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Pegasus needs to learn to walk before it takes flight
- Updated: June 3, 2016
7:37 PM ET
Racing is so bereft of innovation that new ideas are especially welcome even if they are flawed. Exhibit A is The Stronach Group’s new Pegasus World Cup, scheduled for Jan. 28 with a $12 million purse that would make it the world’s richest — and weirdest — race.
Its central idea is not truly new, having been borrowed from the futurities of yore, where nomination fees accounted for the entire purse of a race. This is not your grandfather’s futurity, however. Instead of soliciting hundreds of nominations, the Pegasus has already sold the 12 spots in its starting gate for $1 million apiece. The buyers, an odd assortment of established horse owners and financial speculators who don’t own any horses, can then use their purchased spot to race, lease or share a horse, or sell the berth to the highest bidder. The 12 spots sold out within a week.
The owners of California Chrome and Nyquist are among the purchasers; everyone else is looking for a horse or a buyer between now and January. This creates some intriguing arbitrage situations and hypotheticals. When’s the best time to sell your slot? At what point does it start losing value? If the five favorites have secured berths and any additional starters are going to be 20-1 and up, who’s going to pay $1 million to get only 6-1 on winning the race?
At different times, it will be either a buyers’ or a sellers’ market. It will be fascinating to see how it plays out — if the public is in fact allowed to see. The complex mechanics of berth ownership demands transparency for the wagering …
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