THE GAMBLE OF MAKING AN EXPENSIVE PURCHASE

By Graham Potter | Saturday, August 7, 2021

Win some … win lose. That is a saying as old as the ages, but it also implies that you can win big or lose big.

James Herron, who is a slot holder in The Everest, has seen both sides of that toss of the coin, the latest being the not so happy story of the four-year-old chestnut Mount Fuji … a $2.8 million purchase by Snitzel out of the Group 2 winner Ichihara.

The entire debuted down the field in January 2020 after which he underwent surgery to sort out a breathing problem.

A second place when he resumed a full ten-and-a-half months later held hopes of more improvement to come, but he could only manage a fourth place in his next start.

After that Mount Fuji again was off the track for another prolonged six-month period and returned with a third place on July 28 … but that was not enough to change a decision from his connections to enter the horse for sale as Lot 23 in Inglis Digital's 2021 August (Early) Online Sale, where bidding currently sits at $22 500 as at 9.30 on Saturday morning.

The sale ends on August 11.

If ever an example existed to remind us that almost everything involved in racing is a gamble, this is it.

To quote another old saying, ‘you pay your money and you take your chances.’

Nobody knows which way the coin will fall!