Out on a Limb part 2

In July of 2009, I wrote a piece about some horses in the Fasig-Tipton sale that I liked. I thought I would look up what became of them and see how good of an “eye” I have at picking horses.

Hip: 169 – I wrote:

“Bay Colt out of Bernardini / Lyphard’s Delta, a late foal, foaled the 6th of May probably attributed to his slightly smaller stature. But other than that he certainly looked the part of a race horse, sharp eye, smooth (and I mean smooth) mover, nice knees, I would be surprised if this horse doesn’t win some big races, apparently others had the same thought as he sold for $350,000”.

His name now is “Biondetti”. To date he has ran four times winning three (including a Group one race) and won over three hundred thousand. Here is a link to his page:
http://godolphin.com/HorseDetail.aspx?cid=1_2_1&id=864


Out on the limb Grade: A

Ok, not to blow my own horn here but I think I nailed that one pretty good. One for one on the limb lets see who’s next.


Hip: 313 – I wrote:


“Chestnut Colt out of Posse / Cash Flow, this is Cash Flow’s first foal, her dam Capestele a Black Type mare, has had 15 foals with 14 to race all of them have been winners. He was very well balanced, a good mover with perfect knees, and a big chest; in fact his chest may have been too big as his front hooves when he walked were a little too far apart as they came down. One last very distinguishing note about him his attitude, this horse had a “TUDE,” during the entire showing he was working hard trying to bite his handler while looking at me as if to say “what the hell do you want, get out of here.” I asked the handler if he was difficult to handle, he turned his head to look away and no, no, he’s nice, over by the barn however my wife heard another handler mumble, “nasty that’s what HE is.” I think if the right trainer could get him to focus that nasty attitude toward the track he’d be a nice allowance horse (or even more) that could win his share of races. Apparently no one else agreed with me on this one as his reserve was not met”.


His name is now “Kid Curry”. To date he has ran three times winning once and earned over twenty three thousand.


Out on the limb Grade: A-

I thought he would make a good allowance horse and so far he’s doing that. Time will tell if he be able to move up or to the claiming ranks.


Hip: 128 – I wrote:

“Bay Colt out of A.P. Warrior / Girl Gone Crazy, this is a big good looking Colt. His body is perfectly put together, very nice mover, very smooth, very balanced, he possesses what my friend Bob Feld described as a “Racy Look” this horse looks like he can run. Wouldn’t surprise me to see this horse in some higher level stakes races in a year or two, he sold for $85,000 to Divine Assetts.”

His name now is “Hawk Warrior”. At the Fasig sale he sold for eighty five thousand. He was then resold in March of this year for over three hundred thousand. He has since been shipped to Japan. Where according to “Thoroughbred Data Base” he has ran once and won once. No dollar amount has been listed on TDB as to his earnings.


Out on the limb Grade: A

Though we are yet to have a good look at what he can do on the track as far as pinhooking he was a dream come true. Who wouldn’t spend a hundred thousand or so with expenses, to make over three hundred thousand?


Hip: 395 – I wrote:


“Dark Bay/Brown Colt out of Medaglia D'oro / Honeycomb Gus, a January foal he’s had plenty of time to grow, and he has. He’s a bull of a horse, perfect balance, perfect legs, huge barrel chest, long thick neck, sharp eye. He’s named Standing O and for good reason, he deserves a standing ovation just by the way he looks. I can see him winning stakes races and going on to a successful stud career. Apparently others had a similar assessment as he sold for $250,000.”
So far “Standing O” has yet to race. Looking back I think I was more influenced by the lunch I had with Barry Irwin on the day he bought him then I was by the horse. Note to self: Make your own decisions and don’t let other influence you!


Out on a limb Grade: Incomplete

On one hand since he hasn’t ran yet we don’t know what he’s capable of doing. On the other hand since he hasn’t run yet we have to wonder if he’s capable of doing so.

Free Racehorses at Fasig-Tipton…Come get one…

(Editors note: this is a re-written article I posted some time back however due to the amount of people I encountered that did not know of this important tax incentive, and with Fasig-Tipton this weekend I felt it merited a re-print)

No, I’m not kidding. Section 179 of the Economic Stimulus Package allows for under certain parameters free racehorses. The IRS explains the stimulus package as follows:

The first incentive is the expensing allowance under Section 179, which allows horse owners who purchase horses or other business property and put it in service in 2009 to expense up to $250,000. A limit is in place such that if the total property purchased in the year exceeds $800,000, the expense allowance goes down a dollar for each dollar spent over $800,000.

The next continued incentive brings back the 50% first-year “bonus depreciation” for horses and most other depreciated property purchased and used in 2009. This incentive applies to horses and any other property with a useful life of 20 years or less. To take advantage of this depreciation the property must be “new,” meaning that its original use started with the owner taking the depreciation. “Original use” means the first purpose to which the property is put. Assume that in 2008, a horse business pays $500,000 for a colt to be used for racing and $50,000 for other depreciable property, bringing total purchases to $550,000. The young colt had never been raced or used for any other purpose before the purchase. The business would be able to expense $250,000 as a Section 179 deduction, deduct another $150,000 of bonus depreciation (50% of the remaining balance), and take regular depreciation on the $150,000 balance. As always speak with your tax professional, and if they have any questions the IRS is very willing to help.


This bill equates to a tremendous tax write off and benefit to Thoroughbred racing, which is why I’m trying so hard to get the word out about it. The benefit of this legislation to a sale like Fasig-Tipton could be magnanimous. In tough economic times when individuals tend to hold on to their funds tightly, the impact of knowing that they could take such tax breaks could immensely affect the bottom line at Fasig.