What do other people think?
Lord Helpus wrote:LOL. California never even crossed my mind for CC. I can see that his owners would want him near enough to visit, but they know how special the horse is and his opportunity to get a first book or 2 of the best mares would not exist out there. I feel pretty sure that he will not go to Japan. Money is not as important to them as is their love for the horse.
I am probably totally wrong, but it is fun to speculate.
Unless I am remembering incorrectly, Unbridled almost DID leave the country. Claiborne outbid foreign interests to purchase him from the estate-- that's why he went from Gainesway to Claiborne.Private Thoughts wrote:If he is sent to Japan, that would be our 5th dual classic winner (as he is right now) standing in Japan.
Sorry if this sounds politically incorrect, but piss on that.
How stupid would that be? Yeah, money, money, money, blah, blah, blah.
Thankfully, unless his owners are the best actors in the world, I don't see him leaving this country. Several horses have had it in their stallion contracts that they cannot leave the US. Unbridled comes to mind. I believe Smarty Jones had something similar.
I think they would retain controlling ownership in this horse. I could see them standing him at Three Chimneys, since they dealt with a similar situation with Seattle Slew's owners. I would be happy if he stood in California but if he wins the TC I don't think he would, but you never know, look at owners in the past who have done just as they pleased, Man O' War's owner for one.
While money is nice, not every person is in this sport to make money to the exclusion of all else. Sometimes being able to enjoy their animals is also important. (Zenyatta for example) Being able to own offspring of their classic winner probably is also important. And to top it off, they say he is America's horse. Well what better way to piss off the racing public than to send "their horse" to Japan.
Japan has enough of our champions and plenty of their own. Ours need to start staying here again.
And so what if the public wants to visit him in retirement? All the better for promoting the sport and improving fan relations. Fans are just as important as the bettors, the owners, the breeders. Yet they seem to be the most undervalued. The owners of California Chrome have gone along way to improving those relations in just a short period of time.
It isn't done because it wouldn't work. Mares don't foal and/or ovulate on schedule. So no breeder would want to book their mare to a horse who might or might not be in their state when their mare was ready to be bred.Life At Zen wrote:Is it feasible for him to stand half a season in KY and half in CA? Almost like shuttling. I've never heard of it done before but it wouldn't surprise me if his owners did something like that. Obviously the main question would be "why bother?" which is probably why it's never been done before.
I didn't even think of that. Duh. Thanks!TBird wrote:It isn't done because it wouldn't work. Mares don't foal and/or ovulate on schedule. So no breeder would want to book their mare to a horse who might or might not be in their state when their mare was ready to be bred.Life At Zen wrote:Is it feasible for him to stand half a season in KY and half in CA? Almost like shuttling. I've never heard of it done before but it wouldn't surprise me if his owners did something like that. Obviously the main question would be "why bother?" which is probably why it's never been done before.
The Winchells have a decent amount of mares, though, so that probably made sense for them. In the end, I guess it depends on what sort of deal CC's owners are offered.Secretariat4ever wrote:I think they will keep 50% just like they did with Tapit.
I think they mean she could've just stayed in California and be bred to Lucky Pulpit, instead of shipping east to Kentucky to be bred to top sires.TBird wrote:To be bred to Lucky Pulpit, Zenyatta would have had to ship west. She lives in Kentucky.Katewerk wrote:To think that Zenyatta was shipped all the way East when she could have just gone to Lucky Pulpit... just saying!
