Why a Night With This Stud Could Cost $100,000

Big Brown has an opportunity to make betters some big bucks at the Belmont Stakes June 7, to say nothing about the history he could make (which would be BIG BIG news). That is because in the past 125 years, only eleven horses have won the Triple Crown, a distinction awarded to the winner of the aforementioned race, in addition to April’s Kentucky Derby and May’s Preakness races.

With two wins down, Big Brown will now make his run to become the first Triple Crown winner in 30 years, and he is the 2-5 favorite in this weekend’s Belmont Stakes. (That means you have to bet $5 to win $2, for more on how to cash in, check out MainStreet's betters' guide tomorrow.) In addition to his two major wins, Big Brown has also gone undefeated in his three other races, winning all five by a combined total of 39 lengths, and in the process bringing in more than $2.7 million in winnings. (Saturday's first place purse is $1 million.)

However, even if Big Brown and his jockey Kent Desormeaux do not end up wearing the blanket of white carnations that is traditional victory garland at the Belmont Stakes, the thoroughbred and his owners, International Equine Acquisitions Holdings, already stand to rake in a few dollars. Turns out Big Brown's genes are valuable, too. According to Emil Romando, Jr., a pedigree analyst, the financial value of a thoroughbred is directly tied to racing performance. Horses that can win Grade 1 stakes races, such as the Kentucky Derby, are especially prized. As might be expected, a stallion’s stud fee can increase with any continued success in his career or his offspring’s.

To that end, Big Brown's owners have already cashed in. In mid May, Newsweek (WPO) reported that Big Brown’s owners sold his breeding rights for what is thought to be more than a record $60 million dollars, according to one source. The insurance company may be the only company that knows the true value of the deal, but Romando estimates that Big Brown’s stud fee would be nothing less than $100,000, and that his overall value would be at least $100 million. He says, “Reservations for the best stakes producing mares or stakes performing mares to be mated with him will be lined up out the door.”