Breeding and layaway

[Andrew Chillin]

Lol. I don’t think anyone was hating on California chrome and I am right here when they were making multiple millionaires and hundreds of winners for at least 5 years before you found them.

If you were promising results on hypos, I’d maybe rethink the approach? I’m sure you’re smart enough to do more research on pedigrees and crosses; rather than just click click on B+ hypos. I haven’t seen the matches, I just don’t like a couple of the studs and wanted to know if you were waiting for guys like willie or kryptonite ect

[Kelly Haggerty]

My update clearly said that I was waiting. I am not entirely wild about some of the studs on that list either BUT they fit the mare's family, racing style, and/or the player's budget. Not everyone that sent me a star mare that has never thrown anything better than a productive wanted to spend much, and I took that into consideration. And yes, there is more research than the hypo. All the feedback I have gotten so far indicates people are happy, and I have some repeat business already. It's is fine but I am sure everyone is grateful for your concern for them.

[Andrew Chillin]

Hey! Look at that. I missed that part in your update post, just skimmed the meat and commented on the potatoes. Thanks for the extra response. Calm down, unguard yourself.

[Nick Gilmore]

Cheers Kelley! Sounds like a brilliant program, sorry I’m seeing it so late!

[Katie Stepanian]

Well I enjoyed having outside input and thoughts into a few mares, and I’m all up for that, so ignore the hater Kelly.

[Kelly Haggerty]

Thanks to those that have sent PMs on the results. One player indicated that his mares did not automatically return, so please check. My breeding barn says I have no leased horses remaining, but they hang horse thieves so if I have your gals please let me know!

[Kelly Haggerty]

Back for this season. I know it is early, but I was sent 9 mares last night so I thought I would confirm.

If you send a mare and would like the foal right away, let me know. Otherwise, I will plan to wait until W14 or so to limit the potential for injuries and to evaluate horses that are retiring. No matter when you send the mare, the cutoff for purchasing the (ungalloped) foal will be no later than Week 4 of next season.

Here is last season's description as a refresher:

Lease me any TB hens or stars that you don't have the time or money to breed. I will do some research, choose a sire, and breed the mare at my expense. Once this is done I will return the mare and explain why I picked the mating I did. At that point you have until Week 4 to buy the foal back from me for the stud fee. If you do not want the foal, or you fail to buy it by the end of Week 4, I will pay you the equivalent amount and keep the foal. None of the mares will be bred to my stallion.

Example:

Someone sends me a TR mare, which I breed to There There There for $35,000. The owner of the mare has until week 4 to purchase that foal for $35,000 or else I will send them $35,000 and keep the foal. That easy. You get to save time and don't have to worry about having all of the money at once and I, if I pick wisely, get to earn breeder fees.

[Kelly Haggerty]

Y63 layaway breeding has started.

[Gwen Morse]

My update clearly said that I was waiting. I am not entirely wild about some of the studs on that list either BUT they fit the mare's family, racing style, and/or the player's budget. Not everyone that sent me a star mare that has never thrown anything better than a productive wanted to spend much, and I took that into consideration. And yes, there is more research than the hypo. All the feedback I have gotten so far indicates people are happy, and I have some repeat business already. It's is fine but I am sure everyone is grateful for your concern for them.

I know this is a somewhat older comment but I noticed it when I re-read the thread.

As someone who has used Kelly's service over multiple seasons, I can say she's very thorough and I'm 100% satisfied with the foals she's bred. I consider it an awesome service given that we don't actually *pay* her. Buying the foal pays their stud fee. She only makes money if the foal does well racing and she makes nothing on a filly that's immediately retired to bred. It's also a cool example of "emergent game-play" which I'm interested in as someone with a long history in game design.

My mares come back with multiple hypos that she pays for. No charge for this. This isn't a huge deal but it's not usual practice to hypo other peoples horses on a lease. Most people use their GP on their own horses. She finds an A or A- stud for each mare. I don't have any A+ mares.

She works in my budget - I set a top amount of 50k on stud fees and she keeps to this. For one or two mares I've said "You can breed this to anyone" and she's gone for spendier stallions but hasn't spent 100k or anything. I'm sure if I said "Try to breed the next SC contender" she would go all out, but she knows I'm risk-adverse and I'm looking for "reliable" rather than chasing lightning.

If I send her several mares in the same division she tries to use different stallions on each one to keep things diverse. She isn't just considering the one mare she's looking at, she's considering the whole group of mares I send her in a division. Apparently this is a struggle in TS, but otherwise she's been doing this. She'll often try out junior stallions or new retirees to take advantage of incentives. So she's using the same stallions that people b*tch and moan about being underutilized because everyone wants the A+ super-sire in each division.

She includes a message with each foal she's bred explaining what she's done which is invaluable. It'll say something like:
"This mare's sire does good with crosses to the recently pensioned Bubblegum. I found two sons in your budget, Chewie and Wad. Wad nicked A at a 45k fee and Chewie nicked A- at a 25k fee. I decided Chewie's 11% stakes gallops at 25k is a better value than Wad's 8% and this pairing gave you a 3x3 cross to the foundation mare Snugglepuss. Keep an eye out for Dingleberry and Lawn Clippings when they retire as this mare should work with both their families."

I've gotten allowance and productive gallops so far. So no freaks, but also no claimers. A few of the fillies have breeding shed comments. In at least one case she mentioned the breeding so was so weighted towards a potential filly she gender selected the foal. As much as anyone can tell from reading a 3-5 line PM, she appears to be making decisions for my benefit, including letting me know about other stallion lines I can use on the same mare for my own breedings.

I've gotten exactly what I (didn't) pay her for which is reliable studs that don't waste my few good mares and have decent pedigrees on paper. My breeding barn is built on a mix of generous cast-offs or leases from established players, AJ rescues, and (recently) about 30 mares from the massive sell-off from the auto-dispersals. To even get allowance gallops out of the mares I'm sending her is frankly amazing.