Selling a horse pre-Belmont

OK - if you owned a horse that won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness…would you sell prior to the Belmont knowing that:
(a) if you win the Belmont, the stud fees alone would be more than the sale or
(b) hedge and sell pre-Belmont, thus guaranteeing a large sum of money

Depends on the price, how much money I started with, my evaluation of the horse's chance at Belmont, and what kind of injury insurance I could get.

Generally I would lean toward selling while keeping a minority percentage for myself.

The owners of CC were offered $6 million for 51 percent of the horse, before the Kentucky Derby. So that's a valuation of $12 million. If your horse won both the Derby and Preakness and looked good, you could probably get $40 million while still keeping a small stake for yourself. Big Brown's stud rights sold for $50 million the day after he won the Preakness: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/17/AR2008051702731.html

I think once you've won the derby and Preakness, why bother? Buy 30 mil of injury protection, and you're good to go.

Quote: FinsRule

I think once you've won the derby and Preakness, why bother? Buy 30 mil of injury protection, and you're good to go.

that is what I was thinking, plus..

1. these owners are already very rich
2. they are already going to make a fortune on stud fees with these 2 wins
3. they won a ton of money on the first 2 plus the other races they won
4. I think an owner would rather win a triple crown instead of having 20 million

California Chrome not for sale.

http://www.courier-journal.com/story/sports/columnists/sullivan/2014/05/02/sale-chromes-sign/8645775/

Quote: aceofspades

OK - if you owned a horse that won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness…would you sell prior to the Belmont knowing that:
(a) if you win the Belmont, the stud fees alone would be more than the sale or
(b) hedge and sell pre-Belmont, thus guaranteeing a large sum of money

Sell the horse, stallion rights, mother and the two full sisters. Trade the wives in ......and never, ever, buy another horse.

Chrome is a cheaply bred horse which will probably be revealed in the breeding shed. Spectacular Bid, my favorite race horse was cheaply bred and proved it as a stallion.

These folks will probably end up living with the horse as the owners of Seattle Slew did.....

What a great story!

Aren't you forgetting something? A Derby and Preakness winner stands a good chance of winning that year's Breeders Cup Classic (not to mention the one after that). I'd hate to be the guy who sold Alysheba right before the Belmont (or right after his fourth-place finish which, back then, cost him the $1 million bonus that he would have won had they used the point system they started using two years later).

Quote: treetopbuddy

Sell the horse, stallion rights, mother and the two full sisters. Trade the wives in ......and never, ever, buy another horse.

Chrome is a cheaply bred horse which will probably be revealed in the breeding shed. Spectacular Bid, my favorite race horse was cheaply bred and proved it as a stallion.

These folks will probably end up living with the horse as the owners of Seattle Slew did.....

What a great story!

I don't understand what cheaply bred and proving it as a stallion means.

Very impressive that Chrome's owners turned down 6 million for 51%......very unusual and incredibly sportsmanlike. The rule in horse racing is to always take the money.....these guys and the horse are breaking all the rules.

They'll sell after CC wins the Breeders' Cup Classic this year.

He'll finish 2nd at the Belmont. Get 2 months off. Prep in October at SA. Win the BCC in November. Retire. They'll sell for 25 mil.

He does have 2 full sisters that they own, so no need to keep him.

Quote: onenickelmiracle

I don't understand what cheaply bred and proving it as a stallion means.

He had bad lineage, and he never had any good kids.