I'll Have Another from the horse's mouth: Reddam's Bloodhorse guest blog

[Sightseek]

Originally Posted by Arletta

Said with tongue in cheek I hope.

Not at all.

[OldDog]

Well, I do respect him for putting all of this “out there.” He certainly didn’t have to. I would think that it must be difficult as an owner to separate emotion from business, for some owners anyway, but at least he is honest about the business side -- the only side, really -- of sending IHA to Japan. Besides, if Reddam misses IHA the extra $M’s will buy a lot of airplane tickets. One would think, though, that there might have been an agreement for IHA to return stateside when/if he is pensioned.

[GenuineRisk]

Originally Posted by OldDog

Well, I do respect him for putting all of this “out there.” He certainly didn’t have to. I would think that it must be difficult as an owner to separate emotion from business, for some owners anyway, but at least he is honest about the business side -- the only side, really -- of sending IHA to Japan. Besides, if Reddam misses IHA the extra $M’s will buy a lot of airplane tickets. One would think, though, that there might have been an agreement for IHA to return stateside when/if he is pensioned.

I read the interview pretty quickly so I may have misread but I thought he said he planned to buy him back if IHA was ever put up for sale. He may not have set up an arrangement for when he's pensioned because, assuming a 15-20 year career at stud, it's quite possible Reddam won't be around when that time comes. The retirement orgs here seem to do a really good job of keeping tabs on our big horses who go overseas; I'm sure they'll take IHA if he doesn't work out as a sire over there.

[OldDog]

Originally Posted by GenuineRisk

I read the interview pretty quickly so I may have misread but I thought he said he planned to buy him back if IHA was ever put up for sale. He may not have set up an arrangement for when he's pensioned because, assuming a 15-20 year career at stud, it's quite possible Reddam won't be around when that time comes. The retirement orgs here seem to do a really good job of keeping tabs on our big horses who go overseas; I'm sure they'll take IHA if he doesn't work out as a sire over there.

I agree that they do a fine job. It would be nice, however, if someone like Michael Blowen didn't have to ask donors for funds to repatriate IHA, if instead the conditions were put into the contract up front. Those costs would be an insignificant figure in a $10M contract. Just sayin.