The richest Americans buy horses they never ride — how this savvy strategy gives them a leg up in the race to build wealth

“It’s like a traveling circus,” he told Moneywise from Dublin during one of his trips.

Casse is what’s known as a bloodstock agent. Just as real estate agents broker a home’s sale, bloodstock agents broker the sale of thoroughbreds. And just like homes, which can be worth millions, so too can thoroughbreds.

According to the New York Times, enthusiasts spent almost $1.5 billion buying racehorses in North America in 2025, up nearly 21% from 2024, with some horses fetching $4 million or more. Casse currently has 100 horses available for sale.

“I’m not keeping them to race,” he said. “I am buying them and trading them like commodities when they’re eight months old.”

Casse has brokered purchases for such clients as Hollywood movie mogul Gary Barber, who heads Spyglass Media Group, as well as billionaire trader Vincent Viola, who owns the Florida Panthers hockey team in the NHL.

Many of Casse’s clients never ride the horses they buy, and may not even know much about the horse racing industry. But they enjoy the thrill of the race, as well as the financial perks that come with their living, breathing investments — including significant tax breaks under the Trump administration’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBA).

Big beautiful horses and Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill

The OBBA enshrined 100% bonus depreciation, allowing business owners to claim depreciation for qualifying investments like factories and other equipment in their first year of operation rather than writing off depreciation over many years.

Thanks to lobbying by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, racehorses qualify for the same tax break as factories.

As the New York Times reports, a racehorse can qualify for 100% bonus depreciation more than once if it changes hands — for example, when its racing career is over and it’s sold as a breeding horse.

“There’s a lot of money in the world, and that bonus depreciation has made it a lot easier to spend it,” Boyd T. Browning Jr., CEO of Fasig-Tipton, a thoroughbred sales company, told the Times.

Casse said as a result, a growing number of wealthy investors are competing for thoroughbreds, driving prices up. He was just at an auction of 4,200 yearlings in Lexington, Kentucky, where the average price per horse was up 9% this year — after soaring 20% last year — following the passage of the OBBA.

On top of bonus depreciation, racehorse owners can write off other costs of business — not just for trainers and jockeys, but for farmers and all the other people involved with the upkeep of a thoroughbred.

“When you buy a racehorse, you’re creating jobs,” Casse told Moneywise. “For every horse, there’s a caretaker, a blacksmith, a dentist, a vet.”

However, there are some caveats. First, the business and the jobs must be based in the U.S. to qualify for tax breaks. Chartered professional accountant Len Green notes that owners must also prove they’re keeping their thoroughbreds for business (racing or breeding) and not as a hobby. That means committing 100 hours or more to the business each year and proving they expect to make a profit at it.

Why investing in horses is a gamble

If you don’t have millions of dollars at your disposal, or time to run a sideline in the racing business, you can pool your money with others for fractional ownership of a racehorse. There are several platforms that offer access to fractional ownership of horses, including Morning Line, MyRacehorse and Zilla Racing Stables.

Casse said a growing number of investors are treating thoroughbreds as an alternative asset, like baseball cards, wine or art. He’s run syndicates of wealthy investors who pool their money together to buy racehorses in this manner.

The New York Times cites a group known as the Avengers, which features members that purchase thoroughbreds together. The group includes Barbara Banke, owner of Jackson Family Wines, as well as hedge fund manager Sol Kumin.