Should I try this Boy on All Weather Track

[Tammy Fox]

Here is a link to Nipote di Atlante http://www.simhorseracing.com/horse.php?HorseID=265721

He is Inhuman's top offpring. When I looked over Inhuman's pedigree it occurred to me that he might have been able to produce all-weather offspring. When I bred Nipote's dam to him I was looking strictly at turf and nothing else but then looking at his dam's pedigree, I wonder if she had the potential to produce an All Weather if bred to a stallion who produced All-Weather.

I worked Nipote at 5 and 7 furlongs on All Weather. He I a long distance runner and there are not many races out there for him at that distance(if I had noticed this when he was ay 2 or 3 I might have tried him sooner on All-Weather just to see what happened). He has a full-sister who is 4 and I am going to test her on All-Weather to see if maybe she has potential to be an All-Weather runner but like him I suspect she prefers long distances and can run all day as well.

[Eric Nalbone]

Tammy - I think it's ultimately your choice, but since you're asking for opinions I'll give you my thoughts pro/con. Running him on AW is certainly the riskier path. With Baffert and to some extent Atlas, I see where the thought comes from. At the same time, Inhuman had no winners on AW and most of this pedigree is straight turf. You also know he's a monster simply doing what he does well (running very long on turf).

The *likely* result of you running him on AW is that he displays considerably less talent on AW than he does on turf. How much less talent is the big question ... can he still win stakes? That I don't know, nor will anyone until you try him out. You'll enhance his value somewhat if you prove him a viable option on AW, but you already have one of the most valuable commodities in the game: a horse who can run competitively in million dollar races, and in his most recent attempt - WIN million dollar races.

If he were mine, I wouldn't fix what isn't broken. I would approach it by setting my curiosity to the side, continuing to let him just stay where he's comfortable, and see how he does. I'd approach the AW potential again after he retires by just seeing how he hypos to a couple nice AW mares (they don't even have to be YOUR mares, just find nice AW producers and hypo the nick of their best offspring, then try Nipote de Atlante with them). It's the conservative route, but I think it maximizes his racing career and eventually solve the problem of whether he's got AW talent or not.

[Madelene Gilbert]

Tammy, judging by his workouts...I'd recommend not. That 7 furlong time just hits the average, and his 5 furlong time isn't blistering either. My colts who post similar works do well at the upper level claimers. Stakes level routers work closer to 1:00.00 at 5 furlongs and will be well below the 1:26.00 mark at 7 furlongs.

In addition, there are several very nice, very fast colts out there right now and you'll likely face them in any graded level stakes. You could try to find a softer listed stakes, but you'd sacrifice a start in a more profitable graded turf stakes. You're also correct in your assessment of the longer distance stakes; I can think of only 2 stakes at 1 1/2 miles all year, and they'll be stocked with those colts heading towards the Marathon (mentioned previously).

Unlike Eric, I don't see any AW in his pedigree. Those few horses who tried it got lucky; their speed figures tell me they were in soft fields and by this point the division has "outgrown" their slower speed potential. Of course you can always test his breeding potential once he retires, but the AW router market already has better turf/multi-surface potential sires with proven winners. You might have a hard time convincing breeders to send him AW mares.

In the end, it's up to you. Good luck, as he's a lovely horse!