Shorter answers to these, and I'm happy to expand in a more relevant thread, but I sort stallions using stakes percentages, put very little stock in hypos, and a lot of stock in pedigrees and crosses that I'm excited about. I like inbreeding in fillies, outcrosses in colts, generally prefer stallions with natural speed and mares with endless stamina (though some of that is forced by my good mares all being routers through Loki Reflection/Spark/Philadelphia/Schuylkill/etc). Stallions that are plodders are basically dead to me, they're inevitably disasters, maybe not for others but certainly with my bunch. They don't have to be 9f horses, but they have to show some pop and speed, even if they carry it 12+ furlongs.Andrew Chillin wrote: ↑5 months agoBreak down the correlations and your opinion on freak percentage/stakes percentage vs pedigree vs hypos. Then we can talk about your interpretation of routers: speed vs stamina. What do they mean to you in the data we can see.Eric Nalbone wrote: ↑5 months agoGuilty as charged, and I'm thrilled that my first foray into the forum in years has reinforced the prevailing opinion of me in the SIM. There's a reason I stepped back and kept quiet for a very long time.Andrew Chillin wrote: ↑5 months ago Tl;dr Eric said git gud but kinda comes off as an arrogant *guy. It’s a lot to read, I know. Follow me for more tips and tricks, going to interpret the Bible next.
I have no opinions on the bible, but if you'd like me to wax poetic on the Stud Book, just ask!
Hypos are more mare than stallion dependent. I'll occasionally make a decision based on them, but it's incredibly rare for that to be a deciding factor. I usually check good mares with a variety of my own stallions and a couple outside ones, to get a bead on the quality of the mare more than on the quality of the cross.
As to the stakes percentage vs freak percentage, depends on how many foals the stallion has and all, but I'd like to see *some* freaks. Doesn't have to be a ton of 'em, but I'd like to see *some*. Not to call one stallion out, especially since I just actually used him today, but a horse like Mandalorian is really worrisome in his first crop with no freaks. You'd like to at least see *some* sign that he can get one that truly pops, but to immediately contradict myself and explain why I used him, go look at the workouts his horses are posting. Low 0:57.XX is gonna be a really, really good racehorse regardless if that yearling currently gallops stakes or freak. He can clearly sire a good horse, so set the gallops aside and use him.
If you want to judge stallion quality quickly for non-first-year sires in the stud book, sort on stakes percentage. There are more of them than freaks so it's easier to get a 'true' read and it's still a very good read on stallion quality.