The Steinbrenner of Horse Racing

This has nothing to do with books, but longtime readers of Slushpile know that I grew up in Kentucky on a horse farm and this news item is just mind-boggling to me. The Keeneland September Yearling Sale recently closed and most of the attention focused on Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum. Determined to win the Kentucky Derby, he spent $9.7 million on one horse, a Storm Cat colt out of broodmare Tranquility Lake. The $9.7 million purchase price is the highest price ever paid in the September sale’s 62-year history and the third-highest price ever paid for a yearling at a Keeneland auction. This record-setting purchase came less than two hours after Maktoum bought another Storm Cat colt, this time out of broodmare Secret Status, for $6.3 million.

All total the crown prince of Dubai bought 23 horses at the two day sale totaling $40.99 million. That’s a long, long, long way from the $15,000 nags we raced. Unbelievable. No one can say he’s not dedicated to winning.