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The owners kept him alive as long as they did because up until the end when his front feet foundered and the coffin bones started to rotate, he was basically comfortable.

StormEye is partially right. Don't think for a second that these owners didn't consider and take the financial risks to get the horse back on his feet in order to reap some very handsome stud fees.

"In the 1960s horse breeders organized themselves into syndicates -- groups of people who bought shares in a horse. A syndicate purchased 2000 Kentucky Derby winner Fusaichi Pegasus for a record-breaking price of over $60 million when the stallion was three, after his two-year racing career was over. If he lives to be 25, the average lifespan of a Thoroughbred, Fusaichi Pegasus will sire hundreds of offspring. With a stud fee of around $200,000, the stallion's syndicate stands to make a bundle.

Fusaichi Pegasus only needs to cover 15 mares a year to break even.