MSNBC's Pricci: Sheikh greedy to retire Bernardini so fast
 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15641412/

Hmmm. Seems like Mr. Pricci reads Derby Trail. Either that or he's on the same page as a few of the members here.

That's funny... it sounds a lot like what we hear on here. It wouldn't surprise me in the slightest bit either. Thanks for posting that...

good for Pricci...I guess the sheik's money doesn't have the same pull over @ MSNBC as it does within the industry.

He is just standing up for beyer and haskin who have been slapped around in the last day or two by their employers. As that guy Nichols said "The Maktoum family is going to be a force to be reckoned with for a long time to come." Live with it.

Who cares if Bernardini was retired. I sat out at Belmont Park and there were like 7000 people there for his JCGC.

So you're a rasta?

I have to agree with the overall point.....I know it was the 'rational' thing to do, but if they weren't so irrational in their spending all of the time then maybe I would accept this retirement....Frankly, it is a bit hypocritical when you look at their operation for them to retire this horse sound with only a handful of starts and 9 months of racing under his belt....

I was told from somebody from Darley that Discreet Cat was a BIG factor in retiring Bernardini because they feel that DC will win all of the big races in Dubai and the US next year and didn't want the two racing against each other....

IF he stays healthy.

Blood clot, mon- i was there too yah, rass

how do billionaires get greedy?
seems like they're playing with monopoly money
they choose not to run!

They are greedy for stallion power. Bernardini looks like a much better stallion prospect than Discreet Cat or Invasor. It is not very "sporting" in the eyes of this fan.

i don't know that GREED is the correct word here. the sheik felt that dubai millenium would be his big time stallion. of course poor luck and illness cost him his favorite horse. now he has another big horse in bernardini. it's strange, as others have said and i agree--people want that one special horse, one who sets the world on fire. but as soon as they get one, they get nervous and run scared. sheik mo thinks this guy is his big chance to have a signature stallion at his new farm. i mean, this guy tore down jonabell and re-built it from top to bottom, one end to the other. now he needs his own version of storm cat, ap indy, or dare i say...giants causeway to be his big star.

but doubting bernardini can live up to expectations is the right way to think about it. it's very difficult to make a stallion, especially a top notch, six figure commanding stallion who draws mares from all over the world. bernardini will start out as one, but where will he be in a few years? who knows?? he could end up a bust, plenty of others with fantastic pedigrees have done so. odds are more in favor of him failing to live up to expectations than of meeting them--and i don't see him exceeding those expectations! because plenty will be expected of him....

He's right- I don't want to hear the word "sportsman" and the Sheikh in the same sentence. :mad:

this is the main point.

remember a year or so ago when Godolphin stopped buying yearlings by Coolmore/Ashford sires in some sort of protest against Tabor and Magnier not supporting their stallions at the sales?
it did not last long, but it brought out the point that Coolmore has totally kicked Godolphin/Darley's as* in the stallion/breeding industry?

Darley has E Dubai.
Coolmore has Giants Causeway.
see the difference?

they needed an AP Indy to do what Bernarndini did to help them catch up in this race.



Repent

Darley/Coolmore rivalry has many twists that goes far beyond the track.

Most of them retire horses early. Some good points about Henny Hughes. I'd take Kelly Kip over him in a second, providing the pedigrees and physicals fit.

Did this writer just say that if the Sheikhs were sporting.........like Mary Lou Whitney? The same MLW that retired the 3yo classic winning Birdstone before he could run as a 4yo? Someone care to explain how that's not hypocritical on his part for writing that?

I wonder how people would feel if instead of Invasor, they had ran Discreet Cat in the Classic......and he finished 7th as Bernardini romped home. I guess that would have been the sporting thing to do. Forget the fact (as the writer seemed to do) that they also own the horse that won the Classic. If they weren't sporting, they could have easily left Invasor sitting in the barn with Discreet Cat while Bernardini rolled to victory and with it, HOY and all of the accolades that come with it. Instead, they ran the two best horses in the race and that's still not enough for some of u.

People forget that the Sheikhs are into this game more on the breeding side than on the racing side. They didn't buy Bernardini as a racing prospect. They bought him as a breeding prospect and after giving him a season on the track, they are putting him to the use they bought him for. People keep talking about all the money they have and how they don't need the money from him being at stud. Those that say that are right; they don't need the money. But what they are hoping Bernardini can give them is something that all of their money can't buy; a homebred Derby winner. They would rather breed one Derby winner than buy 10 at the sales. People have different passions and ambitions in this game. They are chasing theirs. Why is that wrong? Why do they "owe" us more?

i agree that they are comparing apples to apples in the case of marylou.

BUT, altho sheiks own both bernie and invasor, it's two different guys. thank goodness they weren't afraid of a bit of a family 'feud' and both ran their best.
and yes, it's the same thing i've been saying about bernardini, they want that homebred, that big stallion. but it's not as easy as they seem to think it might be.

everyone understands what they're attempting, they want that big classic winning horse. ironic thing is--they had him in bernardini!! Mo might never have another as good as him, regardless of the pairings they arrange for their colt in the shed.

It will be ironic if Bernardini never sires a Derby winner. His sire is phenomenal, yet he has not fathered a Derby winner. I am rooting for another Slew to sire a Derby winner before Darley gets theirs. Perhaps A.P. Indy or Mineshaft will do it. Vindication would really be great, as long as it is not a Darley-owned horse.:D

It's different guys technically but it's still the same family. Technically, Discreet Cat, Invasor, and Bernardini all have different owners. Same with Henny Hughes and Dubai Escapade. If the writer and others are going to complain that they didn't run Dubai Escapade and Discreet Cat because the family already had others in the race, then those same people that are complaining should be willing to acknowledge that the family didn't just duck the race with anything horse that was able to beat the "star". If that's what they were attempting to do, believe me, a call would have been made and Invasor would not have been in the Classic.

such animosity, does it matter who owns a great horse or a great Sire ? btw I had a chance to tour farms around Lexington, and outta 20 odd sires(mineshaft, smarty, empiremaker, ap indy, congaree, etc) Vindication looked the best!!

I think he ownership does matter. By the way, the animosity was earned.:(

do you use that as a handicapping tool as well ?? ownership that is ..

What do you guys think about the remarks on Castellano allowing Bernardini to learn bad habits and be unprepared to hook up with Invasor?

I just happen to think losing Dubai Millennium (Golden Goose #1) had an impact here. He was the great hope and if they don't want Bern and Discreet Cat to meet and DC's going to the big races then they really have a rock and a hard place situation here. Rather than ducking each other or beating each other they decide not to risk the horse (yes it sucks for fans). Invasor's gonna be running as is DC so it's not like they retire everything. I think we all knew Henny Hughes was just racing til they figured out when to retire him--he was a stallion prospect from the beginning and the remaining days were numbered. Bern's well-bred and accomplished and they'd probably like to have AP Indy's successor. They want a homebred Derby winner even if odds are slim to none for anybody even if they have money. I just see how it can be both about money and about breeding the animal themselves by Golden Goose #2. I don't like it as a racing fan but I guess I can see why they did it. Does a G1 win at 4 really make him any better a prospect at stud? They know he's talented and they know he's well bred. He can't run in the Derby so his value on the track is now limited to setting up his sons later by getting good mares. Is there really a top mare that's not gonna go to him because he didn't race at 4? I think he's as viable a prospect as he's gonna be in terms of filling his book at the beginning w/top mares and it's not like it's gonna help him in his all important 3rd crop year. Winning the Dubai World Cup would kick him out of a good chunk of the breeding season and I don't see them blowing the whole year--they had a horse die of freakish illness in grass sickness so they're gun shy.

Now question about Secretariat. I know he had 2 big seasons right so it's not the same as a horse doing like Bernardini and retiring at 3 after roughly half a year of performances. Is the argument that it's ok to retire him at 3 that he's pretty much proven on his typical day that he could chew em up and spit em out therefore running at four is a risk that sportsmanship concerns can't outweigh? Because we saw Seattle Slew, Affirmed, and the Bid all go beyond that even with 2yo campaigns and TC or near TC victories. We get mad with horses like Smarty or Point Given (even though Smarty supposedly had bone bruises that turned into something worse, allegedly) so seems like there's a threshold where it's a little more ok to retire some horses early than others. I'm just asking if you think that's true and just your thoughts on what I've tried to throw out there. Not saying I feel one way or the other. This is an interesting discussion we've got going so I was curious about looking at it this way.

I tried to include reasons it's a different situation from Bernardini but show that other horses in a position of greatness ran on post-3 even with 2yo seasons of note. Now just for a lil present I found this shot of Secretariat on a workout and lemme just say d*mn. http://championsgallery.com/secretariat/fi/0000001b.htm

secretariat was retired due to inheritance tax more than anything. he 'saved the farm' basically, much like round table before him for his farm, and sunday silence for arthur hanc-ock.

I haven't figured out why anyone really gives a c-rap about what the Maktoums do with their money. If they want to buy and retire every one of their horses prematurely, why can't they? When they spend, that money trickles down to all of us. Why do you think Keeneland has such high purses? Because they're supplemented by the sales. High purses draw better horses, better horses draw more handicappers (and the "just fan" types who like to watch the good horses) and then create even more money for purses. Don't even get me started on how multi-million-dollar sales trickles down into the horse communities in general; the bonuses are just too easy to list.

I read somewhere that someone believed the high sales prices over-value stud fees. Well maybe in some cases, but 23-year-old Storm Cat sired a record-priced horse ($16 million for The Green Monkey) and, shock of all shocks, his fee stayed the same as it's been since the 1990s. And many horses who go to stud with large fees suffer the humiliation of having them reduced when they can't live up to the lofty expectations as sires. All I've been doing is reading about stallion fee reductions -- more dropped than raised because they need to fill their books. It's simple economics.

But if the Maktoums want to retire all of their horses at three, why can't they? They're their horses and they can do with them what they please. And if the breeders want to not send their mares to him, then more power to them. That's the way to get them if people are really mad, don't you think? If people in the game are really pi$$ed off, just don't send your mare to their stallions. Simple as that.

What, keeping the horse in training is the "sporting" thing to do to keep the fans happy? Does anyone think the handle generated by gambling on stakes races really boosts purses? What, we lose fans who don't have superstars to follow? Well let it be a lesson to all of us -- pick horses not owned by the Maktoums and maybe that will make us happy. Of course you could pick one to follow not owned by the Maktoums and not sold for seven figures in a true sportsman move (or eight, if the rumors are correct) and have him dead from cancer after two races as a 4-year-old.

I wasn't a Bernardini fan until his tenacious second in the Breeders' Cup, so I'm not losing much. But I will say that I won't be getting on a Darley/Godolphin horse bandwagon any time soon because I like to see them run.

they're the big news right now, so a lot of interest in all aspects of their program.
personally, if i was richer than croesus, i'd be buying up every good horse i could find as well, so i don't have a beef with them spending a bunch. it's their business what they do with their money, no one else's.

Not that I need to explain, but...

I have a niece and she actually helped set it up for me. Thought we could bond over it or something.

We call myspace "The Devil" and since she's 12, we (mainly me) monitor her actions on it very carefully. We watch Dateline, after all...

And I am by far not alone in the "over 30ers" who have myspaces. If you don't know, I think it'd shock you. And at least I recognize it; I give myself props for that.

Ah thanks. Not being of that time I had no idea what that was really about. Just figured him being the one who broke the big drought made it hard to keep risking him but this makes sense.

Does anyone have any thought on John Sikura of Hill 'N' Dale Farm buying Madcap Escapade? I was surprised, since I expected Sheikh Mohammed to put her in his mare band; Dubai Escapade, the half-sister, is with Godolphin. Also, the Sheikh bought an expensive Vindication(of Hill 'N' Dale) colt recently. I think Vindication is on his radar. The Sheikh seems particularly enamored of the Seattle Slew line now, a very potent force in American dirt racing. At least he is keeping horses here for now at Darley/Jonabell. It scares me to think of Slews leaving us and going overseas.

mo didn't own madcap, bruce lunsford did. he sold her, claiborne acting as agent, to sikura..and then mr lunsford went to sikura and asked to be allowed to buy half of her back, said she had a special place in his heart...i'll find a link.

http://www.bloodhorse.com/articleind...e.asp?id=36307

that's on 'madcap'.

Thanks. I know Mo did not own Madcap, but I thought he would buy her! I am not an insider and it is just my outsider take on what Mo wants to buy.:D

oh, i see...
maybe he spent too much on others, didn't have enough left for her. lol but i doubt it!!

Your first 2 sentences seem inconsistent with your last 2 sentences. fwiw, I agree with the last 2.

--Dunbar

The Green Monkey is by Forestry, who is by Storm Cat.

Not to mention, even if he had been by Storm Cat, Storm Cat's fee couldn't get much higher than it already is! LMAO :D

So why is A.P. Indy still at $300,000, while Storm Cat is still at $500,000?:confused: Isn't A.P. Indy the leader in America?

Good catch and my bad. The horse I had in my head was actually Mr. Sekiguchi.