There are stud fees to be collected - this particular investment [at least in theory] was only starting paying out.
>It's not about the horse. It's about what it is worth. Someone is taking a financial bath here.<
Incorrect.
1-The horse was insured.
2-If these people were interested exclusively in the money, they would have sold partial interest in the horse for well up into the tens of millions. There were many offers. They passed on this possibility, saying they would do nothing until after the Belmont Stakes.
In so doing, they risked the horse running lackluster races in the Preakness and Belmont, and the value of the animal shrinking dramatically.
3-Barbaro is a homebred. He was not purchased at auction, so he had more than paid back whatever stud fee had been paid, probably early in his 2-y-o season.
4-Racehorses are "investments" only in the dreamiest of minds.
5-Barbaro has full brothers. If money was the only object, the Jacksons would have unloaded them by now. They have not.