Must admit I skimmed thru much of the posts this morning…been so busy but this afternoon I will relax and enjoy the BC races…but I will be screaming my headoff with all appreciate appendiges crossed for Bushfire…I still miss her 1/2 brother and want to see her go on and become the superstar that she can be.
As expected fallout from Beyer’s comments.
Indeed, on the eve of the Cup, a firestorm broke over the Dubai assault on U.S. racing when Andrew Beyer, a Daily Racing Form columnist, wrote a scathing article, accusing them not only of checkbook horsemanship but also of spending billions on horses at the expense of their people.
Then, turning the knife, he wrote: “Most wealthy people in the sport won’t spend money in a fashion that makes them appear foolish or vulgar. The Maktoums are unfettered by such constraints.”
After that, you could hear the howls from Churchill Downs to Lexington, the nation’s breeding capital, to Dubai. The Arabs reportedly responded by withdrawing their advertising from the paper.
Then the sheik’s American racing manager, Rick Nichols, had his say. Struggling to control his fury, he told the press after Invasor’s Classic triumph: “That was a piece of trash journalism because the man doesn’t have a clue what goes on inside the Maktoum family.”
Beyer seemed particularly incensed that Sheik Hamdan could go down to Uruguay, flash his oil-bulging checkbook and snap up a horse like Invasor for $1.4 million. He said much of the Arab success had come from buying up horses developed by other people, including Cup Sprint flop Henny Hughes for $4 million.
Although more balanced comments from Newsday …
But that’s the free market, the way it works. No one should be hammered for scouting the landscape, checking out horses and offering to buy. There are no guarantees. Invasor could have broken his leg first race out of the gate for the sheik. In horse racing, as elsewhere, you pay your dollar and take your chance.
The traffic is not all one way. American owners have taken their horses to Dubai and won their World Cup, which carries a prize of $6 million - a million richer than the Classic.
This is a new era in American racing - for now. No one can buy the racing game. The Arab era will pass too, just like Calumet.
