Horse, alternatively known as Equus caballus, is a mammal belonging to the Equidae family. It is common knowledge that the relationship between the human race and horses are prehistoric. Before the invention of the engined vehicles, horses had been extensively used as a pack animal, and it was the only means of transportation.
There are almost 400 different breeds of horses on this globe, and each has its distinctive qualities. While some are experts in pulling wagons, others are utilized to race in equestrian competition. In the ancient periods, horses had been widely employed in heroic battles.
However, a horse’s price is determined by evaluating its reputation, breeding, performance, location, and even the popularity of its owner.
As horses are often related to the luxurious lifestyle, and winning racehorses earn their owners countless fortunes, the horse dealers never hesitate to pay big bucks for buying a quality horse. There even exist some horse breeds that are costlier than an average home.
If you are a horse lover, I bet you are here out of curiosity to know about the world’s most expensive horses and their owner. To make your curious mind stable, I have gathered up a list of the high- priced horses. Let’s get snooping!
Have a quick look at the most expensive horses in the world:
10. JALIL
9. SNAAFI DANCER
8. MEYDAN CITY
7. SEATLE DANCER
6. PALLOUBET D’HALONG
5. THE GREEN MONKEY
4. ANNIHILATOR
3. MOORLAND’S TOTILAS (TOTO)
2. SHAREEF DANCER
1. FUSAICHI PEGASUS
JALIL
Value: 9.7 Million USD
The pure-bred Jalil is an American horse who was foaled in the year 2004, February the 15th. He was given birth in Mill Ridge Farm in the village of Lexington, Kentucky. The grandfather of Jalil is the famous ‘Northern Dancer’ which is one of the most dominant sires in the history of thoroughbred horses.
Jalil was bought by the Godolphin Stables and was only 2 years when he first experienced a race event. However, he could not justify his worth by having a short career of only 2 years and played his last stud in China, 2011. His descendants also didn’t have noteworthy success. Looks like Jalil was not a good investment.
NINE
SNAAFI DANCER
Value: 10.2 million USD
Here is another thoroughbred horse that was bred by Donald T. Johnson who did it in his own farm named Crescent Farm. He was born on February 25, 1982 and was the first horse who was valued more than 10 million USD as a yearling. This value is worth more than 26 million USD compared to today’s worth!!!
The father was also the famous Northern Dancer. However, this boy also frustrated the investors. He was so poor in performance that the owner didn’t even dare to make him run in the race. Thus, he didn’t get a racing career.
Aston Upthorpe Stud, the owner of Snaafi, later used him as a stud. But that was also frustrating. Aslo, he was not fertile, siring only four foals and three of them had a frustratingly short career. His last reported address was a farm in Florida.
EIGHT
MEYDAN CITY
Value: 11.7 million USD
We have yet another American thoroughbred horse that was also born in Kentucky, USA. This racer is owned by Godolphin, foaled in 2005. He was purchased as a yearling. He raced seven times in his career. Meydan City, trained by M Bin Shafya, grabbed the third position in his career-first race gaining the second position in his third event.
He has a good pedigree record having Kingmambo as the sire and Crown of Crimson as the dam done by Seattle Slew. Later in his career, he has done well as a stud. He holds the record of being the second-costliest yearling in the world.
SEVEN
SEATLE DANCER
Value: 13.1 million USD
Seattle dancer is the world’s costliest yearling ever sold in history. He was purchased at the price of $13.1 million in the year 1985 (31.1 million usd in today’s price!!!!!). His father was the famous Ninjisky who was sired by the famous Northern Dancer.
As a racer, Seattle became champion twice out of five events he took part in that made him a good investment. However, he couldn’t give the level of output as he was expected by the owner. In April 1987, he made his debut race-event where he secured the third position which took place at the Curragh Racecourse in Ireland.
Seattle Dancer was born in 1987 in Ireland at the hand of the partnership of Warner Jones, William Farish, and William Kilroy. In 1988, he became a stud until 2007 when he suffered a heart attack that took his life in Germany. This Gorgeous horse sired 37 winners in his life.
SIX
PALLOUBET D’HALONG
Value: 15 million USD
Palloubet d’Halong is the only showjumper horse that made the top ten costliest horses ever sold. He was born in 2003, a result of the breeding from the Baloubet du Rouet and Indra Love- a good breeding record. He is one of the best jumper horses in history brought by Jan Tops who is now the coach of the Jump Showing team of Qatar.
Jan bought him when he was 10. At that time, his name was ‘Selle Francais Gelding’. He made an outstanding performance in the PSI European Championship forcing Jan to grab him at any cost. He became a top-class horse securing many showjumping events. His rider was Janika Sprunger. After a one year break since 2016, he then reappeared in CSI5 Verona.
Well, we have reached the upper five. Let’s take a look at the prices of these upper realm horses. Surely, you must have to have a fortune to grab the following.
FIVE
THE GREEN MONKEY
Value: 16 million USD
Well!!! Don’t be surprised as the Green Monkey is not actually green as it is actually a brown color horse with a white stripe on the forehead. He is the descendant of the Northern Dancer and the Secretariat. The Green Monkey was sold for 16 million usd in the year 2006 that made him the highest-paid thoroughbred horse.
Bad luck for the owner, He is considered to be the worst investment of money as he earned just over 10000 usd throughout his career. Later in his career, he suffered from severe laminitis which led to his euthanization in May 2018 when he was only 14 years of age.
He was also hopeless as a stud. He was a total loss project who cost about $20.3 million in today’s worth.
FOUR
ANNIHILATOR
Value: 19 million USD
This beautiful horse is Australian in origin and was born on October 12, 1999. He was reported to be sold for 19 million usd. Some say that the price was 20 million. However, he also horribly frustrated the bidders by winning only 3000 dollars in his career despite the hype he created.
The offspring he created also didn’t have a satisfying career. I am sure that H. D. Woodhouse and M. Sakura would not be happy at all at his performance.
THREE
MOORLAND’S TOTILAS (TOTO)
Value: 21 million USD
Titilas, also known as ‘Toto’ is a warmblood horse born in the Netherlands and is one of the most beautiful horses in the world. The stallion is also one of the most outstanding dressage who stands 17.1 hands.
He was born on May 23, 2000 and between the years 2006 and 2011, he was called the Moorland’s Totilas. This warmblood dutch horse was bred in the Broeksterwoude village by Jan Schuil and Anna Schuil-Visser.
He, along with his rider Edward Gal, holds multiple world records in international events thus, he was known as the rockstar of the world of horses. Toto’s last international event was the European Championships in 2015 where he earned a bronze medal. But he had to retire from the event because of an injury.
The actual price of this horse was never revealed but is rumored to be 20 million usd. However, in 2010, he was sold at a price of between 9.5 to 15 million dollars. If that is true, I would give him the no 6 or 7 spot on my list.
TWO
SHAREEF DANCER
Value: 40 million USD
This beautiful American horse is trained to become a racehorse in Britain. He was born in 1980 and was sold for 3.3 million usd as a yearling. He raced in three events where he won first place in three of them and secured second place in one event. In his last race, he failed to secure a place.
Later, in 1983, he became a stud-horse after being sold for an impressive 40 million usd!!!! He was outstanding as a stud. His last show was priced over 4600 usd per ticket.
Shareef Dancer was bred from the Northern Dancer and sired many outstanding horses, for example, Spartan Shareef, Mudahim, and Shaima. Micheal Stout was his trainer. Clearly, the investors will be happy with his performances despite his price. He died in 1999.
ONE
FUSAICHI PEGASUS
Value: 60 million USD
The horse is named after his owner Fusao, the last part, ‘ichi’ a Japanese word means the best or number one. Truely, this horse is the no one in this list being the costliest horse in the world.
He was a fantastic racer winning the Kentucky Derby where he was considered favorite. He retired from racing after losing to Red Bullet in the Preakness Stakes. In 2000, Coolmore bought him to make a stud at a price of more than 60 million usd which was rumored to be 70 million usd by some reporters.
The colt was nicknamed ‘FuPeg’ by the fans and was sold for 4 million usd as a yearling to Fusao Sekiguchi. Fusaichi’s sire was Mr. Prospector and the dam was the Angel Fever sired by a horse named Danzig.
He was a fantastic racer winning the Kentucky Derby where he was considered favorite. He retired from racing after losing to Red Bullet in the Preakness Stakes. In 2000, Coolmore bought him to make a stud at a price of more than 60 million usd which was rumored to be 70 million usd by some reporters.
Fusaichi’s notable descendants were Bandini, Roman Ruler, and Haradusun who did not have a satisfying career as him. Roman Ruler later sired Ruler on Ice who won the Belmont Stakes in 2011.
Considering the overall performances, Fusaichi Pegases could not please his bidders judging from his price and value.
So friends, what do you think of this list? I must say that you must be amazed at how much a horse can cost. You must be thinking the majority of them could not justify their value, so why did people take the risk of buying them??
Well, I can say that Horses are like football players. Some of them create so much hype that the club owners don’t hesitate to risk a fortune on them. They might disappoint the fans, but still, they are paid.
This might be a lesson for you that the amount of hype one creates might not give the satisfying result you like to have. The bidders bought them hoping for a great performance, but most of the horses let the owners down. Fascinating, isn’t it?
About Dawson Kutch
Dawson Kutch is a born and raised Alaskan who loves the outdoors and everything it has to offer. Kutch has been an avid hunter and fisher his entire life, and takes great pride in providing for himself and his family. While he enjoys spending time in the great outdoors, Kutch also has a passion for fashion and loves to stay up-to-date on the latest trends. In his free time, Kutch enjoys spending time with his wife and one young daughter. He is always looking to learn more and better himself, both as a writer and as a person.
