I don’t know, that’s kind of a tricky one, and I think it also depends on your definition of “pursued,” which could vary a lot from one person to the next.
I certainly have no inside information about what happened in this situation. But after many years around horses, I’ve definitely seen trainers who were always open to taking on a new customer, even if the person was not talented, and did not appear to be rich.
Largely because it can be hard to tell how deep someone’s pockets are at first glance. Someone might show up with a pretty plain horse, and then decide they are ready to replace it with a much fancier horse once they warm up to the idea. Maybe there is a parent or grandparent or somebody else off in the wings who will be willing to step up with a little encouragement, although that would be more typical for someone a bit younger.
So sometimes it can be hard to predict, I think. If you’re not willing to take on a new customer, you never know when you might miss out on a good one.
Under normal circumstances, if a new customer does not work out, eventually there is a parting of the ways when they decide they don’t want to work that hard, or spend that much money. However, obviously these were far from normal circumstances. (Understatement!!)