Bob Neumeier

It must be insanity, right?

How else could you possibly explain the purchase of an un-raced thoroughbred for a record $16 MILLION!

Yet, that is exactly what transpired Tuesday afternoon at the Calder sale for two-year-olds when agent Demi O’Byrne outbid arch-rival agent John Ferguson in a mano-a-mano duel that shook the industry to its very core.

How could this happen?

It took “a perfect storm” of a well-bred, exceedingly-fast horse with perfect physical confirmation that caught the attention of two wealthy egomaniacs that could buy the universe with the snap of a finger — John Magnier of Coolmore Stud and Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum of Dubai. These are two men accustomed to getting what they want, when they want.

So their respective representatives — O’Byrne and Ferguson — staged the most spirited duel since the gunfight at the OK Corral, annihilating the previous sales record of $5.2 million for an unraced two-year-old by almost $11 million!

The wheels were set in motion earlier, when the colt blistered an eighth of a mile in a scintillating time of 9 4/5 seconds — a workout that sent Magnier and the Sheikh into a frenzied lather, competition that played out in the sales ring Tuesday.

“It’s beautiful when two titans hook up,” said Boyd Browning, COO of Fasig-Tipton, the company that ran the sale. “None of us have ever had the experience of selling a horse for $16 million or anywhere near that in our lifetime. That was fantastic, that was wonderful, and that was extraordinary.”

But if Browning was gushing over this purchase to boost the prestige of his auction, the two men that consigned or put the son of Forestry into the ring — Randy Hartley and Dean De Renzo of Florida — had to be over the moon. They originally purchased the colt for $425,000 last year with the intention of “pinhooking” or re-selling him as a two-year-old in training.

Hartley and De renzo just didn’t hit a grand slam, they hit the Powerball lottery again and again and again.

In a massive understatement, O’Byrne joked to reporters, “he better be good.”

Can Magnier and his partners Michael Tabor and Derek Smith possibly recoup their massive investment?

The odds say no.

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He certainly will never make the $16 million in earnings on the track no matter how good he turns out to be. But if by chance the youngster wins the Kentucky Derby and or the Belmont Stakes or Breeders’ Cup Classic, Magnier and his Coolmore Stud lads could sell his future breeding rights in syndication for millions more than they paid.

If he turns out to be as good a sire as Storm Cat, for instance, Magnier could potentially charge $150,000 or more for every mare sent to his barn, forty or more in each breeding season. At that point, the numbers could go up in astronomic fashion, conceivably making this $16 million investment look like chump change.

If.

But this is the way Coolmore Stud runs its successful breeding business. Spend big money for well-bred, athletic babies and hope you occasionally turn out a champion, that in turn will become a desired stallion. Giant’s Causeway fits that description.

They say you have to spend money to make money in the business world.

Magnier and Coolmore Stud of Ireland just spent a barrelful for a two-year-old that may never even make it to the races. One false step or injury could end the game at any time.

Insanity, you say?

Magnier would rather you call it ... a calculated risk.

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