Steve Haskin's latest: 'Leave Crown Alone'

[parsixfarms]

Originally Posted by Kasept

As an aside, an IEAH isn't really a negative at all in the overall equation. They are buying ready-made horses as investments hoping to get on to 'syndicatable' sires that will have long, profitable shed careers. They did buy Stardom Bound of course, (hoping for glory but with obvious fall-back potential as marketable broodmare), and have geldings in their racing operation too.. But since they are looking for sire material for the most part, they aren't looking first and foremost at quick return type horses that for the last 15 years have ben defined as 'win early' types. And they are overpaying for horses which can only help re-circulate investment dollars back into the industry. Remember that the horses that they buy have likely been through the breeding/auction, system perhaps as pinhooks or whatever. So if they get bought another time, it's just plus revenue into the greater horse business money pool.

Actually, it seems as if IEAH is just buying "race horses," not investing in potential stallions. Perhaps with the exception of some of their European-bought horses (like Frost Giant and Plan), most of their purchases don't have stallion pedigrees, and for that reason, can be bought by a racing operation for more "reasonable" prices: Benny the Bull (by Lucky Lionel); Kip Deville (Kipling); Big Brown (Boundary); and even I Want Revenge (Stephen Got Even) to a large degree. The lack of commercial stallion appeal is probably why Kip Deville stayed in training, and Benny the Bull is being brought out of retirement. Things may change as a result of the downturn in the stallion end of the business, but the really well-bred horses are always likely to be snatched up by the Darleys and Coolmores more so than an outfit like IEAH.