It boggles the mind to think what Fusaichi Pegasus would have been worth if he had succeeded in becoming the first Triple Crown winner in 22 years.
The Kentucky Derby winner, who finished second in the Preakness and missed the Belmont due to a minor hoof injury, has been sold for a reported world record $70 million.
The winner of the bidding war for Fusaichi Pegasus’ breeding rights was Coolmore Stud, a thoroughbred breeding and racing empire based in Ireland. According to Coolmore spokesman Richard Henry, the agreement that calls for Fusaichi Pegasus to begin his stud carer in 2001 was finalized with representatives of the colt’s Japanese owner, Fusao Sekiguchi, on Friday night.
Fusaichi Pegasus will stand at Coolmore’s Kentucky branch, Ashford Stud in Versailles, Ky., during the Northern Hemisphere breeding season and will go to Australia for the Southern Hemisphere season. His stud fee is expected to be $200,000 per mare in the Northern Hemisphere, breaking the record for a new stallion set in 1983 by Belmont winner Conquistador Cielo. Like Conquistador Cielo, Fusaichi Pegasus is a son of Mr. Prospector, the world-renowned sire who died last year at 29.
The previous record price for a stallion prospect was the $40 million syndication of Shareef Dancer, 1983 English and Irish champion 3-year-old. Shareef Dancer won three of five starts with his biggest conquest coming in the Irish Derby.
Fusaichi Pegasus has won five of seven races and was second in both of his losses.
Plans call for Fusaichi Pegasus to continue racing this year. His trainer, California-based Neil Drysdale, said Tuesday that “his ultimate objective will be the [$4 million] Breeders’ Cup Classic,” Nov. 4 at Churchill Downs. Drysdale hopes to give the colt two or three races before the Breeders’ Cup but he and Sekiguchi haven’t decided on an itinerary.
“He’s going to resume training early next week by trotting,” Drysdale said. “Mother Nature has taken care of the injury.”
The June 3 injury was a gouge of a dime-sized piece of his right front hoof and it was sustained when he was startled in his stall at Aqueduct, where he was training for the Belmont Stakes.
Bred by Arthur Hancock’s Stone Farm in Paris, Ky., Fusaichi Pegasus was the highest-priced yearling sold at Keeneland’s top-of-the-line sale in July 1998. Sekiguchi paid $4 million for the son of Mr. Prospector and the broodmare Angel Fever. The combine of Coolmore Stud and Florida-based Padua Stable was the underbidder.
Among the noteworthy losers in the just-concluded bidding war for Fusaichi Pegasus’ breeding rights were the Maktoum family of the Persian Gulf emirate of Dubai, and Claiborne Farm, which is owned by Hancock’s brother, Seth, and was the home of Mr. Prospector.
Seth Hancock put together the syndication of Secretariat for what then was a world record price of $6 million before his 1973 campaign that saw him become the first Triple Crown winner in 25 years. The bidding war over Fusaichi Pegaus is a vivid illustration of how dramatically the economics of racing have changed in the past 27 years.
Arthur Hancock said Stone Farm also was among the many leading Kentucky farms that submitted bids to stand Fusaichi Pegasus.
“We wouldn’t have committed to the Southern Hemisphere portion,” added Seth’s brother and rival breeder, who believed that element worked in Coolmore’s favor.
The reported $70 million price didn’t surprise Arthur Hancock.
“He’s by a great stallion and he also can run like a son-of-a-gun,” he said. “He’s the ultimate horse, and you don’t find the ultimate horse too often.”
