Will top horses remain in training longer?

[SG4]

I was wondering if the advent of the Pegasus World Cup will lead to some of the superstars in racing having longer careers. Used to be very easy to point to the Breeders Cup, maybe squeeze the lemon one more time in the Cigar Mile or Clark & then off to the breeding shed. Now with the Pegasus not all that long after the BC, and then the Dubai Cup just 2 months after that, isn't it likely that a horse coming off a sharp performance in the BC will really make an owner think twice before pulling the plug on the career so quickly as 2 potential $6 million paydays could be around the corner? And once you're training into March already, you're pretty much committed for the rest of the year since the breeding season is mostly gone, so I'm thinking this new big race might have more beneficial impacts on the sport than just 1 major day in January. Or is this all a moot point if breeding rights are sold much earlier in the horse's career anyway, does the stud farm just decide when to call it quits?

[andtheyreoff]

Yeah, it'll extend their careers by one whole race! Whoopee!

[SuperPickle]

Assmussen was the guy who gave the great quote on this. That pretty much once a horse wins an important Grade 1 he becomes a stallion that day. From that moment on you're racing a stallion.

There's not enough purse money in the world to offset a nice stud fee.

Btw... I think the Pegasus is more an attempt to have our own version of the Dubai World Cup. We have the Breeders Cup Classic but aside from Coolmore and Juddmonte few international horses compete. The idea is to engage some of the top horses from Europe, Asia and Australia.

I think it's about creating a field that's never been created.

[Fager Fan]

Originally Posted by SuperPickle

Assmussen was the guy who gave the great quote on this. That pretty much once a horse wins an important Grade 1 he becomes a stallion that day. From that moment on you're racing a stallion.

There's not enough purse money in the world to offset a nice stud fee.

Btw... I think the Pegasus is more an attempt to have our own version of the Dubai World Cup. We have the Breeders Cup Classic but aside from Coolmore and Juddmonte few international horses compete. The idea is to engage some of the top horses from Europe, Asia and Australia.

I think it's about creating a field that's never been created.

For the $20k-$25k stallion, it's basically a break-even proposition. But it doesn't have to be break even because they can run in this race then be in Lexington weeks prior to the opening of the breeding shed.

I like the idea. It's creatively funded and gives us a big race in January to look forward to.