BTW, here is an interesting question -- so the owner(s) of Bernardini can easily afford this type of insurance premium from "other wealth" and perhaps as such, the fans feel a certain way (of course for other reasons as well).

What if Bernardini or a similar type of horse worth the same money was owned by a working class guy, or someone who did not have wealth per se. If that person did not have other assets or couldn't get a farm to offer up enough real cash, etc., and they could not "afford" the premium -- would people feel differently? What about if there was an estate tax/liquidity issue (ie: Joe Robbie and the Miami Dolphins)?

Any thoughts? Thank you.

Eric

I have heard people say some of the same things that have been said about Bern...and for the most part they are justified...a three race campaign @ 3 and a 10 race career over all does not really confirm a horse in most people's mind. not mine anyway...so while I believe he is great I can't actually SAY he is great.

there is no question in my mind that if this horse was owned by some blue-collar types and they decided that they couldn't afford to take the risk of racing the horse next year the backlash would not be nearly as severe.

I would definitely have more sympathy if the owner couldn't afford the premiums so retired the horse for that reason. I wouldn't be totally sympathetic though as they could sell a small share in the horse to get enough money to pay the insurance premiums so it isn't like they were forced to retire the horse because of insurance costs as they would likely try to lead the public to believe.

The emotions that owners feel are not neceassirly what you think. You said that you would think an owner would want to "have the pleasure" of watching his horse run as a 4 year old. I can't speak for all owners, but I can tell you that for many owners there would be very little pleasure. When you have a really good horse competing at the highest level, there is a lot of stress involved. It's basically a fun ride, but it's also nice when the ride is over.

I can think of a good analogy. When an athlete has some type of great streak going, sometimes when the streak finally ends, you will actually hear the athlete say that they are sowewhat relieved that the streak is finally over. The pressure can almost be unbearable.

Once your horse reaches the level of a Bernardini, you really don't gain much by going on. I'm not talking about just financially. I'm talking about all the other stuff involved too, like a lot of the stuff that Oracle mentioned. There can just be so many things on the line that there really is very little pleasure for the owner at that point. Everyone expects you to win when you have a horse that good. If you win, it's like "So what. Everyone expected him to win. He was the odds-on favorite." But if you lose, then it's a big deal. People will start to say that the horse isn't that good and that type of thing.

I'm not saying that it's not fun to own a great horse. It's a lot of fun, but by the same token there is a lot of stress involved and it can be very nice to make a big syndication deal and go out on top. It's not just a matter of the money.

Another good analogy would be if I went to Magic Mountain tomorrow and rode their best roller-coaster. Even if I had a great time on the roller-coaster, I wouldn't neceassarily get on it again the same day. I'd appreciate the one good ride and then move on to something else.

IMO the fact that the Boys from Dubai are buying everything they can get there hands on is not good @ all...and it has nothing to do with where they are from...right now they are the homerun every breeder wants to hit when they are selling horses...they lay out a fortune @ auction and are the underbidder on a great many more, that they don't feel they 'have to have' for one reason or another...
So right now they are buying the best broodmares the best studs and the best racehorses...to go along with all of their yearling puchases....Sooner or later they will have what they need and there is no doubt in my mind that they will stop participating in the buying and selling because they will have what they need on the farm already...Look @ Juddmonte. They don't buy and sell because they have one of the best groups of brrodmares in Kentucky.
If they Sheik's go this route (and it may take another 10 years 15 years who knows)...then the breeding/auction market suffers and the trickle down affect could be severe. JMO

You'e not kidding. The board can be very addicting. You can end up spending much more time on the board than you planned, much to the detriment of other work that needs to be done.

And on that note, it's time for me to log off.

This is called 'Funny Cide syndrome'.

The best thing to do is personally ask every 2 dollar bettor at every track if its alright with them to retire a 60 million dollar animal. If they said its alright, then maybe the owners could sleep better at night?

I dont think they'll ever get everything they want. I think the way they work against the good of both racing and breeding is the unrealistic surge in bloodstock prices that is going to crash eventually. All markets eventually bottom out but by the same token they all have a peak and we have to be getting close. A lot of the suppliers of stock (breeders) do this as a business and as such borrow money for farm upkeep, mare acquisition, insurance, stud fees, etc. Because they prices of the top level prospects keeps going up and with it stud fees and mare prices, they must borrow more to continue to produce the same product. Therefore putting themselves further in debt. The odds that you will sell a huge homerun horse are still reasonably the same but the urgency is greater, especially with interest rates climbing. Also dont forget that many of the non-arab, mega-purchases are also rarely without some kind of "extra" cost right off the top.
I have clients that sold a horse for $750k a few years ago. After they had paid expenses, consignor fees, sales company %, and a cut to the agent who bought the horse thier take was down to $400k. Considering that the stud fee was 125K and the mare cost them 220K, the amount of "profit" was not all that much. And to the outsider it looked like a home run.
As stud fees rise, it is harder to make a profit on horses. The few farms that are big enough to stand many high dollar stallions still do well but the medium sized farms with the hard knocking stallions that cant afford to go after the bigtime stallions are going to suffer as their expenses keep rising but thier market(the middle to lower) is stagnant.
The reason that this whole economic situation affects racing is that because the "end users" are forced to spend more to purchase horses. With purses being flat with the exception of slot tracks and regular expenses rising, the odds that an owner can make any money decrease therefore causing owners to buy fewer horses which ultimately hurts the middle market more than the high end where the expenses are less important. The bloodstock market CANNOT go up forever and when it slips due to industry problems, global problems (terrorism/ another 9/11) or the fact that the democrats in control of Congress are far less likely to pass economic relief to the "rich" through tax cuts or incentives, the flood of farms and trainers going out of business will be ugly.
Now this is not all due to the Arabs spending habits but they are the big carrot dangling out in front of this whole industry.

There are bettors and there are fans of horses. Some are both. The bettors could care less, but the fans are very disappointed.:(

Cannon Shell and ELA make great points. It's simple for fans and bettors to say "they are rich...they dont need the money." Because a wealthy owner has income from non racing sources does not mean that he or she should run the racing enterprise like a charity.
Darley is a business. I have no idea how much Sheik Mo has spent on it this year but lets assume that it's $100M. Add up his purchases, his expenses in running several farms (everything from grass seed to matching jackets for grooms + insurance and related business expanses/salaries) the fees charged by trainers and the trainer and rider fees for winning performances, insurance for his stock, global shipping, medical care and farriery... It could easily exceed $100M. That said, why begrudge the man for wanting to recoup some of those expenses in stud fees from one of the hottest young properties in the stallion market? Everyone loves Sheikh Mo when he's buying something and hates him when he's selling. Why?
Just because owners like Sheikh Mo and others seem to have a bottomless pit of money doesn't mean that they should operate their business as such.

I would like to see horses race more often. I'd like to see top 3yo's stay in training at 4. I'd like to see more matchup between top class runners all season long. I'd like a gazillion dollars and a new Mercedes too...;)

I agree, Linny. I'll take a new Mercedes as well! :D

This is funny. So you are saying that a person who spends millions on horses shouldnt have a say so on when to send the horse to stud?? Come on--that is laughable. If it wasnt for the owner, then us bettors wouldnt have anything to bet on. Come on---think logically.

ill give a little owners perspective from my point of view. alotta owners especially people who have been in the game/business for a long time will take the money while its there more times than not. theyve had past experiences(or heard ofa thousand times over) where theyve been offered money for their horse and they turned it down only to have negatives to follow such as the horse being injured/broke down or not running up to the potential that was once seen in the animal. it happened in my case with my horse. 3 starts after i had him with only 1 3rd i was offered actually a little more than what i claimed him for by a guy@mountaineer who saw him run 3rd on the grass in indiana. i turned the money down and have come out- obviously ever since financially. i dont regret my decision at all becuase i love dan and got personal attachment to the horse but most owners in my same spot woulda said sold in a heartbeat. lol i promise if i ever own a derby winner they will return for their 4yo year on the track. speaking of the derby were running 1@CD next week

Good luck at CD next week... post a reminder so I can watch out, will you? :)

Rupert, a lot of what you wrote rings true. I can remember Jack Van Berg talking publicly about the stress in running Alysheba. Even though he tried to make a case for running Alysheba as a 5-yr-old, it was clear that part of him was relieved to be done with it.

I would think, though, that many owners get in the game with the dream of owning a top-notch horse that can compete at the highest level. When that unlikely dream happens to arrive, it seems to me that these same people are too quick to end it. It's as if once they hit the jackpot, they forget what motivated them in the first place. Perhaps having had the incredible luck to get one of these horses, they think it will happen again.

Your Magic Mountain analogy does not hold, because you know you can go back to that ride any time you want. Yes, you want to savor the feeling, but if you knew that (realistically) you could never ride it except for that day, you would almost certainly ride it again immediately. IMO, horse owners should be looking at it the same way, unless money was their #1 interest from the get go. (I'm not disparaging a money-oriented goal; I just think many owners get into racing for different reasons that don't revolve around money.)

But as I said at the start, I understand your point about getting out before something bad happens.

--Dunbar