Opinion?

Ali Weasley · Post by **Ali Weasley** » 18 years ago

Ok, this may be completely off-the-wall out of this world dumb, but I want some expert opinions.

One of my new stallions, Mayakovsky, has 4 two year olds on the ground. Two of which have won, another finishing 5th in her first and only start, and the last finishing off the board in two, but running against stakes company in the most recent. With that said, I'm really excited he's already had two winners.

So I start thinking that I need to find some good sprint mares to send him to, to try and boost his future appeal. Then, I realize I have Statgal, who produced BC Sprint winner Static.

Am I just plain stupid for even considering "wasting" the cross on such a valuable mare? I think I know the answer, but I want to SOOO bad.

Ara Davies · Post by **Ara Davies** » 18 years ago

First thing to consider when deciding to breed to your own stallions: would you breed to that stallion if he were owned by someone else? If he were bred by someone else? If he were anyone other than your favorite real life horse yet had the same stats? If the answer to any of these is no, you're letting your emotional attachment make a decision for you and that's not a good way to choose a stallion for your mares.

Upon looking at Mayakovsky's two winners I noticed they were both in maiden claimers. Now admittedly they are both two year olds and so don't have enough of a race record behind them to determine if they really SHOULD have been running in claimers, especially the one that was making her first start. However, the other had finished 4th in his first start. I'd advise waiting to see if Mayakovsky's runners just want more distance or better dams or if they're just not very good before spending one of Statgal's years on him. She's still pretty young so she'd have plenty of time to be bred to him later if he turns out really good.

I did see that Statgal has exactly one daughter out of eight foals. Status (now deceased) was a good stakes winner by Symbol and has one daughter, also a good stakes winner, by Satelite. What are you thinking of? You NEED to breed Statgal to a Symbol or Satelite descendant immediately! I'll leave it up to someone else to recommend who. But NOT one of the Conduits since they mostly want a distance and you want to breed to a sprinter.

Mallory Claire · Post by **Mallory Claire** » 18 years ago

Anthem, Anthem!

He never really got the support he should have.

But he's really handsome.

And I was dumb before and just sent every dirt mare I had to him. He's probably better suited for sprint mares. I sent a decent sprint mare to him this year and I hope the resulting filly is good.

Now that I think about it, I should have trained him as a sprinter. He probably would have gained a lot more recognition for his talent.

But anyway, he is the only remaining Symbol son at stud, for now.

Sarah Chase · Post by **Sarah Chase** » 18 years ago

Good sprinty sires -

Best (Satelite x Cherish)
This cross would give you inbreeding to Seattle Slew and tracing back to Raise Fury on his dam's side. He has one starter who broke his maiden and ran second in the Middleground Stakes. This colt goes back to Sim Goddess on the dam side. Best's other four foals are yearlings.

Shield (Satelite x Briliancenevafades)
Another Satelite son, this one going back to Soldier Girl on the dam side. Both his foals are yearlings.

Inspired Fate (Tri Star x Raise Fury)
No foals on the ground to date. Not the Symbol/Satelite descendent you might be looking for.

Inspired Skye (Em's Always Busy x Raise Fury)
Another one worth experimenting with. Out of 11 starters, he has 5 winners (1 stakes)

Riches Are Grand (Anxious Gold x Sterling Apollo)
Out of 14 starters, he has 9 winners (3 of them stakes winners).

Here's Lookin Atya (Heir to the Throne x Watching Silence)
Good racehorse, but hasn't sired anything great yet.

Black Light also has a few foals on the ground, still too young to race.

It's kind of a toss up between going with a Symbol or Satelite cross, proven with Status/Static/Constellation, but with unproven (in the breeding shed) sons of Satelite and trying something completely new, crossing your fingers for the best. Anthem raced as a miler, and his progeny and half siblings seem to like stretching out past the standard 6f.

Static has a stakes winning son whose dam goes back to Apollo, which Riches Are Grand does (kind of an inverted approach). Inspired Fate is a son of Tri Star, who also sired a G2 winning colt by Status (who nevertheless fell apart in the BC Sprint). I think Best or Inspired Fate might be the best choice here.

Ali Weasley · Post by **Ali Weasley** » 18 years ago

Ara Davies wrote: First thing to consider when deciding to breed to your own stallions: would you breed to that stallion if he were owned by someone else? If he were bred by someone else? If he were anyone other than your favorite real life horse yet had the same stats? If the answer to any of these is no, you're letting your emotional attachment make a decision for you and that's not a good way to choose a stallion for your mares.

Upon looking at Mayakovsky's two winners I noticed they were both in maiden claimers. Now admittedly they are both two year olds and so don't have enough of a race record behind them to determine if they really SHOULD have been running in claimers, especially the one that was making her first start. However, the other had finished 4th in his first start. I'd advise waiting to see if Mayakovsky's runners just want more distance or better dams or if they're just not very good before spending one of Statgal's years on him. She's still pretty young so she'd have plenty of time to be bred to him later if he turns out really good.

I did see that Statgal has exactly one daughter out of eight foals. Status (now deceased) was a good stakes winner by Symbol and has one daughter, also a good stakes winner, by Satelite. What are you thinking of? You NEED to breed Statgal to a Symbol or Satelite descendant immediately! I'll leave it up to someone else to recommend who. But NOT one of the Conduits since they mostly want a distance and you want to breed to a sprinter.

Darn you for being logical. I knew that was the answer I was going to get, which is kinda why I did it. I knew better...

Thanks for the advice, though, guys! Ya'll basically said the same thing Eric did a bit ago. I'll find a good cross for her.

If anyone has any mares they're willing to send to unproven studs, please go to Maya or Chief Seattle (I just got him). He's of the proven Seattle Slew line and brings it about as close up as you can get these days.

Mayakovsky was a record-setting 2yo, so if he throws what he did in real life, he'll have faaaaast babies. Chief should throw distance dirt horses, as he ran well in the BC Juvy (real life).

Eric Nalbone · Post by **Eric Nalbone** » 18 years ago

For what its worth... Mayakovsky always struck me as a sire prospect, I'm not sure if it'll translate to the SIM, but he was just the complete package, he had the looks, the brilliance, and a reasonable pedigree to boot. I'll probably find a decent mare to send his way, since with 73 yearlings planned for this year I can afford a crapshoot somewhere.

Eric Nalbone · Post by **Eric Nalbone** » 18 years ago

Sarah Chase wrote: Static has a stakes winning son whose dam goes back to Apollo, which Riches Are Grand does (kind of an inverted approach). Inspired Fate is a son of Tri Star, who also sired a G2 winning colt by Status (who nevertheless fell apart in the BC Sprint). I think Best or Inspired Fate might be the best choice here.

Of all races that are generally unreliable as a predictor of future prowess in the breeding shed, the BC Sprint is #1 on my list. For one thing, its a tough, deep division every year where the winner of the Sprint often isn't the best sprinter, its the horse that gets the best trip and has the right luck on the right day. For another, Brianna McKenzie didn't win it until Year 15, and she is unquestionably the premier breeder of sprinters in the game.

Looking for McKenzie sprint lines is a better way to find a fast horse with sire potential than looking at BC winners, though the FM Sprint is a decent indicator of talent (Inspired Star, Cherish, Raise Fury; all are McKenzie horses).

Ali Weasley · Post by **Ali Weasley** » 18 years ago

Eric Nalbone wrote: For what its worth... Mayakovsky always struck me as a sire prospect, I'm not sure if it'll translate to the SIM, but he was just the complete package, he had the looks, the brilliance, and a reasonable pedigree to boot. I'll probably find a decent mare to send his way, since with 73 yearlings planned for this year I can afford a crapshoot somewhere.

And his fee is $1! How can you go wrong?