You would probably be surprised at how many in that industry are living hand-to-mouth, relatively speaking. Not so much the owners, as almost all of them are doing it for play money, a tax write-off, or both. But many of the big name trainers are one down year or major suspension from bankruptcy. You just can't win enough to be in the red consistently in horse racing. My family did it on a very small scale when I was younger, had a few wins and several nice purses, and got out of it fairly quickly because of how fast they were burning through cash. It almost makes private aviation seem like a wise investment.
I heard a story last week of a very well-known trainer with multiple triple crown race victories who frequently has to borrow money from the guy who transports his horses. It wasn't the first time I'd heard something like that.
