Can Retirement REALLY be Far Behind?

[Rupert Pupkin]

There are plenty of horses that don't make their first start until half-way through their 3 year old year, so I wouldn't write the horse off yet. Don't get me wrong, you wouldn't pay several million dollars for a horse if you knew that he wouldn't be able to start until half-way through his 3 year old year. This is certainly not a positive development. But I still wouldn't write the horse off yet.

By the way, if this horse never makes it to the races, he is pretty much worthless. His pedigree is not that great. His first dam is nothing special. She made $45,000 racing and this is her second foal. Her first foal was still unraced as of February this year according to the catalog at the sale.

It is possible for an unraced horse to have value as a stallion if they have great breeding, but I don't think this horse's breeding is good enough. It would be one thing if you buy a yearling for $5 million who is by Storm Cat out of a grade I winning mare. A horse like that may have some value as a stallion even if he couldn't run. Tiger Ridge is a good example. He only made $11,000 racing but he was by Storm Cat out of Weekend Surprise.