Invest Where Racing Matters

Australia will host a race worth a million dollars or more every 3.8 days in 2024, while prizemoney across the country has soared 45% in the past five years.

These statistics and more are included in the latest Aushorse Investor’s Guide, which was released this week.

The Guide – which pulls together the latest information on the Australian thoroughbred industry – is essential reading for anybody involved in racing or breeding globally. Another key statistic out of the guide is the average prizemoney per race in Australia – an impressive $50,800.

And it is not just in prizemoney that Australia leads the way, but also the quality of racing: in four of the past five years Australia has hosted more of the top rated Group One races than any other jurisdiction.

“It’s incredible that there are close to 100 races worth a million dollars or more next year, but it’s also really important that the average race value has also soared, giving all owners a chance to get a return on their investment,” says Tom Reilly, chief executive of Aushorse.

“As we have seen with the recent breeding stock sales in the northern hemisphere, the top end of the market is very buoyant and Australia offers those high end investors a wonderful opportunity. What’s more, as anyone who went to a major race meeting during spring would testify, racing is very much part of the Australian way of life.”

Despite the riches on offer, the Guide shows that it is more affordable to invest in Australia than in Europe or North America, with the price of the top colts and fillies significantly lower than in other yearling markets.

Looking at average prices for the top 50 colts and fillies over the past five years, Australia (US$764,986 colts, $573,976 fillies), compares favourably with Europe (US$966,699 colts, $858,045 fillies) and America (US$1,049,733 colts, $834,250 fillies).​

Among the other important statistics in the Investor’s Guide is the fact that a greater proportion of Group One winners are offered for sale in Australia than other countries.

“The guide gets a huge amount of cut through, especially with people overseas,” says Aushorse chairman, Antony Thompson. “If you’re investing in a significant scale in the global bloodstock industry, then the Guide makes clear that you really need to be involved here.”

The Investor’s Guide was originally produced with an international audience in mind, but has proved to be an important marketing tool for trainers, syndicators and bloodstock agents.

“The feedback we get from leading trainers, syndicators and agents is that the guide is something they look forward to sharing with their clients. With the sales season just around the corner, it provides a compelling case for racehorse ownership,” adds Reilly.

The Investor’s Guide is available at investorsguide.aushorse.com.au and has been designed to be easily viewed from mobile devices.

“With a million dollar race every 3.8 days and average race prizemoney of over $50,000, the Investor’s Guide does a great job of selling the Australian thoroughbred industry to Magic Millions clients, no matter whether they are buying at the top end of our Gold Coast Yearling Sale or trying to find another Group One winner from our diverse Australia wide yearling sale series,” says Magic Millions managing director, Barry Bowditch.

Inglis chief executive of bloodstock sales, Sebastian Hutch, also complimented the publication, saying: “The Investor’s Guide does a great job selling the Australian thoroughbred industry to both international and domestic audiences. It contains so much compelling information.

“It is referenced right throughout the year by the Inglis Team when discussing the Australian bloodstock market with both domestic and international participants or prospective participants. It is without doubt the most effective document of its kind that I have seen published anywhere in the world.”

As well as being available in a digital version, printed copies of the Investor’s Guide will be posted with the Aushorse annual magazine to some 4,500 major players in the global bloodstock industry. The Guide is also translated into Chinese and sent to every owner in Hong Kong, as well as many of the major owners in mainland China.