Prince's Derby gamble paid off

Last Saturday at Churchill Downs, a horse owned by a very wealthy man won the Kentucky Derby. This happens nearly every year, because in general horse-racing ownership is a pursuit for people with a lot of money. However, in this case the victory by 20-1 shot War Emblem attracted more than the usual attention because the rich man was a Saudi prince named Ahmed bin Salman and because the Prince had purchased War Emblem just 23 days before the Derby.

"Did you buy the Derby?" the Prince was asked after the race.

"Everybody buys the Derby," he shot back. It was a delightful response not only for its candor, but also for its utter truthfulness. Everybody does buy the Derby. At some point.

This Derby, of course, was different. The Prince bought War Emblem from 84-year-old Chicago steel executive Russell Reineman, which painted for some people a picture of a sneaky Saudi snookering a poor, vulnerable old man and running off to Kentucky with his horse. And in the end, the Prince did snooker Reineman, but only in hindsight.

Let's review: On April 4, War Emblem won the Illinois Derby with a resounding six-length crushing of Repent, which to that point had been among the leading candidates to win the Derby. It had been an ideal spot for War Emblem. The only other speed horse in the race had been forbidden from starting, on a technicality, which allowed War Emblem an easy lead. He ran a 112 Beyer Speed Figure, but still it seemed as if the performance was a fluke. Reineman insisted after the race that he wasn't going to take War Emblem to the Kentucky Derby, and trainer Bobby Springer echoed those thoughts. (Although Springer told me last Saturday night that he was, indeed, dreaming Derby dreams after the Illinois Derby.)

However, there were plenty of other people -- people with money to burn -- who were in need of a Derby horse. Prince Ahmed was one of them. (So, incidentally, was his celebrity trainer, Bob Baffert.) Baffert got in touch with bloodstock agent Don Brauer, who then inquired about War Emblem's availability. Reineman asked for $1 million and said he wanted to keep 10 percent. Think about this: Reineman was asking seven figures for a horse that was bought for $20,000 as a yearling and whose biggest win was in a speedless Illinois Derby. On April 11, the sale was completed, and the prevailing wisdom at that point was that Reineman had snookered the Prince by selling him a mediocre, one-dimensional horse for a big price, just because the Prince likes hearing My Old Kentucky Home.

Everything about horse racing is a gamble. Reineman, whose steel business is struggling, gambled that a million bucks for War Emblem was good business, that the horse would never again be as valuable. The Prince and Baffert bet that he might do something in the classics. (Or maybe they just wanted to come to the party ... although Baffert started telling people immediately that War Emblem could run.)

Turns out the Prince made good on his wager, and Reineman lost his. Trainer D. Wayne Lukas estimated before the Derby that winning the first jewel of the Triple Crown enhances a horse's value by anywhere from $10 million to $15 million. But nobody snookered anybody in this deal. Everybody had their eyes open. Somebody wins, somebody loses. High stakes.

Sports Illustrated senior writer Tim Layden is a regular contributor to CNNSI.com. Click here to send him a question or comment.

 

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