Pairing Advice Please :-)

[Lily Wilkins]

I am sooo stoked to be leasing This mare. I have wanted something from this dam line in my barn for quite some time!
For your reference, she is rated "Blue Hen"

I'm torn between two stud options for her: Blue Bayou and Dave Matthews Band. Here's my reasoning for liking each:

Blue Bayou: Likely pensioning soon, which makes him appealing. This breeding would create a 3x3 cross to Wish Upon A Star, which I really like, but it's kinda messy because it's also a 2x3 to Harry Potter, 3x4 to Sword And Shield, and a 4x4 to Maelstrom... I don't love the idea of having that many different horses line-bred into the pedigree (although they're all crazy nice animals)
Nick Grade: A-

Dave Matthews Band: I adore Dave Matthews Band and try to send nice mares to him whenever I have the chance. So far, this is the only stud that the subject mare has nicked a solid "A" with, but obviously nicks aren't everything. The only line-breeding in the visible pedigree of the foal would be a nice little 3x4 cross to Harry Potter.

I think my chances of getting a Stakes or better gallop out of the breeding would be with DMB, but i'm also hoping to get a future broodmare out of this, and that 3x3 Wish Upon A Star cross with Blue Bayou is extremely appealing! Who would you choose?

[Carole Hanson]

I will say that Blue Bayou is looking like he’ll be an excellent broodmare sire, and he is of pensioning age so I would send the mare to him. You can always send the daughter if this pairing to DMB later on.

[Nini Panini]

I don't usually disagree with Carole, but I do in this instance. I really don't like 2x3 to stallions, and I try to avoid it whenever possible. If you're after 3x3 to Wish Upon a Star, you can still get it with World of Color, with far less inbreeding. WOC is an awesome stud himself.

Dave Matthews Band is unquestionably the best sire in the game, and maybe I've just been unlucky, but all of the darts I've thrown at his board have missed so far. They were really nice darts, too. But I'm known to have bad aim. Absolutely can't go wrong with him. Breed the best to the best and hope for the best, right?

Mr. Wonderful is my go-to DR stallion right now, outside of my own stallions. I have sent 3 mares to him, and 2 of the resulting foals are freaks (one of which is from a James Dean-sired dam, the same sireline as Kiss Me Thrice). This female family also has had success with Mr. Wonderful in the past. You still get 3x4 inbreeding to Corona on the cross, too. He is my favorite outside stallion, and to be perfectly candid, if she were with me this year, that's where she'd be going.

You have some really excellent choices, even outside the stallions mentioned in this thread. Best of luck with the foal!

[Lily Wilkins]

Thanks for the input guys, I appreciate it!

Jon must have seen this, and sent me a breeding slot for DMB, so that is who she's gonna see. THANK YOU Jon, you are the best!

Nini, I love the idea of Mr. Wonderful for her too, and hadn't even thought of him (even though I've totally bred mares to him this season, so he was on my radar a couple weeks ago!). If you send Kiss Me Thrice to him next season, I bet you'll get something very nice!