[GenuineRisk]

I don't think it's fair to blame Sheik Mo (much as I would like to), because no one is forcing people to sell their horses to him, and he's pretty clear about why he's buying them (isn't Pyro continuing to race under his current silks until the end of his career? It's not like the Sheik is buying him to race him). But he offers a ton of money, so can you blame people without that much money for selling? We can complain about being unsporting all we want, but the only way anyone will pay any attention to what the fans say is if the gambling ones all stopped gambling to protest early retirement of top horses, and that's just not going to happen, because I think most serious horseplayers are gamblers first and racing fans second (which is perfectly fair). In the end, I think it will have to come down to regulation- the Jockey Club saying a horse can't breed before age 5, or limiting the number of foals (like brian mentioned) but that's not likely to happen either, because fandom is of no importance to this game. It's about the money, from top to bottom, and fans don't bring in any to an owner, breeder, or anyone directly connected to the individual horse. Sucks, to be sure, but it's not fair to blame Sheik Mo for taking advantage of a system already in place.