Doubling the DWC to 12 million, WOW!!!

[letswastemoney]

Originally Posted by Indian Charlie

heatseeker, tiago, perfect drift

perfect drift?

[Indian Charlie]

Originally Posted by letswastemoney

perfect drift?

you'd have to understand the lack of psychology involved.

[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.

[Linny]

I cannot see how the JC can instutute a rule limiting books. It's a restraint of trade issue.
I do find it disheartening that so few owners of racehorses care to stand them at stud. I realize that it's very expensive and risky but in many cases you are "out" pretty early with a top prospect. I was no fan of the "Slew Crew" but I sure admire their loyalty to Slew. Similarly, owners like deKwiatkowski were rewarded for their loyalty to Danzig etc. Over the decades those to horses were worth more than even the Sheikh is offering. In most cases (not all) the owners are wealthy enough that absorbing the riskswouldn't be all that hard. If they sell, they have the option to sell only a percentage. They they have Sh. Mo as a partner and he has a pretty strong broodmare band with which to support a stallion that you also own. I have no idea if Sh. Mo would work that way but other operations do.