Interest generated by sale

The sale of Christen Me to North American interests, announced last week, has created plenty of chat in harness racing circles, writes Jonny Turner.

The horse’s owners have decided the horse’s racing days in Australasia are over. The majority of opinion I have heard on this has been quite critical of their decision to move the winner of $2.5million on.

Whether you agree or not, it is quite interesting to take a step back and look at the framework under which the racing world, in either code, works. I would describe it as the most bizarre mix — mostly in a good way — of business and emotion one could possibly find.

In any other business the answer is quite simple. The horse’s owners have an asset that is worth well into triple figures. The asset has made them a lot of money, but that the income is slowing down. Logically, they are best to bail out, even if they are selling for a fraction of the horse’s earnings and a fraction of the horse’s peak value.

Yet for most of us —  some might argue 99% of those who own horses — business is not the first  consideration when thinking about selling a horse like Christen Me.

Obviously the percentage would dwindle if we were talking about selling a younger up-and-coming horse, but I can only guess at the emotional attachment an owner would  have with a horse like Christen Me. Most of us can only dream of that, which, I imagine, is what is driving many of the opinions voiced to me about the sale of the horse. The main themes are  ‘‘he deserves a good retirement’’ and ‘‘he has earned them enough money’’.

That’s a  fair argument and I am in that camp myself. However I am making that judgement largely from what I know about the horse through the media and without knowing every  detail about him and his career. Many would argue that the horse is relatively lightly raced and as an 8yr-old has plenty more time left on  the track. In North America, a number of New Zealand exports have revived their careers. Christen Me’s former stablemate, Bit Of A Legend, is a good example.  He was a superstar at 2 and 3 before his form tapered off badly in Australasia.

Since arriving in North America he has completely rejuvenated his career. Last season  he  won 13 of his 28 starts with earnings of more than $US700,000 ($NZ999,100).  He and many of those ex-Kiwi horses race on a reasonably well-known drug called Lasix. et’s say the merits of its use in America and non-use here are probably best saved for another column. The final factor I will put forward for consideration is for  Christen Me himself. From what I can gather he loves his work, and still has a zest for racing. It has  already been made public that the horse could come back to New Zealand for his retirement, which surely would ease a little of the pain of him being ‘‘shipped off’’.

There are  numerous things to consider and it is doubtful the public will ever know every exact detail about Christen Me and why he will find himself on a plane to North America.

One thing we do know is this is just another piece in the puzzle in this wonderful sport we call racing. Once a horse hits the track it become public property. Whether the owners, trainers, drivers and jockeys like that or not, it is just something that comes with the racing game. Though two people may own this horse legally, thousands of people  have taken ‘‘ownership’’ after he became public property thanks to his amazing racetrack achievements.I would have kept the horse here and retired him, but I’m with the majority who have no legal claim to the horse. I’m just a fan who will miss seeing him race, so it’s goodbye for now, Christen Me.

Happy trails, old fella.

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