Racing's most expensive flops, including a $10m buy who was 'no bloody good'

Sports across the world have become dominated by those rich enough to spend their way to success, and racing is no exception, but there have been times when the risk v reward ratio has gone catastrophically wrong. Here is our countdown of famous and costly flops from the sales ring.

Garde Champetre: the Cheltenham Gold Cup potential expected of him never materialisedCredit: Edward Whitaker

10. Garde Champetre (530,000gns, 2004)

The world record for a jumps horse sold at auction stood at 340,000gns when the five-year-old Garde Champetre entered the ring at Doncaster's Spring Sale and there was disbelief around the packed arena as the bidding went far beyond that in a matter of minutes.

A few weeks earlier he had won a Grade 2 novice hurdle at Aintree for Paul Nicholls, but the Cheltenham Gold Cup potential expected of Garde Champetre never materialised after he was bought by JP McManus and transferred to Jonjo O'Neill. A modest novice chase win at Carlisle from ten starts was his sole success for O'Neill.

Later in his career, he became a popular cross-country performer for Enda Bolger, winning twice at the Cheltenham Festival, but his earnings of £266,978 were only half of his price tag in the ring.

9. Hydrogen (2.5 million gns, 2012)

Sheikh Fahad's purchase of this three-parts brother to Derby winner Authorized, repelling John Magnier's Coolmore Stud in a battle for that year's most expensive yearling, was aimed at making him an early flagship for Qatar Racing. "We came here to buy the best and we got the best," said the bullish sheikh.

Unfortunately, things quickly went off course. Having missed his juvenile season through a series of setbacks – the most serious of which was a damaged hock after kicking the wall of his stable – Hydrogen was only sixth on his debut for Peter Chapple-Hyam in a Newmarket maiden as a three-year-old in May 2014. Another ten months passed before his second and final outing, in a Class 5 maiden at Chelmsford, where he finished fifth.

8. St James's Square ($2.4 million, 2018)

Knocked down to MV Magnier as the top lot of the prestigious Keeneland September Yearling Sale, the son of War Front was sent into training with Aidan O'Brien with lofty ambitions but has not made it out of maiden company on the Flat or latterly over hurdles.

After one dismal start as a juvenile for O'Brien, when 13th in a 16-runner Naas maiden, he was not seen again until being switched to John Halley's yard and reappearing at Naas after a 501-day absence in January 2021, this time over hurdles. He was 13th again.

His subsequent form figures last year, twice over hurdles and then back on the Flat, were 7F6 and he last ran in September.

Aidan O'Brien: trained St James's Square and Norway, who did not live up to expectationsCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

7. Norway ($3 million, 1999)

Big things were expected of this half-brother to US superstar AP Indy following his purchase by the Coolmore team at the Keeneland July Yearling Sale, but he never made it to the winner's enclosure in six starts for Aidan O'Brien.

Third place in a Fairyhouse maiden on his sole outing as a juvenile seemed encouraging, but his career nosedived in his three-year-old season. Five runs from April to June produced nothing better than second place in a Navan maiden and he ended up with paltry earnings of £1,990.

Undeterred by his inauspicious career, Coolmore kept faith with the name and the 2016-foaled Norway restored some pride with third place in an O'Brien 1-2-3 in the 2019 Irish Derby.

6. Jalil ($9.7 million, 2005)

Sheikh Mohammed's boycott of Coolmore stallions and their progeny, which was to last 13 years, effectively started at the Keeneland September Sale of 2005, where his biggest outlay was on this pricey son of Storm Cat.

Then the third most expensive yearling sold at auction, Jalil was hardly a great advert for the new policy. Sent into training with Saeed bin Suroor, he ran just four times in his first two seasons, winning only a Ripon maiden, before finding some form at the Dubai Carnival as a four-year-old, beating Gloria De Campeao (later a Dubai World Cup winner) in a Group 2 at Nad Al Sheba.

He did not win again in nine further outings, however, and retired with earnings of just £175,511.

Saeed bin Suroor: trained Jalil and Meydan City, who both proved huge disappointmentsCredit: Edward Whitaker

5. Meydan City ($11.7 million, 2006)

Twelve months after buying Jalil, Sheikh Mohammed went even higher at the Keeneland September Sale for this son of Kingmambo, making him the second most expensive yearling sold at auction.

Backward and unraced as a juvenile, he showed some promise when he eventually appeared for Saeed bin Suroor at three, winning two of his first three starts, but any Classic bubble quickly burst when he finished last of five in the Great Voltigeur Stakes.

He was no better than sixth in four further outings as his career fizzled out with a paltry £24,104 in prize-money.

4. Magnus (£340,000, 2001)

His price tag may not be 'that' expensive compared to others, but this was the French sensation who, way before Kauto Star, was meant to take Britain by storm when bought for a then European record sum for a jumps horse.

Named after the Latin word for 'great', the Grade 1-winning hurdler was bought by powerful owner David Johnson to race for champion trainer Martin Pipe, and things started well when he stayed in France to win a Grade 2 at Auteuil on his first run for Pipe.

Sent off at 1-3 for his British debut at Newbury just before Christmas 2001, disaster struck when he was a tailed-off last of five.

Three more British defeats by a combined 152 and a half lengths followed before he ended his career with two no-shows back in France. It turned out he wasn't great after all.

Seattle Dancer: sold for a phenomenal price that remains the world record for a yearling

3. Seattle Dancer ($13.1 million, 1985)

The spending battle between the established force of Ballydoyle, then run by Vincent O'Brien, and the new Arab owners led by Sheikh Mohammed reached a peak in the mid-1980s with the purchase of this son of Nijinsky at the Keeneland July Sale for a phenomenal price that remains the world record for a yearling.

The Ballydoyle partners, including O'Brien, Robert Sangster and John Magnier, made the successful bid but Seattle Dancer came to be seen as a symbol of their waning power as the decade wore on. Although the colt was not a complete flop, winning the Gallinule Stakes and Derrinstown Derby Trial before finishing second in the 1987 Grand Prix de Paris, he was far from the superstar his price tag had promised.

He retired with earnings of £111,303 and embarked on a stud career that took him to Kentucky, Ireland, Japan and Germany. He sired 37 stakes winners, including the 1991 Racing Post Trophy winner Seattle Rhyme.

Snaafi Dancer: 'Rather a sweet little horse actually, but unfortunately no bloody good'

2. Snaafi Dancer ($10.2 million, 1983)

Amid the spending splurge of the 1980s, Snaafi Dancer became a byword for the excesses of the thoroughbred sales ring. On a sensational night at the Keeneland July Sale, the world record price for a yearling was almost tripled in a matter of minutes as Sheikh Mohammed won a monumental duel with Robert Sangster for this son of Northern Dancer. The price was so incredible that the lights on the sale-ring scoreboard went out when the bidding hit eight figures because it had run out of numbers.

Sent into training with John Dunlop, Snaafi Dancer became an embarrassment. He never made it to a racecourse because he was simply too slow to race. Dunlop said of him: "Rather a sweet little horse actually, but unfortunately no bloody good."

As a half-brother to crack US sprinter My Juliet and the Group 1-placed Lyphard's Special, Snaafi Dancer was given a chance at stud but that was a disaster too. He suffered fertility problems and sired only four foals.

The Green Monkey: cost $16 million as a two-year-old in 2006 but turned out to be a dudCredit: Nancy Sexton @nancygsexton

1. The Green Monkey ($16 million, 2006)

Not only did The Green Monkey's astonishing price tag eclipse the previous high of $5.2m for a two-year-old when he was sold at Fasig-Tipton's Calder breeze-up, it shattered the world auction record of $13.1m paid for Seattle Dancer in 1985.

Only seven months earlier, at the 2005 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky July Sale, the son of Forestry had cost 'just' $425,000 as a yearling but a scintillating one-furlong breeze at Calder led to another sale-ring frenzy involving Coolmore and Sheikh Mohammed.

After nine minutes of rapid-fire bidding, the hammer came down in favour of Demi O'Byrne, acting on behalf of the Coolmore partners, but The Green Monkey turned out to be a dud.

Sent into training with Todd Pletcher, he returned form figures of 344 with $10,440 in prize-money. At stud in Florida, at a modest fee of $5,000, he covered 40 mares in his first season but never more than a dozen after that, and one of his few notable progeny was Monkey Business, who won the 2015 fillies' triple crown in Panama.

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