4yo Filly

Matt Woolfolk · Post by **Matt Woolfolk** » 17 years ago

I have a filly, Gato Classico:

<a href='http://www.simhorseracing.com/horse.php?HorseID=23012' target='_blank'>http://www.simhorseracing.com/horse.php ... D=23012</a>

She is a 4yo who has 2 lifetime wins in 10 starts. Granted, they are not great wins, but they are wins. I was wondering if retiring her after one more possible start was a bad idea. She is a claimer level filly, but I don't want to run her and watch her get claimed. I think she can be a decent broodmare. Lion Heart's seem to be doing well. My only 2 homebred winners are Lion Hearts, so he has seen some poor mares and churned out a winner or two. I only have 4 broodmares, and she would be the 5th. However, I have at least 20 younger fillies that will be coming through my stable in coming years. My broodmare numbers will increase, but should I increase it by one this year?

Thanks,
Nathan

Becca Banner · Post by **Becca Banner** » 17 years ago

I retire my claiming mares if only because I don't want to loose them. I retired my mare Kethry shortly after her 3yo season and now her 2yo Iron Heart just became a Grade 2 winner. In the end, what you think is best is the way to go.

Edit: I should mention that Kethry is by All or Nothing, a nice son by Black Ice, who didn't produce much of anything. Iron Heart is one of two graded stakes winners from his grandfoals I think and many are just waiting for the chance to shine. It goes to show that less then stellar producers can be nicer broodmare sires.

Nikki Everdeen · Post by **Nikki Everdeen** » 17 years ago

You could always try her in a steeplechase in her next race, and if she runs well then you could legitimately keep her in training next year over jumps without the fear of losing her in a claiming race. That's what I've done with a couple of my sprinting fillies who started going downhill, and obviously needed a drop in class (but I didn't want to lose them).

S.C. Burns · Post by **S.C. Burns** » 17 years ago

NikkiSherman wrote: You could always try her in a steeplechase in her next race, and if she runs well then you could legitimately keep her in training next year over jumps without the fear of losing her in a claiming race. That's what I've done with a couple of my sprinting fillies who started going downhill, and obviously needed a drop in class (but I didn't want to lose them).

Seconded.

I've had 3 lackluster fillies completely smash their Maiden Steeplechase races in the last 2 weeks.

Never know who's gonna be a phenom.

Eric Nalbone · Post by **Eric Nalbone** » 17 years ago

Personally, I'd retire her. The steeplechasing is up to you, and if you want to that would be a good reason NOT to retire, but for my money this is a decently successful mare that I wouldn't want to lose just yet.

You're always looking to "breed-up," that is, you are ideally looking for an allowance type horse out of a claiming mare, a stakes horse out of an allowance mare, and a champion from a stakes mare. This works best with horses that are right on the edge of these bands: a good claimer can net you a decent allowance horse. Unfortunately, good claimers... get claimed. This filly seems like a pretty solid claimer, and I know if you drop her in again for $20-$40k, someone like me wouldn't have a problem taking her.

So, I'd be retiring her and looking for a nice turf miler, free of Storm Cat, and see what you can get from her rather than risking losing her. She's probably not going to step into allowance conditions successfully, and claimers are not necessarily your best bet, so... start getting a few foals from her at the end of the year!

Matt Woolfolk · Post by **Matt Woolfolk** » 17 years ago

Thank you everyone. Gato will be retiring now. I do not want to race her in a claimer again, and I am just afraid to run her over jumps because of that slim chance that she could get seriously hurt. Off to look for a good match for her.

Matt Woolfolk · Post by **Matt Woolfolk** » 17 years ago

What's the best way to go about looking for a turf miler stud? Do I just type in a stud fee on the search and look through them until I find something I like, or does anyone a better, more efficient suggestion?

Emily Mitchell · Post by **Emily Mitchell** » 17 years ago

Nathan Jones wrote: What's the best way to go about looking for a turf miler stud? Do I just type in a stud fee on the search and look through them until I find something I like, or does anyone a better, more efficient suggestion?

You could do it that way, but I like to start by looking at the past two year's BC Mile results (look at all the horses in the races, not just the winner- even the last place finishers can make good sires) and look at their sires as an options as well as the racers themselves who are now retired and standing at stud. Also, don't forget to check out the BC possibles thread for this year- there are a lot of nice stallion options who will make their last start in the BC this year, so you may want to wait on one of them.

Not all of the best horses race in the BC of course, but most do. And you can always search by stud fee and all that stuff, I'm just trying to give you a good place to start.

Matt Woolfolk · Post by **Matt Woolfolk** » 17 years ago

Emily Mitchell wrote:
Nathan Jones wrote: What's the best way to go about looking for a turf miler stud? Do I just type in a stud fee on the search and look through them until I find something I like, or does anyone a better, more efficient suggestion?
You could do it that way, but I like to start by looking at the past two year's BC Mile results (look at all the horses in the races, not just the winner- even the last place finishers can make good sires) and look at their sires as an options as well as the racers themselves who are now retired and standing at stud. Also, don't forget to check out the BC possibles thread for this year- there are a lot of nice stallion options who will make their last start in the BC this year, so you may want to wait on one of them.

Not all of the best horses race in the BC of course, but most do. And you can always search by stud fee and all that stuff, I'm just trying to give you a good place to start.

Thanks Emily. That's just what I was looking for- a good place to start!

Joel Smith · Post by **Joel Smith** » 17 years ago

if you are interestedi will waive the stud fee if you would like to breed her to my stud PACIFY

Matt Woolfolk · Post by **Matt Woolfolk** » 17 years ago

I will consider him. Thanks for the offer.

Matt Woolfolk · Post by **Matt Woolfolk** » 17 years ago

At this point, I have a preliminary short list. I may breed to one of these, or I may change my mind completely.

The list

Monaachi
Seer
Angels Help Angels
Pacify(even though he has Storm Cat up fairly close on the bottom side. Not a big fan of that.)
Duc De Berry

Any input on these 5 is appreciated and will be considered. I am still very new at breeding. This mare was a lucky stab in the dark for me.

Thanks!

EDIT: apoligies to Duc for thinking he was not breeding this year. He now is on the list

Steph Lonhro · Post by **Steph Lonhro** » 17 years ago

nathan duc is fertile this year, he was infertile last season

Becca Banner · Post by **Becca Banner** » 17 years ago

Those are all good stallions, I've bred to Duc and Angels Help Angels myself. I like to use established sires, ones who have at least one crop on the ground running, more is definitly prefreable. So far Angels Help Angels has had excellent results in his first crop and with the lack of immediate Storm Cat in his bloodline, an ideal choice. Plus he's pretty reasonable at 30k as far as most sires go.