Does A+ breeding even exist?

[Joe Hernandez]

I know I am still new to the game but does the A+ breeding nick really exist and does it garuantee a Stakes or Freak? Just wondering.

[Dave Trainer]

It exists but no guarantee on what it will bring.

[Eric Gray]

They do exist, but like Dave said, there are no gurantees. https://www.simhorseracing.com/horse.ph ... ID=1282082 is an A +, but at Festivus, he could be a different career.

[Dylan Christensen]

Mostly exist in Chase and mixed breeds as well. I’ve only ever heard of one A+ outside of those divisions

[Andrew Chillin]

Mostly exist in Chase and mixed breeds as well. I’ve only ever heard of one A+ outside of those divisions

I heard she sucks too. No freaks yet

[Nena Olson]

A/A+ hypos just set you up for disappointment lol

[Nini Panini]

I really believe hypomates are overrated. There are tons of horses who outperform their hypos, and when it comes to individual breedings, I don't even consider them. Fully agree with Nena's above statement.

[Kelly Haggerty]

Follow up question. If a mare is a "blue hen" would you expect her to have at least an A- hypo with one or more of the top stallions in her division? I came across a blue hen this year that hypos and has produced more along the lines of the formidables that I own. Wondering if that is fairly common?

[Andrew Chillin]

Yeah.

[Dylan Christensen]

Follow up question. If a mare is a "blue hen" would you expect her to have at least an A- hypo with one or more of the top stallions in her division? I came across a blue hen this year that hypos and has produced more along the lines of the formidables that I own. Wondering if that is fairly common?

Not very common, hens usually hypo pretty well in my experience. Even when they aren’t great I usually get an A- with top studs.

[Laura Smith]

Follow up question. If a mare is a "blue hen" would you expect her to have at least an A- hypo with one or more of the top stallions in her division? I came across a blue hen this year that hypos and has produced more along the lines of the formidables that I own. Wondering if that is fairly common?

It's definitely possible in some divisions. I see this the most with blue hens that have obscure or "old" pedigrees. The newer, "hotter" sirelines will generally hypo better. Mares like this can be sucker bets, so to speak... especially if they have very little quality on the dam's side. That's not to say that they can't or won't produce anything useful, but be very cautious about getting spendy.

Alternatively, sometimes when there's a puzzling one like that, it might be worth a look to see if she has some different surface or distance possibilities in her pedigree. Maybe her real potential isn't in the most obvious place.

[Leigh Ann Anderson]

Follow up question. If a mare is a "blue hen" would you expect her to have at least an A- hypo with one or more of the top stallions in her division? I came across a blue hen this year that hypos and has produced more along the lines of the formidables that I own. Wondering if that is fairly common?

I've found that if the mare has a somewhat unusual pedigree (especially sire line) they will have more B+ than A-. Black Comet is an example of this (she has a couple of A- nicks, but about 30 B+ nicks- including Itoko, which produced Black Starfall); interestingly the one A- nick I've used has produced a "solid" foal, but B+ nicks have produced a stakes & a freak.

[Kelly Haggerty]

All helpful info, thank you! After I got ahold of this mare I puzzled over what to do with her. Wound up doing my own nicking based on both her sire, dam, and maternal and paternal aunts. Ran the data a bunch of different ways and got the same stallion each time, so that is who I sent her to. Of course, regardless of how the foal turns out I'll never know if it is logic or luck getting that result.

[Danny Derby]

It exists, but the only thing it guarantees is more disappointment

[Art K Stables]

It exists, but the only thing it guarantees is more disappointment

Its only a disappointment if you expect a great foal. If you know that you can get anything from a claimer to a freak, not so much.