there's reasons, but at the heart of it, he's simply had a bad run.
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alagna stable looses between 5 and 6 million annualy witch is about normal for colt trainers
Normal for "colt trainers" to lose between 5 & 6 million yearly?
Are you talking thoroughbreds perhaps?
What other standardbred trainers burn through that much money every year?
Harris' cash cow would lose a couple mill but 5/6 is a huge net loss
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Normal for "colt trainers" to lose between 5 & 6 million yearly?
Are you talking thoroughbreds perhaps?
What other standardbred trainers burn through that much money every year?
Harris' cash cow would lose a couple mill but 5/6 is a huge net loss
Not normal. Doesn't happen. No trainer can afford their business to lose $5m annually.
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Normal for "colt trainers" to lose between 5 & 6 million yearly?
Are you talking thoroughbreds perhaps?
What other standardbred trainers burn through that much money every year?
Harris' cash cow would lose a couple mill but 5/6 is a huge net loss
It is possible to burn through that kind of cash. Simple math will tell you 100 horses @ 5 grand per month for 1 year is 6 million and I didn't even factor in purchase price.
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alagna stable looses between 5 and 6 million annualy witch is about normal for colt trainers
Where did you get this information? Hearsay?
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Alagna's earnings right now are under $1.5m, which is barely top 25, and Nancy is around $1.7m, so she isn't having a very good year either (the last couple of years she was well over $6m for the year). Burke is over $15m so far. Of course that doesn't relate to profitability.
Like I said, Tony's had a bad run. It's obvious. Unfortunately, this is a very bad year so far. But, obviously, if you add up all (purchase) prices on all babies sent to him (don't forget the homebreds), all in costs for training, racing, and staking, there is no shot that number is black for the 2024-25 season. But that's not some simple equation for him personally making or losing money, nor is it for the business itself. However, obviously he can't be doing anywhere near as well as in previous years simply because of his earnings. Maybe some owners made money, but plenty did not. That will drive his business. I won't speak to whether Tony makes any profit on his daily rate, but any and every trainer makes their money on their percentage, and his ain't good this year. Burke has a very different business model. So does Svanstedt.
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In an interview earlier this year Burke said his monthly expenses are around 1 million.
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In an interview earlier this year Burke said his monthly expenses are around 1 million.
Not surprised at all.
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none of alagnas owners are anywhere close to breaking even in 2025( 2024 and 2023 for that matter)
high purchase prices, high expenses and very poor performances
at lexington alone in 2023 spent $4.6 m plus what some owners bought on their own plus the homebreds from brittany and caviart and a lesser spend at harrisburg
in 2024 lexington declined to $2.3 m and add in the same extras as above
nooooobody close to making money
lots have been sold and there will be more in the next few weeks and at harrisburg i would imagine
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none of alagnas owners are anywhere close to breaking even in 2025( 2024 and 2023 for that matter)
high purchase prices, high expenses and very poor performances
at lexington alone in 2023 spent $4.6 m plus what some owners bought on their own plus the homebreds from brittany and caviart and a lesser spend at harrisburg
in 2024 lexington declined to $2.3 m and add in the same extras as above
nooooobody close to making money
lots have been sold and there will be more in the next few weeks and at harrisburg i would imagine
This is how Burke makes so much money:
https://racing.ustrotting.com/goto.aspx?target=12,101163
Ae made almost $90K in that race while none of the other trainers listed in this thread were anywhere to be found.
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you are not wrong Kenny, burke is taking over ohio and really handing it to the smaller local owners/trainers who now can go race in the buckeye or the fairs
in fairness to the other trainers, ake is trotters and alagna and Nancy dont really participate in Ohio
but i get your point
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By the way, I have no idea if it's true, but a major NJ trainer told me Tony's farm is still for sale, and thought there was a price drop last week.
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Ake has unlimited funds behind him. The Swedes live and die for trotters. He also produces. It's Amazing how his horses are in race-day form when they qualify and even after long layoffs. Burke's business is fantastic, as he deals with all kinds of horses and has barns all over the country. Melander also has the Swedish influence behind him and gets results. Alagna has been in a slump for a couple of years. A bad one. I don't care how much money a person has; no one wants to lose money. I see him donsizing in a big way.
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Alagna has not had results in 2025. Under 1.5 million is weak. He did almost 5.5 million in 2024 & about 7.5 million in 2023.
Takter did over 6 million in 2023 & 2024. 1.7 million in 2025 is not good.
Ake did close to 10 million in 2023 & over 8 million in 2024. Won the Hambo in 2025...but sitting at 3.3 million.