To Bet Or Not To Bet -- The Owner's Dilemma

[Patuxet]

A horse of mine in his last win paid $44.40. I had nothing on him. It was his 5th start since his last win with no placing in between. By nature I'm not a betting man. Well, since I breed and race horses I suppose in that sense you could say I am.

Out of curiosity I wonder if other owners here as a matter of course (or rule of thumb) always bet on their horses? If so, how much; if not, how often and how much?

Thanks!

Allison

[Toccet02]

I would, and have. (I've only owned gifted shares so far.)
I have been at the track and seen grooms (I know because they had halters over their shoulders like knapsacks) betting at windows, and always wondered if they were betting on their charges, or someone else in the barn who looked better!!

[Toccet02]

Oh, and $50 to show, only when I think they really have a shot. Very cautious, me!

[madelyn]

Interestingly, I just Never Have Time. I am always busy with the horse. Having recently passed the trainer's test, it is interesting to note that it is against regulations in KY for a trainer to bet against the horse the trainer has entered in a race.

Back when I owned 10% of a filly, I bet $10 to win on her when, for the one and only time, everyone in the group listened to me and she ran a mile. I think I got a couple hundred back. I never bet her at 6f because she just was not a sprinter.

[Mac]

Patuxet, I've done very poorly betting on my own, like betting them to win and they've run second (and I didn't put down a place bet), or not getting around to betting and they win. But partly that's because I am a good drive from a racetrack and online options are tough for Texas bettors so its not easy to place bets anyway. So it hasn't worked out well for me, but one of my partners in California bets his horses and he does quite well I think.

Good luck figuring it out. Toccet's cautious approach would have helped me a lot My current horse in training has had SEVEN second place finishes out of 9 starts and I have been clobbered trying to bet him. But Toccet would have been fine

[LB]

We seldom bet on our own horses, unless we happen to think of it as soon as we get to the track. When race time comes, we're busy. And besides, as my husband always points out: we've already taken a huge gamble--we have the horse in the race.

[Jane]

I almost never bet on a race I'm running in. I always get nervous beforehand plus if my horse wins the race I get the purse money, if I bet and he runs poorly then I have lost twice.

Madelyn, I would have thought it was against the rules for any trainer to bet on horses other than his own, it is certainly that way in Ontario. I think you can include other horses in exotics but your horse has to be named on top. Is this really not the case everywhere?

[Maureen]

I usually bet 10 across...not that much to lose if they don't do well.

[geowarrior]

When I owned shares of horses I bet $2 across the board. I guess you could call me conservative, or cheap.

[ct2346]

I just had a 2yo filly break her mdn at 23-1. She came back and ran 5th in a nw2 at 4-1. Guess which time I bet and which I didn't.

[Mac]

I feel your pain. That has happened to me too many times.

[Joltman]

I too had the uncanny ability to bet on my horse only when ready to lose. And lose I did. But the occasional wins helped with our without my money on them.

jm

[Mood Swings]

Funny enough I never have bet on my own. I was told years ago that it would jinx the horse. I thought about betting my filly today as she was 15-1 but I realized my modest bet wouldn't earn me nearly as much as any breeders award, so I didn't bet and she won!!!

[geowarrior]

Well, congratulations are in order, even if you didn't bet.

[Sysonby]

Never. No matter what the horse is paying, there isn't a bet I could reasonably make that would equal the winning purse. It would give me another reason to feel bad about the loss and I couldn't feel better about a win.

So I see it as kind of pointless.