Maria's Article on Steeplechasing

[Polk Buffalo]

I want early jumps for the offspring of the new chaser stallions. !
Since they hypo as they produce I assume that Gunite and Titleholder will reach similar numbers to snap decision.

No, I think snap decision will get better % chaser freaks, because he will have less claimer yearlings to bring the percentage down.

In % chaser freaks counting only foals 2ys and up they will all be very similar I think.
Some of the other stallions are bred for their flat abilities too so it will be very tricky to compare. I agree that hypos are the best way to compare.

[Cleo Patra]

Maybe we should be able to set a separate fee for chasers like we can for cross breeding mixers?

I know that doesn’t help with the player bred colt issue but it might help with affordability at least.

[Rebecca Rose Hepburn]

and PS: Ma Springs just pointed out to me that a Titleholder yearling colt now owns the second fastest ALL-TIME yearling 4F turf wo time.

I own no steeplechasers but if you talk about my favorite yearling chances are I'll show up, like saying Beetlejuice three times lmao. I would like to plug Titleholder; that yearling is named Sapling and he comes from an A+ hypo. I bred to 18 RL studs last year and, pound for pound, Crystal Ocean was the only one who gave me foals as nice as Titleholder did.

[Ma Springs]

and PS: Ma Springs just pointed out to me that a Titleholder yearling colt now owns the second fastest ALL-TIME yearling 4F turf wo time.

I'm taking the liberty to make a correction since I'm mentioned. I'm pretty sure I said in the top 50 all-time list (and I think it's around number 5-6 when only looking at WOs run as yearlings, so good enough!), second fastest working yearling 4F turf this season. I definitely endorse, just bred a turf miler to him with an A+ flat hypo. Fingers crossed!

Regarding the chasers. I have very few, (like a total of 10-12, all ages), and they are doing alright, but I can’t help but play with the same thoughts as Shannon every season when it's time to choose gender...

[Kelly Haggerty]

I enjoy the chasers, but find them confusing. I bought a Lalor son to stand at stud. He hypos well but his gallops were not great and I lowered his fee to $3500. Still, he has given me the best chasers in my barn. So I can spend more, a lot more, and go to a top stallion or I can breed in-house and get some allowance and stakes and a bunch of lower-end horse; however, these results are only slightly different than what I get from the better stallions. So I have taken a "volume" approach to chasers as opposed to trying to get the best and breed them to the best, which is so cost-prohibitive and seems to get a low return.

My stallion is now 12, and his oldest babies are 4, meaning some still haven't improved. If he pensions at 14, nearly all of his foals will still have their improvement in the hopper. This goes back to not racing until 3, and the difficulty of getting to $350k in earnings, which causes the stallion prospects to retire later and then it is 3 more years before the babies start and longer still for them to peak. Maybe he is better than I think, maybe not, by the time I know he'll be done. Regardless, I don't regret having an in-house option to cut costs and give me more bites at the apple.

When racing, there seems to be two completely different stories. I think it is one of the hardest divisions at the stakes level, yet in the claimers it isn't that difficult to at least get a check because the overall volume of horses is lower. Quite a few of mine are probably a net loss overall if all expenses are counted, but I just find the division fun and a nice change from the flat.

[Lucas Davenport]

To Kelly:

You analysis is spot on for the "age related" difficulties with chasing, and I don't see any easy fixes. Of course, one option would be to have chaser stallions pension later, but then I'm sure we would find DMB (and the like) listed as a chaser stallions also!

I used you approach to breeding chasers for many years myself when I was starting; and slowly it worked so I could finally afford and buy the best breedings. Don't give up on that approach, it will just take more time than you want..............but you aren't anywhere near as old as I am.