Currently there are approximately 500 breeders producing +/-3500 foals annually, from around 130 stallions, and currently horses are racing for +/- R300 000 000 in stakes each year. South African Horse are tough and robust and could hold their own anywhere in the world .See table below:
SAF BRED HORSES PRICE AND EARNINGS (as per figures supplied by Racing South Africa)
NAME PURCHASE PRICE (RAND) EARNINGS (RAND)
JAY PEG 129 000 34 200 000
LIZARD’ S DESIRE 30 480 000
JJ THE JET PLANE 68 400 18 245 600
RIVER JETTZ 16 165 600
POCKET POWER 184 200 12 198 000
ORACLE WEST 266 000 12 160 000

ATO 850 000 11 293 120
CERISE CHERRY 235 600 9 482 560
IMBONGI 8 368 800
GRAND EMPORUIM 144 400 6 840 000
PARIS PERFECT 6 384 000
SWEET SANETTE 400 000 6 331 200
PLAY THE ODDS 76 000 5 890 000
FLAX 230 000 5 790 400
KING’S GAMBIT 3 036 800
GYPSY WARNING 160 000 2 848 800

Recently Mike De Kock had a horse who ran 2nd in the Dubai world Cup, the horse earnd $2 000 000 (R30 000 000 ) for running second.

South African horseracing started in 1797, with the first recorded race club meeting occurring in 1802 (SAHorseracing, 2006).

At present, the South African horseracing industry creates employment for over 100 000
people and boasts an annual betting turnover of approximately R5 billion (SAFTote,
2007a, GamblingSA, 2007). This illustrates how the industry has grown from its
humble beginnings, 210 years ago, to being a crucial role player in the South African
economy.

South African horse racing makes a significant contribution to the national economy:
In 2009 it contributed R2.71bn to Gross Domestic Product.
Between 2002 and 2009 it has made a cumulative contribution of R16.8bn to Gross Domestic Product.
Of the total inflow of funds into South African horse racing

R274m goes to the breeding industry. This is 12% of horse racing. The breeding industry in turn contributes R368m to GDP (13.6% of the total) and sustains 3 340 direct and indirect jobs (20.6% of the total).
R544m goes to the training industry. This is 23% of horse racing. The training industry contributes R764m to GDP (28.2% of the total) and sustains 4 801 direct and indirect jobs (29.6% of the total).
R337m goes to bookmakers. This is 15% of horse racing. Bookmakers in turn contribute R330m to GDP (12.2% of the total) and sustain 1 957 direct and indirect jobs (12.0% of the total).
1.16bn goes to the racing operators Phumelela and Gold Circle. This is 50% of horse racing. The operators contribute R1.25bn to GDP (46.0% of the total[3]) and sustain 5 189 direct and indirect jobs (31.9% of the total). This makes a total R1 245m contribution to GDP. A closer examination of the operators reveals that:
o R229m goes to provincial taxes and VAT (19.7% of operators revenue);

o The upkeep and running of race courses and training facilities contributed R372m to GDP;

o Jockey remuneration makes a R66m contribution to GDP;

o Governance of the sport contributed R92m to GDP;

o The running of the betting operations contributed R620m to GDP;

In 2009 horse racing paid R694m in direct and indirect taxes of which 28% was paid to provincial governments and 72% to the national government.
Between 2002 and 2009 horse racing paid a total of R4.3bn in taxes.
Horse racing is a labour intensive industry. In 2009 horse racing directly employed 12 537 people. Of these 9 445 were full time positions and 3 092 were part time. As full time annual job equivalents this is equal to 11 639 jobs.

The estimate for the number of employees on stud farms is based on a census commissioned by Racing SA of all aspects of the sport. The census indicates that 2 452 people are involved in the breeding of race horses. Of these 2 160 are full time jobs and 292 are part time jobs.
There were 187 registered trainers in South Africa in 2009, who in turn employ assistant trainers, grooms, work riders and other support staff. The results of the census indicate that as many as 3 494 people could be employed in training. The majority of these (3 422) are full time jobs while only 72 are considered to be part time.

In 2009 there were 108 registered jockeys, 41 apprentice jockeys and 13 jockey’s agents. In total this is 162 full time jobs.

In 2009 Phumelela employed 490 people on a full time basis and 1 059 on a part time basis for a total of 1 390 full-time equivalent jobs. Gold Circle had 781 full-time and 1 447 part-time employees which amounted to an estimated 1 671 full-time equivalent jobs. There were 240 independent bookmakers with an estimated 1 231 employees.

In 2009 there were 316 people employed in various governance institutions in the country. These included 82 full-time and 124 part-time people working for the NHA; 32 with Racing South Africa including the Equine Research Centre, the Kenilworth quarantine station, the African Horse Sickness Trust and the Equine Trade Council, 47 with the SA Jockey Academy, 7 with the Racing Association (owners body for Phumelela) and 14 with the SA Racing and Equestrian Academy (including the Grooms School Trust).

In 2009 South Africa’s two bloodstock auctioneers and agents employed 43 on a full-time equivalent basis of which 36 were employed by the Thoroughbred Breeders Association and its marketing arm Bloodstock SA and 7 by Equimark Equestrian Sales.

The media is made up of Tellytrack, PGE, and the print media. Employment by Tellytrack and PGE, which are fully-owned subsidiaries of the two racing operators, is included under racing and wagering jobs for Gold Circle and Phumelela. The turf directory lists 22 racing editors around the country which is therefore a minimum number for print media employment. Including a total of 15 equine photographers also listed in the SA Turf Directory gives an estimate of the total number of media employment attributable to racing to 37.

The final component in South African horse racing is the various support services. This includes equine racing and other South African Equine Veterinarian Association (SAEVA) registered veterinarians, their staff, equine physiotherapists and equine dental technicians, as well as farriers and people employed in horse transport. These support services provided a total of 719 jobs in 2009.

One of the incentives in owning and racing horses is the potential payout that can be made in the form of stakes earned by winning or being placed in a race. In 1998 total stakes (in real 2008 terms) were R273m. This fell to R211m by 2002 before increasing again to reach R277m by 2009. Stakes paid for individual races showed a similar trend with the average stake per race falling from R65 500 in 1998 (2008 values) to R51 700 in 2003 before increasing to R72 600 by 2009.