[QUOTE=gotpaints;8926857]
If the mare is a commercial mare, I’d say yes.
For example, Mushka (who is going through the ring tomorrow) was a $2.4 million purchase in 2008 as a 3yo. She earned $866,302 on the track after she was bought. Then her first foal (by Distorted) sold for $1,650,000 as a yearling. She didn’t have a foal the year after that yearling but her foal the following year sold for $1,200,000 as a yearling (Bernardini filly) and her weanling, who goes through the ring the hip after her will probably bring a pretty penny too.
Even with bills and stud fees, she’s done a good job of paying for herself. That doesn’t happen super often, obviously but quality mares who throw good looking foals can usually get nice prices until they prove they can’t produce runners.[/QUOTE]
Mushka is a classy, classy mare. I’m surprised Mrs. Moran is selling her and Cotton Blossom. I cared for both of them for a time, great mares.
In regards to the question… it’s the same as any equine investment-- some gambles pay off, some don’t. A million dollar horse can recoup the investment (whether it’s a yearling, race horse, or mare) or it can be a total flop. Mares are perhaps less risk than yearlings, because you can attempt to recoup investment over a period of years, rather than “swing for the fences” at the racetrack and fail if the colt isn’t a GSW stallion prospect.
Scarlet Tango (dam of Visionaire) sold to Stonestreet in 2008 i/f to Grand Slam for $800,000, right when the economy tanked. That '09 filly didn’t do much, but Stonestreet has since bred two graded stakes winners from her-- Scarlet Strike and Tara’s Tango. Scarlet Strike was sold as a yearling (for only $70K), but Tara’s Tango was kept and raced by Stonestreet, earning her mother’s purchase price back. Scarlet Strike was sold and sent overseas in the 2014 November sale for $1.3M. Good mare families are very valuable, because in general they do pay for themselves.
