This is probably a question to be directed towards Boob but others might have some knowledge. Me and 4 of my mates are looking at forming a syndicate and buying a greyhound. One of my mate's done a heap of research into it and reckons the best way to go is to buy a dog that's already had a few starts for 3 or 4 grand. My questions are, does anyone with knowledge agree with this strategy, and secondly, how much should I be expecitng in upkeep costs per month. Also, how much are entry fees and that sort of shit?
My parents have a partial stake in a horse and it's incredibly hard not to lose money. I'm not too sure with the dogs, you'll be paying more than you'll win if I'd guess
We're more just doing it for the fun of it. Apparently if you get a racing dog in the country, you're pretty safe in terms of not losing the lot, but obv you're not going to win the cash that you might if you buy a pup and it turns into some brilliant racer.
Oh yeah, it's great fun. That's the way to go about it, if you're not rich or extremely lucky you're not going to get a champion, so you may as well have fun and see if it can pick up a few wins. The dogs are pretty random in winners, so you should be able to pick up a few cheap ones in the country. If you're doing it for the fun I'd highly recommend it, as long as you are prepeared to lose some cash.
We'll just win by getting inside info on when the trainer doesn;t feed it a meat pie before the race. Tank it for a while then let the odds blow out. Clearly the way to go.
Probably not much help with me being in the U.K, but my current dog is an ex-greyhound racer and I am involved a lot with the Retired Greyhound Trust here in the U.K The Greyhound stadium is about a 5 min walk from my house. Currently it costs around £30 to enter your dog in a bog-standard race. And the money for winning is £100 for 1st £75 for second & £30 for third....obviously for cup competitions or sponsored events it costs more to enter, but bigger prize funds. Upkeep wise for kennels (being housed at your local track/trainer) it's around £200 per month and that includes food. Then you pay for the vets fees/medical expenses on top. That might give you a rough idea....not sure if it's that different in OZ.
You're better off buying a pup with a good lineage. My mums BF got one for about a grand and after it's first trial he was offered 10. Now it's value is nearing 20.
I know a guy from the TAB who's a greyhound owner and trainer. I can ask him for you if you're that interested.
How long before they start racing? Are there initial costs that we wouldn't cop with buying a racing dog?
Do you have anything specific that you want to know? The guy's an Aussie too, so he should be able to give details on how things run over there. EDIT: Other than the questions you've asked in the opening post, obviously.
Just mainly the questions in this thread I think. How much should we spend t oget something half decent, how much will upkeep be. Just that sort of stuff.
Give me a couple of days and I'll see what I can do. The guy works shifts, so I doubt I'll get an immediate answer (though he could be working now, in theory)
E-mail answer from my mate at the TAB: Hey mate, happy to help out. Firstly, does your friend want to race his dog in Queensland or in New Zealand? If they wish to race in Queensland, I know of a trainer called XXXXXXXXXXXX. XXXXXXXXXXXXX knows him, but he is a respected trainer up there and not prone to ripping people off. He sent a dog called Terry Stanley recently to NZ for about $6,500, he has won $20k in about 25 starts. <O Here is what they should look for. You want a trainer who will train on a 50/50 basis. This means the trainer keeps half of the winnings, the owners get the other half, and the trainer covers all costs, food/travel/vet bills/nomination fees (if there are any). I like this way because if you go in and spend say $10k on a dog, you know it needs to earn $20k to break even, and anything more is cream on the top. <O The best option for these guys would be find a trainer in Oz who can supply them with a dog, or who can help pick one to buy that the chosen trainer thinks they can perform with (greyhound trainers can be wankers, even though you own the dog, they will consider it theirs, so generally keep your trainer happy and kiss his arse, it saves a lot of hassles. Trainers are not always too keen for input, they are a funny breed Then race the dog in Oz, if it turns out not to be successful, you can then send it to a NZ trainer (a couple of grand needed for the flight) where the dog will no doubt be more competitive (NZ racing much much weaker than Oz racing) and they can continue to watch it race as I believe all of NZ races are broadcast to Oz now. <O To buy a worthwhile dog to race in Oz, you would need at least $10k, but for that money you should get a pretty handy animal. For one to race in NZ you can probably halve the price and it would be equally competitve here. <O In summary <O Find a trainer who will train on a 50/50 basis <O Find a NZ trainer so if the dogs you buy are not up to expected standard, send them here to re-coop investment and to possible sell on. <O Important to decide where you want to race, and over what distance, this completely determines how much you would need to spend on a dog to be competitive. <O Sorry for waffling on, but I am a bit fragmented as am in the middle of trading a few, ----------------- He's keen to help if you have any more questions too. I've asked him for details of the guy whose name I've blocked out in case you want to speak to him directly. I reckon the idea that you can send the dog over to NZ for a 2nd bite of the cherry if it doesn't make the grade in Aus is a fantastic one, btw.
