Thursday, April 29, 2010

Tough Times At My Old Kentucky Home


This Saturday is Derby Day. No question the Kentucky Derby is a cornerstone in the pantheon of American sports events. Even though I am a big horse racing fan, I haven’t been paying attention to the economics of the sport and as a result this Joe Drape article in the Times surprised me. It shouldn't have. When the financial history of this era is written it will rival any of the classic mania’s of yesteryear. Take your pick of asset, art, dot-com, vacation house ---the Drape story talks about 6 figure breeding rights that are now worth something in the order of 10k. What were we thinking I guess we weren’t and that was the problem. When it’s all said and done we are not any different than the Dutch in the 1600’s willing to bid up tulip bulbs to astronomical price levels.