October
MarchMug's game
With a number of the 2012 yearling sales now already conducted, there’s one thing I’m sure of — you don’t want to be a small-time breeder.
It amazes me how, year after year, we are told how the yearling sales have been pretty good. Pretty good for whom? Definitely not for the majority of the breeders.
Do the sums, people. The majority of the yearlings are sold at a loss.
By the time you deduct the enormous costs associated with the auction of the yearling, the majority don’t even cover the stallion’s stud fee.
Add to that the cost of keeping the mare and foal for more than a year, as well as the sale preparation, and you have made a substantial loss.
As for getting a return on your mare, forget that. No wonder the Australian Taxation Office is so reluctant to allow small-time breeders to register as businesses.
East Bentleigh (Vic)