War Emblem, North America’s champion 3-year-old male of 2002 who was sold to Japan’s Shadai Stallion Station for nearly $18 million in September, is having difficulties covering mares in his first year at stud and his owners are negotiating a settlement with an insurance company.

The problem with War Emblem does not involve his fertility, sources close to Shadai said, but with his willingness or interest to breed to mares. His first cover came on March 9 after he was not willing to cover mares when the breeding season opened. He successfully covered five mares by March 13, then regressed again