Inbred 3x4 To Forever Risk

Ronnie Dee · Post by **Ronnie Dee** » 16 years ago

My recent foal <a href='http://www.simhorseracing.com/horseped. ... seID=48835' target='_blank'>Bell Bottom Blues</a> is inbred 3x4 to the undefeated champion filly Forever Risk. (Forever Risk is the dam of Briliancefindsaway.) Was this a smart or stupid breeding decision (or something in between)?

Emily White · Post by **Emily White** » 16 years ago

Someone told me it's good to have a bit of inbreeding to good mares. So yeah, that's ok.

Steph Lonhro · Post by **Steph Lonhro** » 16 years ago

as long as the inbreeding is not to silver charm

3 by 4 should not be too bad

Eric Nalbone · Post by **Eric Nalbone** » 16 years ago

Steph Lonhro wrote: as long as the inbreeding is not to silver charm

3 by 4 should not be too bad

Image would like to point out that if you can train horses inbred to Silver Charm, they rock. That said... I wouldn't recommend most people inbreed to Silver Charm.

Ronnie Dee · Post by **Ronnie Dee** » 16 years ago

Eric Nalbone wrote:
Steph Lonhro wrote: as long as the inbreeding is not to silver charm

3 by 4 should not be too bad
Image would like to point out that if you can train horses inbred to Silver Charm, they rock. That said... I wouldn't recommend most people inbreed to Silver Charm.

I studied Image's race history and found the following:
1. Image had no workouts,
2. Image had success at 5-9 furlongs,
3. Image had success with 2-5 weeks rest,
4. Lasix were added only when he was a 4-year old, and
5. Image did not do well in the Derby, Preakness, and Year 18 BC Dirt Mile.

I do not see anything out of the ordinary in his training. Could Image elaborate on his training "secret"?

Eric Nalbone · Post by **Eric Nalbone** » 16 years ago

To address your points in order:

1. Workouts weren't part of the SIM when Image was racing, so no workouts.

2. At his best, Image was a fantastic 8-8.5 horse. He could stretch it on either end a little bit, with 9f being pretty much his ceiling.

3. It was important to keep him fit, and he ran his best-ever race off of two weeks of rest (Week 14 Norfolk Stakes into Week 16 BC Juvenile), but when a horse runs Week 6 and 7 in the Derby and Preakness, time off is necessary. Hence the 5 week layoff.

4. Not really sure why he bombed that race in Week 5 of his 4yo year, but he did, so lasix were worth a try. He won two straight with them, so I went with it.

5. See point 2. His ceiling was about 9f, and he just wasn't able to run with the best of his generation going any longer. At 8-8.5f, he probably WAS the best of his year, but all that changed when they started running classic distances. Notice that I pulled him back in distance after those two attempts in the Triple Crown. As far as the Year 18 BC Dirt Mile, I think Image was really just tailing off. Note that he went from 3 lengths in front of American Baby to three lengths behind American Baby to six lengths behind American Baby in final three starts. Thats just a horse that wants to go be a stallion rather than a racehorse.

Now, all that aside, the biggest secret to Image is really that he's out of Loki Reflection. She was a ROCK (ran Weeks 2-4-6-8-12 when there were only 12 weeks in the year) and her foals are rocks. Spark ran Weeks 10 and 11 in her two year old year and demolished a G2 stakes on no rest in the second of those two races. She never really had a break and ran against boys twice as a four year old, and never lost her form. Pristine is turning out the same way, so there's a lot to be said for just making sure that while you're inbreeding to Silver Charm, you've got solid horses everywhere OTHER than the Silver Charm cross.

The other point is that sometimes you just have to run horses and if they win they win and if they break they break. Saga broke as a 4yo after running weeks 2-4-6 and winning the Dubai World Cup. Its a risk you take, but the potential reward is huge.