For those without the near-bottomless pockets of a George Steinbrenner, a racehorse is a reasonably affordable way to own at least a piece of a sports franchise and experience the same thrills and disappointments as the New York Yankees owner. Heck, you can even go out and sign a star or fire your trainer if you feel like it.

But while there are no players’ unions to placate or stadiums to finance or fill, would-be titans of the turf would be well advised to heed the words of Dogwood Stable owner Cot Campbell before saddling up for what could be an expensive ride: “It’s a business not for widows and orphans.”

To say that investing in a racehorse is a high-risk pursuit is understating the obvious, given that the 1,000-plus-pound animals slam their spindly front legs to the ground 120 times every quarter of a mile when running at full tilt -- each footfall generating more than 100 times the force of gravity.  Injuries are common and often strike with devastating suddenness. 

“The whole thing is about being absolutely depressed 99 percent of the time and being elated 1 percent of the time and liking it enough so that the 1 percent compensates for the rest of it,” said Paul Saylor, a real estate investment banker in Atlanta who has owned racehorses for 17 years.

For that reason, experienced owners are near unanimous in stating that making money is the wrong reason to get involved in the sport.

“It’s something that could make money … it’s going to have good tax benefits whatever it does … (but) most important, it is a very exciting, glamorous, colorful venture,” said Campbell, who pioneered the concept of limited partnerships to campaign thoroughbred racehorses in 1969 and built his idea into the thriving Dogwood Stable racing operation in Aiken, S.C. “It puts a little zest in your life. And I’d say if that third ingredient is not attractive to somebody, they ought not to touch it with a 10-foot pole.”

But Charles Lo, a Pacific Gas & Electric Co. worker in San Francisco, said that doesn’t mean the racing is only for the rich.

“I’m just a working stiff. I still have house payments to make… but we were within a half length of going to the Kentucky Derby,” said Lo, referring to his 3-year-old gelding O.K. Mikie, whom he claimed (purchased from a race) for $25,000 at Bay Meadows last November and has since seen put $120,000 in his bank account.

Because so many racehorses are owned by partnerships or syndicates, there are no solid numbers on the number of racehorse owners in the United States. But a national study of racing’s economic impact conducted in 1993 indicates that Lo is not an anomaly. Of households that owned part or all of a racehorse, 60 percent had annual income of $75,000 or less, according to the study.

That’s a surprisingly large percentage given that keeping racehorses at the track isn’t cheap. Day rates charged by trainers can be as little as $25 a day at a small track, but range up to $120 a day or more at major tracks, depending on the trainer's "win percentage." And that typically doesn’t include veterinary and farrier fees, which can be anywhere from $100 per month to as much as 50 percent of a monthly training bill, according to the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association.

Industry leaders are eager to sign up more owners like Lo, and have created a Web site, Thegreatestgame.com, in an attempt to spread the word that ownership can be affordable.

“There are lots of levels to get involved in and it’s also possible without a big financial commitment,” said Gay Fisher, a spokeswoman for the initiative -- a joint venture of Keeneland racetrack, the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association and the National Thoroughbred Racing Association. “It doesn’t mean you’re not going to do as well as someone else because of your level of financial commitment.”

Indeed, many owners start by dabbling at the lowest levels of the game and then gradually increase their level of participation.

Lo, for example, went in with a friend to claim his first horse for $4,000 in the mid-1980s. Now, after his positive experience with O.K. Mikie, he’s looking to move up to the next rung.

“I’m thinking of investing the money I’ve made with O.K. Mikie and buy a really good 2-year-old,” he said.

The list of big time owners who started out dabbling with claiming horses – the equine equivalent of journeyman ballplayers -- is long and includes such luminaries as Mike Pegram, who went in partners with his dad and two friends in 1977.

“We bought the horse for $30,000 … and he ended up being a stakes winner,” said Pegram, who went on to win the Kentucky Derby in 1998 with Real Quiet, a horse he bought at sale for just $17,000. “It turned out to be a good investment and I had a lot of fun with my dad and his two buddies.”

Many longtime horse owners say they, too, had a winner early on that hooked them on the sport.

In Campbell’s case, an early winner forced him to make a career choice.

The former advertising agency owner who is expected to have a Kentucky Derby starter for one of his partnerships this year in Limehouse, said a stakes winner named Mrs. Cornwallis forced his hand in 1971.

“I didn’t set out to go in the horse business,” he said. “... When this good horse came along and Forbes and Fortune and the Wall Street Journal wrote about it and this unusual concept (limited partnerships for racing), it stimulated interest and I just suddenly found myself there.”

Some, however, have found inspiration in early adversity.

Saylor, the Atlanta investment banker, recalls that he bought his first racehorse – a quarter horse – at a charity auction in Houston in 1987, a gathering at which the only items up for bid were Western art, racehorses and bull semen.

“At the end of the night I found out I was the only one at my table who hadn’t bought anything, and I knew nothing about art and didn’t need any bull sperm,” he said. “So I bought the last quarter horse yearling that went through the ring.”

Six months later, Saylor said he donated the horse to the Austin Police Department for crowd control. “It was one of many horses I’ve owned that I could outrun,” he said.

While Saylor stuck it out and now has 16 horses, including Kentucky Oaks contender Ashado, industry studies have found that many new owners quickly abandon the sport after encountering unpleasant surprises like unexpected bills.

“A lot of people were getting into the business and leaving immediately because they either weren’t educated properly getting in or they weren’t being taken care of by the bloodstock agents or trainers or what have you,” said Fisher of Thegreatestgame.com. “(The industry) decided there should be some kind or an organization to bring new people in and put them in touch with people who would do the right thing by them.”

To protect neophytes from nefarious practices such as hidden commissions, the organization has created a program to provides racing industry consultants – all of whom have agreed to abide by a code of ethics – to help newcomers navigate the often-confusing waters of thoroughbred ownership. So far, 87 prospective buyers have filled out applications for the program, which began in March 2003, and 27 have made at least partial purchases, Fisher said.

It also provides prospective owners with a wealth of information explaining the ins and outs of the industry and covering topics such as tax planning.

That sort of preparation is invaluable, said L.O. “Buzz” Heidtke, who runs an investment brokerage and fund in Nashville, Tenn. He attended a ownership seminar put on by TOBA and subscribed to the Blood-Horse magazine to familiarize himself with what he calls a “very complicated” business.

“There are so many different ways to play it – you can get a farm and breed or buy weanlings and resell them. You can buy at sales or get into claimers,” he said.

Heidtke said that after doing “due diligence,” he has owned pieces of five horses so far in small partnerships and last year joined a group that bought five weanlings (young horses recently separated from their mothers) in hopes of reselling them as 2-year-olds for a  substantial profit – a practice known as pinhooking.

“We haven’t had any winners yet, but we’ve had some second places and some third places,” he said. “You get a lot of joy watching them whether you win or lose.”

Owners like Heidtke who have disposable cash to play with are particularly coveted by the racing industry. Thegreatestgame.com is making a special effort to recruit such owners through a series of “high-end receptions” at country clubs and other places where the elite meet, said Fisher. The purpose of the gatherings is “to introduce them on a social level to our consultants and thoroughbred racing,” she said.

The well-heeled also are the targets of a new initiative launched this year in which marquee owners Bob and Beverly Lewis, who have campaigned Kentucky Derby winners Silver Charm and Charismatic along with a host of other good horses, will sell newcomers shares of the 31 2-year-olds that the couple plans to race this year.

“One unit costs $150,000 and you’ll never pay another bill,” said Barry Weisbord, publisher of the Thoroughbred Daily News and a guiding force, along with Keeneland’s Nick Nicholson, behind the initiative.

Weisbord, a New Jersey horseman who owns horses and also has worked as a trainer and bloodstock agent, said that the “deep sea fishing program” aims to sell 15 shares to people who want to start at the top of the racing game. Five of those shares are targeted for “culturally popular” figures not currently involved in racing in the hopes that the sport can leverage their involvement to generate interest “just as the NBA used to Jack Nicholson’s presence courtside 15 years ago,” he said.

The biggest difference between watching a basketball game and owning a piece of a racehorse, however, is that people in the latter position often feel an overwhelming urge to help plot their horse’s campaign – often with disastrous results.

Jim McIngvale of Houston, a self-made millionaire known as “Mattress Mac” to anyone who has ever seen his TV ads showing him wearing a mattress and waving handfuls of cash, said he made that mistake repeatedly when he entered the business in 1996.

“I tampered a lot and got involved with something that I knew nothing about,” he said. “… I was quite discouraged a lot, but I’m a resilient sort,” said McIngvale, who owns likely Kentucky Derby starter Wimbledon and now lets his trainer, Bob Baffert, call the shots.

Saylor, the Atlanta investment banker, says such knockdowns may have a beneficial effect on those who survive them.”

“There are a lot of egos involved, including mine, and a lot of us have created and managed our own companies and we’re control freaks,” he said. “What horse racing teaches you is that there are some things in life that are out of you control and are irrational and you’ve got to live with them.”