Paying the Bills

This is probably the least fun thing to do when you own racehorses! I spent the morning working with spreadsheets and getting ready to pay the bills. There are the usual bills for training, vet, and farrier but this time of year there are also bills for accountants and the renewal for business licenses for the various partnerships. It's important to get K-1s out in a timely manner as you don't want your partners waiting to file their taxes because they need paperwork from you. I've been there, and it's no fun at all - I don't want my clients feeling the way I did then.

Compounding the bill paying is we're not racing All you do is watch the account balances dwindle. Thoughts turn to toward the good old days when your horses gave you a race every other week and purse money was coming in and you were hoping to add photos to your wall. Looking ahead, you know that there is light at the end of the tunnel and those days will be back, but you also know you're going to be on that edge of invoicing partners for another three months of training expenses and that's not something I like to do. We all know getting in that it may be a possibility - heck, it's more likely a probability - but you hope not to do it and work toward that end diligently. However it does happen and is part of the business/game/sport (pick your category). So in the end you try to be frugal, responsible and a good steward of the money entrusted to you and, in many ways, you then hope for the best.

The upside: everyone seems to be training well. Miss Belle Express's issues appear to be resolved and she's starting to move forward again. Fizzy Pop followed up his bullet work with another nice work over four furlongs this morning. Valid Port is back in training after his ankle strain. I Am Woman is being shipped to Balmoral Park in Chicago to start her career in the next few weeks. So here's hoping that February race cards start filling up with our horses and that bill writing next month may include a few deposits!