by Bob Carson

Editor’s Note: The USTA Web site is pleased to present freelance writer Bob Carson and his popular “Outside the Box” features. This monthly series is a menu of outlandish proposals presented with a wink — but the purpose behind them is serious. The views contained in this column are that of the author alone, and do not necessarily represent the opinions or views of the United States Trotting Association.

“Few people do business well who do nothing else.” — Lord Chesterfield

“I’m spending a year dead for tax reasons.” — Douglas Adams

“Few great men would have gotten past personnel.” — Paul Goodman

Bob Carson

Business people would find harness racing a wonderful challenge. The skills and challenges of real business transfer well to the quasi-business of harness racing.

Let’s be upfront, liquidating your assets and diving headlong into the harness racing game is not recommended. Harness racing is not on the rise, the current players are tough, sharp cookies and the odds are against you. However, if you are a business person who is in the market for a fascinating sideline, the odds are excellent for a great ride. You can get into our game as an owner, trainer, breeder, or handicapper. You can buy, sell or gamble. We are a wheeler-dealer paradise.

To non-business people, pork bellies, hedge funds, credit swaps, portfolios and commodity futures can be intimidating. Many of us get nervous when we overhear a discussion about Standard & Poor’s. Still, everyone knows that life is more than dollars and sense. Not every investment you make needs to be well researched and reasonable.

Autumn Ryan graphic

Business oriented people should consider taking a dance with a long shot. Playing the harness race game is worth every penny. Forget the bottom line. Don’t be one of those traditional investors or businessmen always expecting to turn a huge profit. This is stressful. Who needs stress? It is best to keep perspective in the harness racing market; we are part diversion, part entertainment and part sport. We are excitement and dreams masquerading as a business. If you keep us in perspective, the joys, challenges and entertainment in harness racing are amazing and can last a lifetime.

As all business folks know, numbers can be deceiving. For example, over the past decade I have sent much of my disposable income to the harness racing game. Therefore, I did not have enough left over to invest in several traditional investment opportunities; real estate in Florida, a Beanie Baby store, Bernie Madoff and Bear Stearns stock. While my bottom line in harness racing has been a touch sad, sinking my money in these endeavors would have been tragic.

For now, let’s take a look at horse ownership, an area of harness racing that offers a transfer of real world business skills to the horse world. What could you expect if you decide to buy a racehorse, or if you decided to set up a syndicate of people to purchase a racehorse or two?

Esthetically, horse ownership is more rewarding than mutual funds, failing businesses or commodity trading. When you buy a yearling (technical term for a baby horse) you get to name the animal. This is fun. For the next several years you get to refer to your investment in specific terms like, Balls of Fire or Falling Yen. Psychological studies show it is much more therapeutic to rant at a living creature as opposed to an investment counselor or a computer screen.

Your investment in a horse is a much more tangible asset than 401K’s. You can go to the stables and stroke the massive velvety heads of Balls of Fire and Falling Yen every day. You can watch the animals consume huge buckets of feed (which you are paying for), then poop impressive piles of manure (which you are paying to have shoveled up and removed). You can even be a “hands on owner” and jog Balls of Fire and Falling Yen. Jogging your horse investment is pleasurable. Try jogging a hedge fund.

When you enter the high-risk world of horse racing, every day you meet characters that look like they are on a casting call for Guys and Dolls. You get to select one of these folks as an employee (trainer). You also get the chance to travel to semi-exotic locations. If you are a research kind of person, you can delve into the netherworld of pedigrees, partnerships and past performance.

Now let’s look at the big picture of horse ownership. I will give you some specific facts and figures that are relatively accurate. I reviewed these figures with a few racetrack citizens (horsemen and railbirds) who have been in the horse racing game since the Pleistocene age, and they all nodded in agreement.

Of each 100 yearling horses that are purchased at public horse auctions in hopes of training and then racing for money, only about 50 percent will prove to be speedy enough to race for money. The act of proving your horse is fast enough to race for money is called qualifying. You cannot race for money (purses and stakes) until your horse qualifies. It will take at least seven to nine months of training, growing and practicing until your investment can attempt to qualify and begin to show any profit.

Of the 50 horses that qualify to race, a large percentage will never win a race or earn any significant money. Perhaps 25 percent will make enough money to cover their expenses. Of the original 100 horses, maybe 5 percent will make big money. Maybe 1 percent will make a pile of money. Smart business people or horse people may nudge the percentages up slightly, but there is a lot of luck in the formula for a successful racehorse.

At first blush these odds do not look very favorable, but a good financial advisor can put a positive spin on these woeful numbers. Compared to the lottery, today’s stock market, video poker and your condominium in Las Vegas investing in a horse is a sure thing. Never forget the petting, pooping, cheering, people, aromas, naming and other emotional perks that owning your own racehorse entails. And never forget this — as a business person, deep down you believe that with smart management and hard work you can beat the odds. And some of you will.

Here is the bottom line: If you are a business person with a smidgen of disposable income, buying a harness horse is amazingly simple and tremendously fun. You can use some of the principles from your business world experiences to operate your own private sports franchise.

Don’t be intimidated, it’s easy and the people in this strange little world are terrific. If you go to the United States Trotting Association website you can click on a link that will get you started. If you want to have a great time this may be the best investment you ever make.

Author’s Note: This is the latest artice in my “Pay It Forward” series.

Hopefully you will find the unusual articles mildly interesting, but they will be aimed at diverse groups such as unsuspecting business people, internet gamers, retirees, crossword puzzle solvers, Bolivians, casino players, etc. These articles will attempt to nudge these groups to take a look at harness racing — but they cannot nudge if they are not read.

When these unorthodox pieces appear on the USTA Web site, your task is to send them on their way to any possible person who does not know about our wonderful sport.