Racing fans are hardly unique in always wanting more, so it was no surprise that when Anthony Oppenheimer, the owner of Golden Horn, dropped a heavy hint on Sunday that his colt will retire to stud at the end of the year, it was followed by a strong swell of Twitter-led disapproval. On Saturday Golden Horn became the first unbeaten Derby winner since Nashwan in 1989 to follow up in the Eclipse Stakes at Sandown but, with only five career starts behind him, it is likely that his racing career is already past halfway.
On the surface it could be argued that Golden Horn did no more on Saturday than a starting price of 4-9 suggested he should. Golden Horn’s four-length defeat of The Grey Gatsby, though, was an improvement on his Derby success, in terms of the proven Group One-winning quality of the runner-up and also his versatility in making all. Whatever else may eventually beat him this season – and he is still 5-1 with Hills to go unbeaten in the rest of 2015 assuming that he has at least one more run – it is unlikely to be a small field and no pace.
Golden Horn has already proved himself to be a cut above many recent Derby winners, hence the widespread disappointment that he may have – at most – only four runs left and quite possibly two or three. From this point, however, every subsequent Group One win for Golden Horn will increase the likelihood that this season will be his last on the track.
Perhaps everyone has been a little spoiled in recent years by the sight of Workforce, Camelot and Ruler Of The World, three of the five Derby winners before Golden Horn, returning to the track at four. For Oppenheimer, however, the arguments in favour of retirement at the end of the year could well seem overwhelming.
It is not just about the money, either, though Golden Horn will certainly be an immensely valuable stallion once his racing days are done. Oppenheimer, like Christopher Tsui, who attracted similar criticism when Sea The Stars retired from racing at three, is an owner-breeder on a relatively small scale. For him breeding and racing have broadly equal significance.
What looks like retirement to racing fans is just a career switch, from Oppenheimer’s point of view. If Golden Horn races on at four, it means an entire generation of his sons and daughters – 100 or more in the modern way of doing things – would never see a track.
A four-year-old racing season for a colt like Golden Horn does not just come with physical risks. There is also an imbalance between the potential ups and downs for his value and reputation. Of the 15 Derby winners this century before Golden Horn, six have raced on at four but only one, High Chaparral, made any significant improvement to his record.
Three of the six, incidentally, were owned by the Coolmore Stud syndicate and, while it was still a very sporting decision to send High Chaparral and Camelot back out for another season on the track, it may have been a little easier to take when Galileo – Camelot’s sire – was already back home covering nearly 200 mares a season at £300k apiece.
Even Khalid Abdullah and the Aga Khan, both of them operators on a much grander scale than Oppenheimer or Tsui, have generally retired their star performers at three in the past (Abdullah’s Workforce, the 2010 Derby and Arc winner, being a rare exception).
It has always been easy to moan from a distance and Twitter makes it easier and cheaper than ever. But my guess is that the overwhelming majority of those lining up to complain about Golden Horn possibly being an ex-racehorse in little more than three months’ time would do exactly the same themselves if the opportunity to do so were anything more than a hopeless daydream.
I know I would.
