It really is quite entertaining to observe transactions that take place in Photo-Finish. Whether the sales take place privately, or are done via auction, they all eventually end up published on the sales page for us to scrutinize; and I for one, find the information to be fascinating.
I look at some of these horses with myriad last place finishes, a history of poor speed scores, and consistently lousy odds, and for the life of me, I can't figure out what people are thinking by bothering to bid on them. "Now wait a doggone minute there Jim", you might be thinking. "You paid $30,000 for La Force, who was obviously a bad horse. Isn't this a case of the pot calling the kettle black?"
I don't think so. La Force has an abnormally high, and fairly rare stamina rating and, based on that alone, I thought he might have some potential at longer races. I was wrong, but I felt that his monstrous stamina rating merited spending the 30 grand. In retrospect, I'm sure Laurie would have sold him to me for considerably less.
I marvel that one owner pays just $50 for a horse worth considerably more. Then I'll marvel again that another owner pays $10,000 for a horse that is worthless. They say that beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, right? Can the same be said for talent? How do we put a price tag on potential?
Aadil recently posted that he was looking for a quality 2yo. Aren't we all? The difference though, is that he is willing to pay up to $5,000,000. Now that can get your attention.
Unfortunately, owners that think they have a 2yo horse that may have $5M in purses in him, usually won't sell. They want the enjoyment of winning the money themselves and gaining the acclaim that goes along with it. Owners that think their 2yo horse will not win $5M in their career though, are usually the ones that will sell. Case in point: Hutton offered up If The Cat Fitz for $3M and Aadil wisely turned him down.
I recently paid $2,000,000 for Refractor, $3,000,000 for Methy Bus, $1,250,000 for Kayson, and $300,000 for Machine Gun. Refractor hadn't done anything before I bought him, but he has shown that he is worth the investment. Methy Bus cost a fair bit, but he is talented and has a long career ahead. Kayson is just now maturing, so I felt the price was right, given the potential benefits. Machine Gun is maddeningly inconsistent, but he may yet prove to have been a bargain.
My point is... we all see things differently. There are probably people out there who think I overpaid on some or all of these horses. Time will tell.
5 comments:
And Chiquita Lodge just paid HHH $4mil for a broodmare with only 3 racers to track and they have only managed $1.2mil between them!
Looks like HHH will be around for a long while yet.
$4M? That seems like a major stretch to me for Bedazzled. I look at my broodmare Second Strike and she looks just as good as Bedazzled, PSR-wise and placings-wise and I got her for 500K. Chiquita is a very smart organization, but I think he blew that one...
Personally i think she has some potential she just hasnt been sent to the right stallions yet ... Id like to see her go to Regal Son and Lazy Loper and see what she produces... I still wouldnt have paid $4M for her though maybe 1/2 that
Foxie
Don might've overpaid a touch for Bedazzled (maybe he's a Bespoken fan, or he liked the AR) but she, like Second Strike, is worth at least a couple of million. Offer Second Strike to Don and see what price he comes up with. If he doesn't offer Bedazzled money, I will.
(You paid unders for Methy Bus too, IMO. If you want to quickly double your money on him, I'll take him.)
I forget that there are guys out there that have a lot more cash than me. It's a little difficult for me to part with my brass, so it's very rare when I spend more than a million.
I would never expect to get $4M for any of my mares, who are all second-tier types. Even if someone offered that kind of cash though, I probably wouldn't sell. I'm trying to build up the quality of my mares and it's a slow process.
Chris was very kind to sell Methy Bus to me. He's a heck of a nice guy and I had to force him to take the $3M. He may or may not be worth more Smack, but when he's done racing, he might go back to Smokey. Thanks for the "offer" though Bud.
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