The Green Monkey continues to make a monkey of Pletcher and Coolmore
The Green Monkey, who looked anything but the richest racehorse in the world on his debut in September, confirmed that view when flopping once again at Belmont Park on Saturday evening.
Coolmore's $16million purchase from the Fasig-Tipton Calder two-year-olds in training breeze-ups in Florida suffered repeated physical problems that kept him on the sidelines last year.
Monkey on their back: Michael Tabor (left) and Todd Pletcher (centre)
And when he finally hit the track on September 15 at Belmont, he trailed home third of six as a 2-5 favourite in a $52,000 six-furlong maiden special weights for three-year-olds and upwards.
Trainer Todd Pletcher had hoped that a step up in distance to seven furlongs would help the son of Forestry, but again he disappointed in a similar grade under John Velazquez, trailing in fourth of seven to Giant Deputy.
The amount paid for The Green Monkey by the Michael Tabor-Derrick Smith-John Magnier axis eclipsed the previous record public auction price for a thoroughbred, when Seattle Dancer fetched 13.1m as a yearling in 1985.
