Buying an OTTB: Prices, Where to Look, What to Check

An off-the-track Thoroughbred bought straight from a racing trainer usually costs about $2,000 to $5,000, and adoption fees through aftercare nonprofits run from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand. Once a horse has been restarted under saddle for a new career, prices climb into the five figures. The cheap part is the purchase. The real cost is the vet work, feet, feed and training that turn a racehorse into a riding horse.

OTTBs are popular for good reasons. Thoroughbreds are athletic, they've been handled daily since they were young, and they've seen trailers, crowds and noise. They also come with a racing history that can leave physical wear. This guide covers what they cost, where to find them, how to confirm a horse's identity, and what a vet should check before you buy.

What does an OTTB cost?

Price depends mostly on where the horse is in its transition from the track.

Where you buy	Typical price	What you can expect
Directly from a racing trainer or owner	About $2,000 to $5,000, per the Retired Racehorse Project	Horse is fit from racing. You usually can't ride it before buying
CANTER trainer listings	CANTER says horses through its programs average $800 to $3,000 (CANTER USA)	Trainer-written descriptions that CANTER doesn't verify
Aftercare nonprofit adoption	A few hundred dollars to the low or mid four figures (RRP)	Vet history, rehab if needed, adoption contract, sometimes a test ride
For-profit reseller	Priced above track and nonprofit horses	Horse has been evaluated and usually restarted under saddle, so you can ride it
Restarted horse with under a year of retraining	$3,000 to $30,000 (RRP)	Depends heavily on talent and soundness
Established in a second career	Wide range, from under $10,000 to much more	Known quantity in its new discipline

One racetrack listing agent the Retired Racehorse Project interviewed reported sale prices of $1,500 to $7,500 for horses she listed, with most in the $3,000 to $4,000 range. Some horses with injuries or physical limitations are offered for free.

Where to find an OTTB

Off the backside: trainer listings

Racing trainers list horses that are ready to retire, often through free listing services. CANTER USA, a volunteer nonprofit, runs a Phase 1 service where trainers post their own horses and buyers contact them directly. CANTER doesn't charge a commission and says more than 22,000 Thoroughbreds have transitioned through its programs since 1997.

The upside is price and choice. The catch is that you usually can't ride a horse at the track before buying it, and the person selling it may know a lot about racing but little about your discipline. The RRP's advice is that less experienced buyers should bring a professional who can judge a horse from a jog video and conformation photos.

Aftercare nonprofits

The Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance accredits nonprofits that meet its standards for horse care, facilities and adoption policies, and inspects them on site. It lists 83 accredited organizations operating at 175 facilities in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico. Not every good nonprofit is accredited. Some are too small to qualify.

Nonprofits are a strong choice for a first OTTB. They work with veterinarians, so you get more information about past injuries, and they tend to be good at matching a horse to an adopter's experience. Read the adoption contract closely. Many restrict resale or require you to return the horse to the organization if it doesn't work out.

Resellers

Resellers buy horses off the track, evaluate them, restart them under saddle and sell them for a profit. You pay more, but you can usually ride the horse and the seller has already spent time finding out what it is good at. Ask how long they've had the horse, what made them buy it, and whether they found any veterinary issues.

Private sellers and marketplaces

Many OTTBs change hands after their first or second career, through private sales on horse marketplaces. These horses have a track record off the track, which takes some guesswork out of the purchase. Browse Thoroughbreds for sale on Bring A Halter to see what's listed now.

How to confirm the horse's identity and history

Every Thoroughbred registered with The Jockey Club can be traced, and you should do it before you pay.

Find the tattoo or microchip. Thoroughbreds that raced were traditionally given a lip tattoo, which you can read by gently folding up the upper lip. The Jockey Club requires a microchip for every Thoroughbred foaled in 2017 or later (The Horse), so a vet's scanner will identify younger horses.

Look it up. The Jockey Club's free ID My Thoroughbred app returns a horse's registered name and markings from either a microchip or tattoo number. You can also research tattoos and microchips through a free Interactive Registration account at registry.jockeyclub.com.

Read the race record. Once you have the name, Equibase shows the racing record for free. The RRP recommends looking for gaps of more than two to three months between races and asking the seller about them, since a long layoff often means an injury.

Get the papers. The Jockey Club's rules advise buyers not to complete a purchase until the registration certificate has been transferred, and to compare the description on the certificate with the horse in front of them. You'll need the horse's registered name if you want to compete in The Jockey Club's Thoroughbred Incentive Program, which offers classes and awards for retired racehorses in second careers.

What a vet should check

Get a pre-purchase exam from a vet who knows racehorses. Race training is hard on a young horse, and Kentucky Equine Research lists arthritis, bone chips and bowed tendons among the problems common to racehorses. A good vet can tell you which findings are likely to settle with time off and which will limit the horse in a new job.

Four areas deserve extra attention.

Legs and joints. Ask for flexion tests and, if the horse is going into a demanding discipline like jumping or eventing, radiographs of the joints most stressed by racing. Ask the seller whether the horse has had joint injections and whether you can get records from the track vet.

Stomach ulcers. Gastric ulcers are extremely common in horses in race training. In a study of 202 Thoroughbreds in active race training, 82 percent had ulcers in the squamous lining of the stomach (Vatistas et al., 1999). A consensus statement summarized by Kentucky Equine Research found that ulcer rates rise from 37 percent in untrained Thoroughbreds to 80 to 100 percent within two to three months of training. The 1999 study linked more severe ulcers with a poor hair coat and colic. An eventer quoted by the RRP recommends including a gastroscopy in the purchase or first wellness exam so you know where you're starting.

Feet. A racehorse's shoeing is set up for the track, and a new job may call for something different. The RRP recommends evaluating the feet at purchase to plan hoof care. Have your farrier look before you buy, not after.

Vices. Ask whether the horse cribs, weaves or stall walks. Mad Barn lists cribbing, weaving, wood chewing and teeth grinding among habits seen in recently retired racehorses. Check whether your barn accepts a horse with these habits before you commit.

The Retired Racehorse Project's shopping guide also suggests asking for any endoscopy, radiographs or injection records from the track vet. Our general horse buying inspection checklist covers the rest of the exam.

Budget for the first year

The purchase price is a small part of what an OTTB costs in its first year. The Retired Racehorse Project collects spending data from trainers entering the Thoroughbred Makeover, a competition for horses with less than a year of retraining. Those trainers spent an average of $10,900 on their 2023 Makeover horses from acquisition to competition, or roughly $1,100 a month over ten months (RRP).

That figure includes board, feed, farrier, vet care, lessons and show entries. Your number will be lower if you keep the horse at home and don't compete, and higher if you send it to a trainer full time. Either way, plan to have a couple of thousand dollars in reserve for surprises in the first months. For a wider look at ownership costs, see how much it costs to buy and own a horse.

Is an OTTB right for you?

An OTTB fresh off the track is usually a better fit for an experienced rider or someone working closely with a trainer. These horses have been taught to go forward fast, and many need to learn to bend, stand quietly and canter slowly. Mad Barn notes that many recently retired racehorses get excited when they expect work, circle their handler, and avoid backing up or turning right (Mad Barn).

If you're a newer rider, look at OTTBs that have already been restarted and have spent time in a second career, or work with a nonprofit that will match you to a quieter horse. You'll pay more up front and less in training, frustration and risk.

Before you buy

Confirm the horse's identity with its tattoo or microchip and look up the race record.
Ask about gaps in racing, injuries, injections and vices.
Book a pre-purchase exam with a vet who knows racehorses, and have your farrier look at the feet.
Get the registration papers transferred at the time of sale.
Budget for the first year of retraining, not just the purchase.

When you find a horse you like, our guide to negotiating horse prices covers how to make an offer, especially after a vet exam turns something up.

Sources

This article is general information. Your veterinarian is the right person to interpret any pre-purchase findings for a specific horse.

Looking for your next Thoroughbred? Browse Thoroughbreds for sale on Bring A Halter.

Buying an Off-the-Track Thoroughbred (OTTB): Prices, Where to Look and What to Check