The essential elements for a successful yearling to two year old pinhook are fairly obvious: a fast work, solid conformation, and a clean bill of health. These variables are far from being a secret and generally aren’t subject to fluctuation. They are the cornerstones for a profitable pinhooking venture.
But research indicates there is a set of contributing variables which widen or narrow profit margins. The research also indicates that being mindful of these variables during the yearling sales can increase a pinhooker’s bottom line by as much 30% the following spring.
To identify these variables and measure their impact on an investor’s pocketbook, we analyzed 571 two year olds from this year’s Barretts March, OBS March, and OBS April sales. Juveniles were analyzed as a function of 21 variables including sex, state foaled, sire’s commercial appeal, black-type in female family, yearling purchase price, and the dam’s racing class.
As a whole, the average profit for our study group was a solid $23,358 after calculating total training expenses of $20,000, 10% commissions when selling at a two year old venue, and 5% in miscellaneous costs when the horse was purchased as a yearling.
When we started analyzing subsets (i.e. fillies with no black-type under the first two dams, progeny of non-commercial sires with solid preview times, etc), we discovered a tremendous swing in profit margins, both positive and negative. The overall average of $23,358 was doubled and sometimes tripled just by the presence of a few select variables.
For a detailed analysis of our findings including a full itemization of all 571 subject horses and a breakdown of variables most likely to produce the widest profit margins as well as the biggest pitfalls, click here.