owning a race horse

Question
My family and I have become very interested in owning a race horse or getting involved in the business. I was wondering how we would go about finding the right horse, the right trainer, and so forth to get started.  We live in Texas, so I was wondering if we should look a little closer to home or if it even matters when we are just looking to own.  I have grown up with showing horses in english and western competitions, so this would be a whole different look at the horse business for me.  If you have any helpful advice or comments, please email me at [email protected] and let me know what we could do.  Thanks for your help.
Casey Willingham

Answer
Dear Casey,
Great questions, already moving in the right direction.  Take a look at TOBA.com, the non-profit national new owners association (or greatestgame.com) for more information.  
At Dapple, 20 year old Lexington Kentucky full service agency, we direct new owners toward partnerships due to high costs association with keeping horses in training.  National average to keep a racehorse in training, whether it be a $8000 horse or a $180,000 horse, is $35,000 to include training, all board, vet, farrier, and vanning.  Racing regionally is rewarding for some because it allows one to avoid major travel to see/experience their investments, so I would then suggest local partnership with a trainer as one of the partners.  
Rule number two:  don't put all your eggs in one basket, Put three horse in training, instead of one, with the odds that one of the them will pay the way for all three through his race earnings, because one of the other two will not turn out to be a race horse.  Minimum capital requirement is whatever it costs to buy three regional horses and train them for 1.5 years (scary amount of money) or instead find a local partnership and estimate your share of the bloodstock and expenses for 1.5 years.
Finding a trainer is work, work that you have to do if go out on your own.  you need to isolate the geographical area and level at which you want to race, then read the DRF for trainer performance stats, and watch where they are racing their horses, then go hang out at the morning workouts and quietly watch them "at work" then pick three or so and request an interview" or a chance to meet and ask questions.  Select the one your gut tells you can ask all your bad questions to because you feel you can trust him/her.  Trust is key.
Try to attend seminars or network with other owners as often as possible before and after you begin to meet people you like and trust to learn more and gain further contacts.  Like many other ventures, it is about networking, which is really part of the fun.
You can visit our website or email with additional questions.  best wishes, Lora Brown
www.dapple.net