Word: studly
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...Today the Lipizzaners face a new enemy: a deadly virus of the herpes family. The disease has not hit the Spanish Riding School in Vienna, the showcase for the horses, but by the end of last week it had killed seven mares and 27 foals at the Piber stud farm, 150 miles south of the city. The outbreak is one of the most severe in the history of the disease...
...March, many of the mares were aborting their foals. Miscarriages are a common effect of herpes, but the next phase of the disease is not. The unusually virulent form of the virus slowly killed the seven mares by paralyzing their nervous systems. Mourns Heinrich Lehrner, head of the Piber stud farm: "Every one of the horses that have died was like a member of a big family...
Shergar is worth a fortune. In 1981, 35 investors put up $457,000 apiece for the horse, which was expected to earn $4 million or more a year in stud fees for 15 to 20 years. The thieves knew the breeding business. The four-month stud season begins this week; the first dozen of Shergar's 55 mates, each in season for a month, are already at Ballymany, ready and expensively waiting...
Shergar was bred, raised and raced by the Aga Khan, 46, who retains 15% ownership and owns the $2.3 million Ballymany stud farm as well. In a two-season European career beginning in 1980, Shergar won six of his eight races, including the Irish and English Derbies, by impressive margins. He was voted Europe's Racehorse of the Year in 1981. The Aga Khan reportedly turned down a $30 million purchase offer from an American for Shergar. The eventual $18.3 million price is the fourth highest in breeding history...
Because combining proven bloodlines is the point in breeding, buying shares in a superstar like Shergar is as close to a sure thing as there is in horse racing. According to one British breeder, the price of Shergar's stud service was $46,200 in advance plus $46,200 more after conception. Last year all but two of Shergar's mares were successfully impregnated...