Australia provides incredible value, Aushorse Investors’ Guide shows
Aushorse, the Australian breeding industry’s global marketing arm, believes there is no better place to race a horse in the world than Down Under and the figures don’t lie.
The 2022 edition of the annual Aushorse Investors’ Guide, released yesterday, detailed the surging prize-money levels available in Australia and that an additional 73 horses took their earnings beyond $1 million to join the 89 in training who had already earned $1 million.
Another key statistic out of the Guide is that the average prize-money per race in Australia during the last racing season was over $46,000, compared to $29,000 in America and Europe and $20,000 in the UK, and one-in-175 horses racing in Australia had career earnings of more than $1 million last season.
Aushorse chief executive Tom Reilly said racing horses in Australia was compelling with the fact 72 races in Australia (49 in America and 18 in Europe) were run last season for $1 million in prize-money or more.
That number is expected to climb this season while prize-money levels have increased season-on-season for the past decade.
“One of the overwhelming take-outs of this is when you look at what people are paying for yearlings in other jurisdictions, Australia is dollar for dollar, guinea for guinea, incredible value,” Reilly told ANZ Bloodstock News.
“In terms of an increase on your capital outlay, we’ve got one of the most competitive markets for stallion prospects and, if you buy a nice filly and have some success, there’s huge demand for those mares off the track as well.
“Of course, we’re also very fortunate here having buyers in Hong Kong queuing up for any horse that shows above average ability.
“If you’re an investor taking a chance on a yearling, there’s a great opportunity to get a positive result (in Australia).”
Reilly said Australia’s reputation as a racing powerhouse in terms of return on investment to owners was seeing an increasing interest from international investors to participate in the industry.
“Aushorse regularly gets approached from potential investors often looking for more detailed analysis or figures around areas of the market they want to play in and I’ve had a number of groups approach me in the past month or two seeking more information as they want to become active down here,” he said.
“They’ve picked up on the messaging, they know there’s great prize-money and an opportunity for a great return and I think we’re only going to see more international investment.
“Even last year, with the challenge of Covid and almost no buyers whatsoever from overseas on the sales ground, the international spend was up.
“That is a great reflection of the way sales companies go about their job but also the way in which Aushorse has framed that narrative.
“It is the best place in the world to race a horse.”
The Guide also revealed that the average price for the top 50 colts and fillies over the past five years, Australia (US$734,471 colts, $516,297 fillies), compares favourably with Europe (US$951,355 colts, $946,523 fillies) and America (US$963,460 colts, $797,640 fillies).
“The competitive tension between racing jurisdictions in Australia, combined with the significant growth of wagering on racing, has seen prize-money rise across all levels but it’s really exploded at that top level,” Reilly said.
“Those million dollar races have doubled in six years and we already know that it’s going to go up again in 2022.”
In Australia, the report detailed, a greater proportion of Group 1 winners are also available to buy, with three-quarters of all last season’s locally-bred top flight winners having been offered as a yearling, compared to 66 per cent in America and 55 per cent in Europe.
Australia also has more than 100,000 individual owners, or one in 254 adults in the country having a share in a horse.
To read the report, click here.