Horse racing is big business. Very expensive, too.
For example, the Keeneland Championship Sale is slated for Oct. 29, and it’s at the world’s largest thoroughbred auction house, where lifetime breeding rights for 2016 Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist are up for grabs.
The Championship Sale, ahead of this weekend’s Breeders’ Cup Championships in Del Mar, California, has several notable offerings, but perhaps none more intriguing than lifetime breeding rights to Nyquist, who, back in September at Keeneland’s yearling sale, was represented by 37 yearlings sold for a combined $14,645,500.
No word yet on the opening bid for Nyquist, but his stud fee alone is a whopping $175,000. According to Keeneland, the lifetime breeding right “entitles the purchaser to breed one mare per season to Nyquist, who stands at Darley in Lexington, for the duration of the stallion’s stud career.”
“The Championship Sale was designed to showcase offerings that are truly one of a kind,” Keeneland Vice President of Sales Tony Lacy said. “To feature a breeding right to Nyquist underscores the sale’s position as a stage for rare collectors’ items. For buyers, this is an extraordinary opportunity to secure access to one of the best stallions in the sport.”
Nyquist’s pedigree is unrivaled. He was 2 years old when he conquered Churchill Downs, and he’s the sire of 33 stakes winners, including North American champions Immersive and Vequist and Canadian champion Gretzky the Great.
This year, he is represented by Grade 1 winners Cavalieri, Velocity, and Argos. Nyquist is also the sire of such Breeders’ Cup hopefuls as Johannes (FanDuel Mile), Cavalieri (Distaff), Nysos (Dirt Mile), and Argos (Juvenile Turf).
Also up for grabs at the Championship Sale is a 20 percent share in Thorpedo Anna, the reigning Horse of the Year and seven-time Grade 1 winner, and premier stallion shares in Not This Time, Mindframe, and Bentornado, the leading contender for the Breeders’ Cup Sprint.
For the right price, of course.
