The Basics
Do I need to pay any additional fees after the initial purchase?
No, there are no out of pocket expenses after your initial purchase. The price of a share includes a prepaid amount for the care and training of the horse. In order to ensure the training and maintenance account maintains sufficient reserves race earnings are used to top off the account. In the event additional funds do need to be raised, MyRacehorse will have the option of issuing additional shares at whatever the market price is at that time.
Can I really make money by investing in a racehorse?
Yes! Your horse company is a for-profit entity. If the horse is ultimately profitable—which is measured against the cost of purchasing the horse, training, and maintenance, and other costs associated with operating the horse series company—you can expect to receive a dividend. Of course, there’s no guarantee that the horse will turn out to be profitable and in many cases horses are not profitable.
What are the risks of buying a micro share?
Horses are living, breathing, fragile animals and no guarantees can ever be made about the outcome of an investment in a racehorse. Most investments lose money, some break even, a few are profitable, and a select few are extremely profitable. We are here to provide a marketplace to make investing safe, secure and fun, but we are not removing the risk from racehorse ownership.
What are the benefits of buying a micro share?
Our goal is to enrich the horse racing experience for each investor. In addition to having an equity interest in the horse, we offer regular updates on how your horse is doing, free backside tours, farm tours, and events during morning workouts so you can watch your horse and chat with the trainer. When the horse races, you can gain access to the Winner’s Circle and enter a raffle for paddock access. We also have premium (paid) events on race day including owner-exclusive parties.
What does it mean to "Indicate Interest"?
When you click the Indicate Interest button, you’ll be added to our early access mailing list. We’ll send you an email before the offering is available to the public with a link to purchase shares. Emails are sent out in batches starting with those who Indicated Interest first, so the sooner you click Indicate Interest the sooner you’ll be given an opportunity to invest.
Why do I have to pay a transaction fee if I pay with Credit Card?
Our goal is to make horse ownership affordable for everyone. Rather than build the 3.5% transaction fee into our price, we’d like to give customers the option to avoid those fees by using a less expensive payment option like an ACH.
Product Types
Why are there different types of shares available?
As MyRacehorse continues to grow and expand we’ve had a large number of shareholders reach out interested in different types of ownership opportunities. As a result, in addition to our core micro-share offerings, we now have 1) digital bundles for owners who want to solely focus on the online experience and have a small investment across a number of horses, 2) our Edge program powered by MyRacehorse, for owners who are heavily interested in the in-person experience, and want to invest a significant amount in one horse, and 3) Leases, which are unique but offer most of the same perks as the traditional micro-share program.
You can find a quick rundown of the different types of shares we offer here
What’s a leased horse?
Leasing the racing rights of a horse has become increasing popular over the last 5 years and has been embraced by many of the industry’s biggest players. The lease is a straight forward agreement between the lessor (owner) and the lessee (lease holder) that specifies a lease price, the duration of the lease, and the percentage of the horse that is leased. Leased horses generally have proven success on the racetrack and established a significant residual value as either a broodmare or stallion prospect.
It is important to note that owners acquire horses for various reasons. Many owners are interested in breeding their stock, more than racing them. Other owners focus solely on racing operations and are in the market to sell their stock to breeders at the end of their horse’s racing career. Leases are a good way to marry these two parties together. An owner who acquires a horse in the midst of their racing career for the sake of breeding may look to enter into a lease to offset some of the cost of their initial investment, while giving the lessee a chance to run after significant purse money in stakes races.
The lease affords the lessee access to top quality racing stock at a fraction of the cost of the horse’s full value, since they do not share in the residual value at the conclusion of the horse’s career. They do however get to campaign a top-quality horse, and reap the benefits of the purse money won throughout that campaign.
In the case of MyRacehorse, the lower acquisition cost translates into a lower share price, which affords the investors a greater chance for a positive return on their investment. Since there is no breeding rights as a part of the lease, the return on investment will be based strictly on the horse’s performance on the racetrack for the lease period.
Buying Shares
Who can buy shares?
Anyone over the age of 18 from a qualifying jurisdiction can purchase shares, as long as their investments do not exceed 10% of their annual income or 10% of total assets.
Where can I find MyRacehorse offerings?
Most of our horses can be found on the Buy page of our website. For horses that are in rehab, they are still available to invest in, but must be accessed through a direct link to the listing. We currently have two horses who are qualified but taking time off, if you’re interested, you can click here to invest in Our Miss Jones 19 or Straight No Chaser.
Can I share an account with another person?
The name on your account is used to report your payouts to the IRS at the end of the year, so it’s important that only one name is associated with each account. That being said, you’re welcome to share your login information with friends of loved ones, and if your friend has a MyRacehorse account, you can contact support@myracehorse.com, we can add them to our mailing list for email updates about your horses.
Can I buy shares for someone else?
Due to securities regulations, shares cannot be purchased for other people, however MyRacehorse does offer gift cards that you can buy for someone else.
Can I buy more shares in a horse once I’ve already invested?
Yes, if there are still shares available and you haven’t hit our investment cap, you’re welcome to purchase more. The only limit is that your total active investments through MyRacehorse should not exceed 10% of your annual income or total assets.
What happens when a horse races if it still has shares available for purchase?
If one of our horses is about to race and shares are still available, we’ll take the listing down at post time. Once the race is over, our team will review the race results and check in with the trainer to confirm that the horse came out of the race in good standing.
If we believe the initial offering is still a fair valuation, we’ll make shares available for purchase again at the same price point within a few days of the race. If our team determines that the race had a significant impact on the valuation of the horse, and as a result the initial share price no longer fairly represents the value of this offering, we will stop offering shares in that series. Management might look into offering the series at a new price. A new price would be subject to qualification by the SEC.
How do Investment Caps work?
We’ve begun using a standard 1% share cap (on the total available shares) per person during the early access period. Once the early access period ends, the investment cap will be increased, and individuals can purchase up to a 2.99% stake in the applicable horse or horses.
For special circumstances, MyRacehorse does reserve the right to implement the limited number share cap versus the percentage share cap on some of our more high-profile offerings such as Monomoy Girl.
Our mission is to make horse ownership available to everyone at the highest level of the sport and to help introduce more individuals to the sport! Using a share cap helps us reach that goal.
For those interested in more exclusive offerings with smaller groups and more frequent access, MyRacehorse now offers our Edge program. Edge offers ownership at the 5%-10% level. If you’d like to learn more, please feel free to reach out to our MyRacehorse Edge racing manager, Joe Moran, at moran@myracehorse.com.
Can I sell my shares?
We have seen a surge in transfer requests and several of the methods of solicitation have drawn concern. Therefore we have recently amended our terms regarding the transfer of MyRacehorse shares.
For the past several months we have been very aggressively working on the development of a safe, transparent and regulated environment for those looking to trade and transfer shares. We believe providing liquidity is valuable, but only within an environment that has strict governance over the entire process and provides complete transparency and regulatory compliance. We expect to have a solution in place within the next few months. In the meantime, all transfer requests must meet one of the following criteria:
-The transfer is a gift with no financial consideration
-Both MyRacehorse investors have agreed to a purchase price, and the seller has disclosed the original share price and the current reserve to the buyer
The following is not permitted:
-Use of general solicitation (no marketing or advertising the shares for sale, this includes but is not limited to social media and paid advertising)
-Transferring a share for financial consideration of an open/active offering or for a horse that is currently in rehabilitation.
All transactions must be executed by delivering the transfer forms to transfers@myracehorse.com. You can request the current reserve status via support@myracehorse.com
Here are links to download the transfer paperwork for the buyer and seller.
How many shares can I buy?
There is no minimum and the maximum is 10% of your annual income or total assets.
Why can't my investments exceed 10% of my annual income or 10% of total assets?
As a qualified security under Regulation A with the Securities Exchange Commision this is one of the investor requirements. No investor may invest in our securities if the investment on the platform exceeds 10% of annual income or net worth, whichever is greater. You will be prompted each time you invest on MyRacehorse (before checkout) to certify the investment you are intending to make meets this criteria.
How is a share's price determined?
There are four parts to an offering:
The Horse – This is exactly how much was paid for the horse via private purchase, claim, or auction.
Acquisition Costs- This is all of the fees that are associated with acquiring the horse and getting them ready to race. It includes expenses like sales & use tax, insurance, transportation, veterinarian expenses, bloodstock fee, and a few months (usually 4) of initial training cost. This account is a cash reserve account, so anything that isn’t used is returned pro rata to investors.
Prepaid Training – This covers training and care of the racehorse. It can cover anywhere from 4-18 months worth of expenses, depending on the horse. This is a cash reserve account, so anything that isn’t used is returned pro-rata to investors.
Management Fee – This is the MyRacehorse fee to acquire the horse, offer it via micro-shares on MyRacehorse.com, and handle the behind the scenes logistics of managing a race horse.
Can I name a beneficiary to inherit my shares?
Yes. Right now the best way to name beneficiaries for your shares in your will. Moving forward, we’re working on updates to the MyRacehorse app and website that will allow owners to name their beneficiary through the account page.
What are MyRacehorse’s fees on each listing?
There are never any mark-ups on the horse or their expenses, you pay exactly what we pay. There is a separate one time 15% diligence fee on a closed offering and a 10% fee of gross earnings that covers the ongoing management of the series.
What type of ownership stake am I buying?
You are buying a stock in a particular series of an LLC that has been validly issued in compliance with applicable securities laws. We establish a series for each horse offered, and stock in that series is what’s being sold.
Are these real shares? Who is the regulating agency for them?
These are genuine shares issued either under a state permit or through a Regulation A offering.
Am I buying shares in MyRacehorse?
No. MyRacehorse is a manager of the horse companies and handles the offerings. Experiential Squared, Inc. DBA MyRacehorse itself is a separate company from the horse companies.
Do I get a K-1 or 1099 if there are dividends or profits?
If your horse has payouts you’ll receive a 1099-DIV. The intent is for these investment price points to be within reach of the average person – true crowdfunding of racehorses. To ease the tax filing burden, the horse series will issue 1099s.
Horse Ownership
How are horses selected?
All horses listed on MyRacehorse undergo an exhaustive diligence process, that includes a veterinarian check, conformation assessment, and value assessment that includes pedigree analysis, race history, remaining conditions, and several other factors that determine the fair market value of a horse. Only horses that meet the vet, conformation and value assessment requirements are eligible to be listed on MyRacehorse. However exhaustive our diligence process is, no guarantees can be made in terms of how successful they will be on the race track. Our goal is to use the best practices, partner with credible horsemen, and be rigorous with our diligence/assessments, but there will always be an element of risk.
How often will I get updates about my horse?
We strive to provide updates every week, but some horses will update more or less frequently. Ultimately, it depends on the horse’s trainer and ownership group.
How do I join the Facebook group for my horse?
Most MyRacehorse horses have their own owner-exclusive facebook groups. You can find these groups through the “groups” section on the MyRacehorse Facebook page. When you join, you’ll be prompted to enter in the order number for your share to verify your owner status. That order number can be found at the top of the email we sent you to confirm that your order was placed.
If you no longer have a copy of your order confirmation email, you can also find this number by going to the account section of our website, then selecting “Orders” to view a detailed history of your past orders with us.
Can I visit my horse in the barn area?
Yes, but you must be accompanied by a MyRacehorse Owner Concierge. Escorted tours are posted in the app, and are a first come first serve basis. Our terms and conditions with the trainers, tracks and partners, require all microshare investors to be accompanied by a MRH Concierge, so you’ll need an escort regardless of whether you have a state owner license or not.
How can I get a Certificate of Ownership for my horse?
We are excited to announce our Certificate of Authenticity is now available for all MyRacehorse owners. This digital certificate can easily be printed from home, and includes the series name, your horse’s name, as well as the date the investment was originally made.
Log into your MyRacehorse account, and select MyHorses from the main menu. Click on the name of the horse you’d like a certificate of ownership for. Click on the Offering tab and scroll down to the Profile section. Near the bottom you will see the words Certificate of Authenticity with an icon next to it. Click on that icon and follow the prompts to download and print your certificate.
Can I buy a Winner's Circle photo if my horse wins?
Yes you can. Whenever one of our horses wins, we provide owners a link so they can directly purchase a winner’s circle photo from the track photographer.
What is a paddock pass lottery?
For each horse, we have a select number of passes to provide access to the paddock ring prior to the race. We distribute those passes among a horse’s shareholders via a lottery. You may enter for yourself, or yourself and one guest. Each share that you own of a specific horse entitles you to one entry into the lottery. You only need to enter once, our system will count your shares and make the appropriate number of entries. All entrants are notified of the results the evening before the race with the instructions for the winners on how to receive their credentials.
Do owners get access to the Winner’s Circle?
Yes. Tracks have been extremely supportive of MyRacehorse and in more than 90% of our races we have been granted an UNLIMITED number of Winner’s Circle credentials. When you enter a Paddock Lottery, you are automatically being entered into a Winner’s Circle Lottery. In most cases all entrants will be provided Winner’s Circle credentials. In the case that a finite number of credentials are available, winners will be notified the night before.
How are payouts determined?
Whenever a horse races, its purse (minus expenses) will be used to top of the reserve account, which is what we use to pay for ongoing expenses like stables, training, vet bills, etc. If there’s money left over after filling the reserve, the extra will be distributed among shareholders. A detailed breakdown of how a purse is used will be posted in the update section for each race.
How do I receive my winnings?
Payouts will be issued directly to your MyRacehorse wallet, found in the account section of the website/app. These payouts can be used to purchase additional shares and event tickets, or can be withdrawn through our partner, bill.com.
Where will the horses be based?
Each horse listing will specify the circuit that the Co-Owner intends to race the horse at. Plans can change over time, and it may be necessary to move the horse to another circuit.
Who determines when and where the horses run?
The racing manager and the co-ownership group have the decision making authority as outlined in the co-ownership agreement for each horse.
Do I get a say in how the horse is managed?
Micro shareholders do not have any say in how the horse is managed. At present, the stakes are minority participants in the larger horse ownership group, and the intent is for the Racing Manager and the Co-Ownership group to make decisions regarding the horse.
Do I have to become a registered owner?
Investments made in micro-shares do not make an individual eligible for an owner’s license.
Aftercare
Does MyRacehorse play a role in the Aftercare for racehorses?
MyRacehorse aids in the ongoing commitment to the wellbeing of thoroughbreds after racing. We team up with various organizations within Aftercare to find new homes and careers for retired racehorses. Not only do we make charitable donations to these great organizations, we actively participate in the safe transition and long-term placement of retired thoroughbreds.
What is Aftercare?
The term Aftercare in horse racing refers to the safe transition, placement, and retraining of horses once retiring from the racetrack. Some second career examples include eventing, hunter/jumper disciplines, dressage or trail riding. Depending on what is best for the horse, Aftercare organizations may decide to retire certain racehorses to a relaxing environment to live the rest of life out in the pasture at a loving home. Retired horses previously owned by MyRacehorse have gone on to a second career in jumping, breeding with other award-winning thoroughbreds, or just living a healthy and peaceful life with other animals on a farm.
Does a portion of my shares go towards Aftercare for racehorses?
For every share on the platform, MyRacehorse makes a donation to the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (TAA) and we also have made contributions to many other well deserving aftercare organizations including California Retirement Management Account (CARMA) and New Vocations Racehorse Adoption Program.
At what point does a horse retire from horse racing?
It depends on their age, soundness and prospects for a second career. MyRacehorse has retired several horses after injury and helped place them in new homes where they can relax and live a healthy life in their natural environment.
Tech Support
How do I update my email address?
We’re working on revamping our UI so customers can update their email addresses themselves. In the meantime, you can send an email to support@myracehorse.com requesting an email change and a member of our staff will update it for you.
I can’t log into my account, how do I recover my password?
If you’re having trouble signing in, there’s a link on the Sign In page that allows you to reset your password, located right above the Sign In button. Click on that link and enter the email address you used to set up your account. We’ll email you a password reset link so you can set a new password for your account.
Where can I find my payouts?
Payouts are issued to your MyRacehorse Wallet. You can view your wallet balance at any time by visiting the Account section of our app/website. Your wallet balance can be applied to any order placed through MyRacehorse.com, or you can request a wallet withdrawal to have your balance sent to you via check or e-payment.
Why didn't I receive my payout?
If your payout hasn’t been issued yet, it’s most likely because your account profile is incomplete. Before we can issue any payouts, we need a SSN, TIN, or EIN on file for any shareholder to make sure we have all the info we need to report those payments to the IRS at the end of the year.
How do I update my ssn?
You can update your account with your SSN by going to Account, then selecting Manage Profile. You’ll see a field to add your SSN at the bottom of the page, once you’ve saved that into our records it will appear as a string of seemingly random numbers and letters because we encrypt this information on our servers to protect your privacy. Your payout will automatically be issued within 15 minutes of updating your account.
What if I don’t have an SSN?
If you’re from outside of the US, you can enter your TIN in the SSN field. If you’ve set your account up under a company’s name instead of your own, you can enter your EIN into the SSN field instead.
Who can I contact about an order I placed with the MyRacehorse Shop?
You can reach the MyRacehorse Shop by emailing shopsupport@myracehorse.com or by calling our dedicated support line, (844) 344-3647.