Does anyone know who was/is the most expensive racehorse ever? And what was the worth?

Question

Does anyone know who was/is the most expensive racehorse ever? And what was the worth?

Answer 1

Although the Green Monkey was purchased for $16million, I think that if you apply inflation to the $13million paid for Seattle Dancer, he will work out to be the most expensive racehorse ever sold at public auction.

Several high-profile horses have been sold privately, but the prices are never disclosed.  Authorised was recently sold to Sheikh Mohammed and the rumour in Newmarket was that he paid around £20million for him (approx $40million)

As far as syndication goes, that is the process of selling off shares in a stallion when he goes to stud, SPECATACULAR BID holds the world record following his syndication @ $550,000 per share for 40 shares) - totalling $22million in 1981 - again applying inflation would increase this further.

Answer 2

Depends on how you define "racehorse."  As others here have indicated, The Green Monkey, who is now 3 years old and still unraced, sold as a 2-year-old in training for $16 million at the Fasig-Tipton Calder 2-year-olds in training sale.  He was a "pinhook;" i.e., bought as a yearling for the purpose of resale as a 2-y-o in training, originally sold for $425,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky July yearling sale.  

The most expensive yearling ever sold at public auction was Seattle Dancer, a son of English Triple Crown winner and leading sire Nijinsky II, out of My Charmer, who had previously foaled American Triple Crown winner and leading sire Seattle Slew.  Seattle Dancer sold for $13.1 million.  He won the Gallinule Stakes in Ireland, which is a Group II race, and eventually retired to stud, where he is the sire of approximately 50 stakes winners.  He stands in Germany now for a fee of about 8,000 euros.

In 2006, at the Keeneland November Breeding Stock sale, a weanling son of European champion and leading sire Montjeu out of the Arazi mare Elbaaha, dam already of top European runner and Dubai World Cup winner Electrocutionist, sold for $2.6 million.

With private deals for racehorses, sometimes it's hard to peg the exact price.  It's fairly typical to negotiate a private deal that includes "escalator clauses" if the horse wins certain races, e.g., add $500,000 to the sales price if the horse wins a Group I or Grade 1 race, etc.  Also, sometimes the selling party retains part of the horse or a certain number of breeding rights.  It's been fairly typical in recent years for deals to be negotiated for Derby-eligible 3-year-olds early in the spring of their 3-year-old year.  An 80% interest in Curlin was sold for about $3.3 million in February of this year, as an example.  That's fairly typical of what a hot Derby-eligible 3-year-old with more promise than performance might sell for.  Of course, if the horse has "sire" bloodlines, the price goes up.

And of course once a horse is syndicated for stud, the sky is almost the limit.  In recent years, horses like Smarty Jones and others who have established themselves as champions have been syndicated for prices in the $20 million price range.  That doesn't really count as a price for a racehorse, though, because it's negotiated on the basis of the horse's value as a sire.

If you count the in utero value of the foal a broodmare is carrying, then Cash Run, who sold in foal to Storm Cat for $7.1 million in 2003, has to be counted as a record.  (That foal, now named Gstaad, has 4 starts and 1 win to date.)

Answer 3

The Green Monkey was purchased last year as a 2 year old for $16 million. He turned out to be a total dud.

Answer 4

The Green Monkey was purchased last year by the Coolmore Stud. He sold for a record price of $16 Million dollars. He has not raced once!!

Read about it here : http://horseracing.about.com/b/a/251303....

Answer 5

2-year-old Florida-born colt, and you can bet this expensive Thoroughbred is on a path straight to the Kentucky Derby. The expensive colt reportedly went for $16,000,000 USD.

Answer 6

Here's some extra info to add to what the others said -

The Forestry colt brought in $16 million at the Calder Race course. The colt is descended from two Kentucky Derby winners. The colt scored the fastest time against the other 153 horses sold at the Calder Race Course. He ran an eighth of a mile in just under 10 seconds.