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Originally Posted by hockey2315
They spent $950K on the horse. . . considering that $250K doesn't seem so bad. Mrs. Robsham is a rich old lady, though, so it's obvious that she's not too concerned with trying to make some of her money back. Knowing that I find it odd that she sold Discreet Cat.
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As Cannon Shell said, it's about the value of this horse as a stud prospect is probably very low. By low I mean five figures, low five figures. Even if he were to win a stake this season by some miracle he would be next to worthless. The modest end of the market is filled with stallions who were once potental top stallions after good racing careers. The market doesn't need a flakey headed unsuccessful son of Giant's Causeway.
IF Mrs. Robsham were interested, she would have to invest a couple of hundred thousand MORE into him to buy mares and breed her own to him.
If he were to stand someplace he's suitable only for a regional market. Even if he did win a minor stake this season (and that is a stretch) he'd be worth maybe $1000 fee. At that rate in Louisiana or Maryland or NY he might get 15 mares because he's just not a hot ticket. The regional markets are flooded with slow bluebloods. If he generated $15k in income a year, against the cost of maintaining him, advertising him, feeding him it's a LOSS.
He was a big investment that didn't pan out. He's not a viable stud prospect. (CS mentioned that horses like this sell at auction all the time for under $10k.) Mrs. Robsham figures that maybe gelding him will make him at least a viable RACING prospect, one that she can enjoy watching or who at least will be salable though the claim box if he can't quite succeed in allowances.
What most pople don't realize is how much money it cost to STAND a stallion. You have to advertise and promote the heck out of him. You have to sell him. You also have to pay the standing farm or stallion manager alot of money for his upkeep. You have to pay for the breeding shed staff and the vets who attend to the breeding. You have general vet and farrier expenses. If he is valuable, insurance is important and expensive.
The horse in my avatar is a very nice gelding. He lives at a boarding and showing barn and aside from funky shoes he requires no special maintainance. Off the top, board and vet and farriery is assumed to be about $1000 a month. If he were a standing stallion, he'd certainly have to be a fancier place, prepared to handle mares, perform the mating, handle vet care related to breeding etc. Such a place would need to maintain separate paddocks for him and any other stallions. Factor in that most low priced, regional stallions rarely get books of over 10 mares, I can't see making any money at that level. Add on promoting a stallion, and I cannot imagine how a stallion can be viable for an fee less that about $5k.