Steve Haskin's latest: 'Leave Crown Alone'

[Kasept]

Originally Posted by parsixfarms

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.

P6..

Here's the thing.. If they aren't fishing for a stallion success, how can they justify the expenses of their purchases? They can't make back on track what they're spending, on average.. No?

(And as a PS, aren't they welcome to all the Kip Devilles and Benny the Bulls they can find from original owners?)

[parsixfarms]

Originally Posted by Kasept

P6..

Here's the thing.. If they aren't fishing for a stallion success, how can they justify the expenses of their purchases? They can't make back on track what they're spending, on average.. No?

(And as a PS, aren't they welcome to all the Kip Devilles and Benny the Bulls they can find from original owners?)

My sense with IEAH is that it's now about being on the stage. (I'm assuming that Iavarone is living large, essentially on other people's money.) How else could you justify the purchase price for a filly like Stardom Bound, especially if they recirculate the money like most "racing" partnerships by selling the fillies/mares at the conclusion of their racing careers, or the reported price for I Want Revenge? With I Want Revenge's pedigree, at the numbers being bandied about for their 50% interest, the only way that they could get out financially was by winning the Derby, and we know how that went.

When IEAH was talking about the idea of a "thoroughbred hedge fund," I suppose that they may have been hoping to find potential stallions, but most of the horses that they bought did not "check the boxes" for future stallion success. That's why they couldn't buy horses like Majestic Warrior, Street Sense or Hard Spun. If they thought that they were going to make stallions out of horses like Kip Deville and Benny the Bull, then they were sadly mistaken, IMO, and subsequently learned that lesson (although I'm sure that those were very successful purchases, both financially and from a publicity standpoint, for them.)

As for Kip Deville, I'm sure the guy who bought him for $7,000 at Timonium as a 2YO and was racing him in Texas as a 3YO has few regrets about his sale of that horse.

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by parsixfarms

My sense with IEAH is that it's now about being on the stage. (I'm assuming that Iavarone is living large, essentially on other people's money.) How else could you justify the purchase price for a filly like Stardom Bound, especially if they recirculate the money like most "racing" partnerships by selling the fillies/mares at the conclusion of their racing careers, or the reported price for I Want Revenge? With I Want Revenge's pedigree, at the numbers being bandied about for their 50% interest, the only way that they could get out financially was by winning the Derby, and we know how that went.

When IEAH was talking about the idea of a "thoroughbred hedge fund," I suppose that they may have been hoping to find potential stallions, but most of the horses that they bought did not "check the boxes" for future stallion success. That's why they couldn't buy horses like Majestic Warrior, Street Sense or Hard Spun. If they thought that they were going to make stallions out of horses like Kip Deville and Benny the Bull, then they were sadly mistaken, IMO, and subsequently learned that lesson (although I'm sure that those were very successful purchases, both financially and from a publicity standpoint, for them.)

As for Kip Deville, I'm sure the guy who bought him for $7,000 at Timonium as a 2YO and was racing him in Texas as a 3YO has few regrets about his sale of that horse.

they're a big time partnership aren't they? they can afford to risk big purchases because they have several people sharing the expense. big brown is footing the bill for them right now on horses like stardom bound. they better hope he turns out to be a good sire, or they may have to cut back on their spending a bit.