They also just bought Jose Adan from Catalano and family.

the odds of this horse getting to, let alone winning, the derby is slim. the chance of getting the money they offered was a whole lot better.

now, his talk of if i had to do it over again, i regret it....that's unnecessary. laugh on the way to the bank and move on. if the horse manages to win, at least he can pat himself on the back for having recognized the horses raw talent back when he first started.

I agree, Andy. What I don't get is that they retired Bernardini before we got to see his best (presumably he'd be even better as a 4 year old) so that they could get his foals on the ground ASASP............because the Sheikh really wants a homegrown Derby winner. However, the Sheikh continues to buy up every single promising 2 year old because he also wants to win the Derby ASAP. For this Bernardini and his fellow 3 year olds were retired? They could have continued to run as older horses as long as the Sheikh was going to keep buying 2 year olds left and right.

he wants a derby winner any way he can get it. whether it be by breeding or buying, and he can afford to do both. i don't look for him to keep any of his horses running on at four-look at how discreet cat did at four, and that explains why.

At 4 years old!

You haven't followed all the horses they have had.

Like Hyman Roth, Frankel made money for all his partners in this deal. He played this card brilliantly and intended to sell all along. He waited until the offers were at their highest. He"s unbelievably shrewd.

Forget just the 2 year olds that you know about, although I am sure there are many you don't know about. There have seldom been horses that they have gotten that have moved forward after going to them. Discreet Cat came back to the US an absolute mess and not due to injuries. He was light and they didn't even work him for about 2 months once he came back. Henny Hughes was the same. No injuries mind you. They just didn't know what to do with them. Please, at least do some research on the trainer if you are going to be an avowed fan.:zz:

Nice Hyman Roth reference!.. Baffert is STILL kicking himself for not buying VH when he had the chance. RF made the right move here.

If he had kept Bernardini in training, it very likely would have been a different story. DC obviously had problems and there was no reason for Bernardini to be retired. People used to call Sheikh Mo a sportsman. No way, not for me he's not. What he's doing now is not sportsmanlike either, even though he has the right.

So was this the reason Frankel kept him out of the Breeders Cup. For all we know this colt can be a one turn specialist and Frankel did not want to compromise his value if he were to run in the BC and somehow not handle the surface or the distance. Anyway good luck to the Sheik...

maybe he would have had success at four, but maybe he wouldn't. it's always a crapshoot with these horses. but, the sheikh didn't need bernardini to run any longer, he wants to breed top horses as well-he's got a real hard on for coolmore, and trying to surpass their breeding program, and he needs all the help he can get in that regard.
so, racing wise, there may have been no need to retire bernardini-but breeding wise, it's another story. he's just as interested, if not more so, in developing the #1 breeding program in the world.

Frankel is not stupid he knows if Empire Maker can lose, anyone can lose. Take the sure thing. This horse could be hurt and retire by February if something goes wrong. This horse may want nothing to do with 10f.

Absolutely, positively, without question. He was "selling" this horse -- and brilliantly -- he was selling it to the buyer before the buyer even made an offer.

Eric

I'm going to check with Abe before commenting.

Henny Hughes returned and won a gr three race in NJ before winning the gr one King's Bishop and the gr one Vosburgh over older horses. Discreet Cat came back and won the gr two Jerome then beat older in the gr one Cigar Mile, nearly setting a track and world record in the process. Please, at least present better examples of failures if you are going to tell me where my opinion is wrong.

Henny Hughes never had a shot in hell to win the Derby. What he did have a chance to be was the best 3yo sprinter in the country, if not the best sprinter period and it's arguable that he still turned out to be both. Discreet Cat probably wasn't getting 10f on his best days either so to classify them both as failures because they didn't come back here and win the Derby is a bit silly to me.

Maybe the analogy to Pletcher or Frankel is silly. But the point is that even doing things the conventional way is not a guarantee to success. I don't think it's fair to say that the way the Dubai people do it is the reason why their horses haven't won when it's plenty of other people that don't do it their way and they haven't won either.

You're right and unfortunately, although I don't like the Sheikh, I can't say that he's the only one retiring his horses. I guess I'd better get used to it - unless a horse is a gelding or has mediocre breeding, any good 3 year old is going to be retired. It makes it hard to get attached, though.

which is why you shouldn't get attached. after pine island, i won't anymore. enjoy the sport, but don't get too caught up in any one individual.

Maybe it's just me but I find it interesting that not a word was said when Frankel purchased this horse from someone else because he liked what he saw in the horse.