14/08/2026
Very true !!
That is why we retrain them because they can be Twice as Nice. đđ
WHAT DETERMINES A THOROUGHBREDâS VALUE AFTER RACING IN SOUTH AFRICA?
A Thoroughbred can be worth hundreds of thousands, and sometimes even millions, of rands as a racing prospect. Yet when that same horse reaches the end of its racing career, its value can change dramatically. The reason is simple: the moment a Thoroughbred leaves racing, it enters an entirely different market.
The racing industry values pedigree, racing potential, performance, breeding prospects and bloodlines. The general equestrian market looks at the horse very differently. Buyers want to know whether the horse is sound, safe, sensible, suitable for their level of riding, whether it passes a vetting, whether it can hack, jump or compete, and what discipline it could realistically excel in. Increasingly, another question is also influencing the South African market: how many suitable Thoroughbreds are actually available?
There are fewer Thoroughbreds coming through the system than there were years ago. According to the National Horseracing Authorityâs 2025 Annual Report, South Africaâs Thoroughbred foal crop declined from approximately 2,730 foals in 2005 to 1,850 in 2025, a reduction of 32.2%. Fewer horses being bred ultimately means fewer horses entering racing and, in time, fewer Thoroughbreds becoming available for second careers. When supply drops and demand remains strong, prices naturally start to rise.
So what does a Thoroughbred cost straight off the track in South Africa? At the monthly Bloodstock auction, the reserve price for a Thoroughbred is generally around R10,000. A sound Thoroughbred being sold straight off the track will generally start at around R20,000 upwards, although this can vary considerably from horse to horse. Factors that influence that starting price include soundness, height, colour, breeding, temperament, location, current market demand and overall appearance.
A large, attractive, sound Thoroughbred with desirable colouring, good breeding and a good temperament may attract significantly more interest than another horse leaving racing at the same time. That does not necessarily make one horse better than the other. It simply makes one horse more commercially desirable to the current market.
Soundness remains one of the biggest determining factors in value. A horse leaving racing because it simply does not have enough racing ability is a very different proposition from a horse retiring because of a significant injury. A sound horse offers a buyer far more options, whether that future lies in showjumping, eventing, dressage, polo, showing, equitation, hacking or pleasure riding.
A horse with a previous injury may still have an excellent second career, but the range of suitable disciplines may be narrower. This is why transparency around the reason for retirement matters so much. A Thoroughbred that simply was not fast enough may turn out to be exactly what someone else is looking for. A failed racehorse is not necessarily a failed horse. It may simply be better suited to a completely different job.
Temperament can also become worth more than pedigree once racing ends. A horse may come from fashionable bloodlines, but the average riding horse buyer wants to know whether that horse is sensible, trainable and enjoyable to own. A Thoroughbred that hacks quietly, loads, stands for the farrier, travels well, settles away from home, is willing to work and has a good brain can become extremely valuable in the riding horse market.
Height, colour and market demand also play a bigger role than many people like to admit. Horse buying is not purely practical. Buyers have preferences. Some want tall Thoroughbreds, some prefer compact horses, some love greys, others want dark bays, chestnuts, blacks or horses with striking markings. Certain heights and colours simply attract more enquiries. None of that necessarily determines ability, but it absolutely affects demand, and demand affects price.
Breeding still matters after racing, but it matters differently. A racing buyer may study generations of pedigree before making a purchase, while the riding horse buyer is more interested in how the horse feels to ride, whether it is sound, what its temperament is like and what it can realistically do. Certain bloodlines still create interest, especially among polo players and retrainers who have had success with particular families, but pedigree alone will not carry a horse in the second career market.
Retraining is where significant value can be created. A sound five year old Thoroughbred straight off the track may be worth around R20,000 because there are still many unknowns. Can he hack? Can he jump? Will he settle? Will he work correctly on both reins? How will he behave away from home? Can an amateur ride him?
Now take that same horse six months later. He has been professionally retrained, hacks alone and in company, works correctly in walk, trot and canter, has started jumping, travels well, has been to outings and has proven his temperament under a different type of workload. The horse has not suddenly become a different animal, but the uncertainty around him has reduced, and reduced risk has value.
Eventually, that Thoroughbred is no longer being sold simply as an off track racehorse. He becomes a showjumper, an eventer, a polo pony, a dressage horse, a showing horse, an equitation horse or a reliable all rounder. Once he develops a credible second career record, his racing history becomes part of his story rather than the main thing determining his price.
There are also other forces pushing Thoroughbred prices up in South Africa. One of them is the increasing number of agents and professional buyers approaching trainers directly and offering to purchase several horses, or in some cases all the horses a trainer wants to move, regardless of whether every individual horse may ultimately be ideally suited to a second career.
Commercially, it is easy to understand why trainers accept these offers. A buyer who is prepared to pay immediately and take several horses creates certainty and convenience. But it also changes the market. A person looking for one carefully selected Thoroughbred is no longer necessarily competing only against another rider. They may be competing against professional buyers acquiring horses in volume.
That competition can push acquisition prices upward and can also mean that desirable horses are purchased before they ever reach the ordinary off track market. There is nothing inherently wrong with professional agents buying and reselling Thoroughbreds. Good agents and retrainers can play an important role in identifying horses, transitioning them correctly and placing them in suitable homes. The important question is how those horses are selected and where they ultimately go.
Buying horses should never become purely a numbers exercise where suitability for life after racing becomes secondary to turnover.
Auctions are also changing the price dynamic. By their nature, auctions establish value through competition between bidders. The highest bidder, subject to the auction conditions and reserve, is generally the buyer. That is normal auction economics, but when horses leaving racing are involved it raises a legitimate welfare question.
Should financial ability alone determine who gets the horse?
The person willing to pay the most is not automatically the person offering the best long term home. A Thoroughbred leaving racing may require experienced handling, correct facilities, turnout, careful nutrition, farrier management, veterinary support, professional retraining, a suitable rider and time. Some horses transition easily. Others need months before they are ready for an ordinary riding home.
The highest bid and the best home are not always the same thing.
When all of these factors are put together, the movement in Thoroughbred prices becomes easier to understand. There are fewer horses being bred. There are professional buyers and agents competing to acquire them. There are auction platforms creating direct bidding competition. There are polo buyers, sport horse buyers, amateur riders and retrainers all looking for the right horse. At the same time, there are fewer suitable, sound Thoroughbreds available at any one time.
Economically, the result is predictable. The price of the desirable off track Thoroughbred starts to rise.
That is not necessarily a bad thing. In many ways, higher values can be positive. Thoroughbreds have often been undervalued compared with the cost of breeding, raising, training and maintaining them. A horse having meaningful financial value can also discourage impulsive purchases and encourage more investment in professional assessment, retraining, veterinary work and better marketing.
The problem starts when price becomes more important than placement.
A more expensive Thoroughbred is not automatically a safer Thoroughbred, and the highest paying buyer is not automatically the right buyer. The South African racing industry itself has acknowledged that retirement and rehoming remain important welfare issues and that the best possible outcomes for horses leaving racing should remain part of the conversation.
So what determines a Thoroughbredâs value after racing in South Africa? It is a combination of soundness, temperament, height, colour, breeding, location, market demand, appearance, whether the horse passes a vetting, what training it has had, what it has proven it can do, and how much competition there is to buy that horse before it reaches the open market.
Perhaps the discussion should not simply be about why Thoroughbreds are becoming more expensive. The better question is whether their value is increasing because they are being better assessed, better retrained and better represented, or whether the starting price is simply being pushed up because more people are competing to buy them.
And as those prices rise, welfare still has to remain part of the equation.
A higher market value for South African Thoroughbreds can be a very good thing. These horses deserve recognition for their athleticism, courage and versatility beyond racing. But value cannot only be measured in rands.
The real success of the post racing Thoroughbred market will be whether good horses receive fair prices, sellers receive fair value, buyers receive honest information and the individual horse still ends up in the home best suited to its future.
Because when racing ends, the horseâs value should not disappear. It should simply be measured differently.
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