Real Quiet
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geowarrior
- Leading Sire
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Real Quiet
I was wondering what people think of Real Quiet as a sire. Clearly someone doesn't think a great deal of him as he's been moved to Pennsylvania at a fee of $6000. However, I think that Pennsylvania is an up and coming locale for breeders with some incentives, and I don't think that Real Quiet should be written off yet. I'm curious to know what others think on this topic.
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geowarrior
- Leading Sire
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- Joined: Sat Jul 08, 2006 12:45 pm
- Location: Spokane, WA
Real Quiet
Well maybe huge facts and figures haven't shown up for Real Quiet, but he is in the top 100 of the general sire list and he was shuttled back and forth from Australia for three years. I think he's at a good farm in Pa and I hope they will provide incentives because I think he has a lot of potential.
Real Quiet is very well bred, and did come within a nose of winning the triple crown, which is more than you can say for Smarty Jones. Maybe in a couple of years Smarty will be hanging out in Pa himself. The Old Kentucky home doesn't seem to have much patience for sires who don't produce the big winners immediately.
The American thoroughbred review did a piece called 'where are they now?' which was quite enlightning.
Real Quiet is very well bred, and did come within a nose of winning the triple crown, which is more than you can say for Smarty Jones. Maybe in a couple of years Smarty will be hanging out in Pa himself. The Old Kentucky home doesn't seem to have much patience for sires who don't produce the big winners immediately.
The American thoroughbred review did a piece called 'where are they now?' which was quite enlightning.
Real Quiet is, himself, quite crooked. He was in a magic barn with a known talent for getting crooked horses to run. There have been quite a number of Derby winners who could not reproduce their own talent for running.
It will be interesting to see what the future holds for Regal Heir (sp?) Farm, following the deaths of its owners.
Regarding the tenure of stallions in Lexington, it is interesting to watch the big stud farms shuffle their stallions like poker hands.. discarding so many each year after so short a time. I was perusing a relatively old sales catalog (2000?) recently and there were so MANY weanlings and yearlings by stallions who flashed for a year or two and are long gone. Somehow, it doesn't seem fair. But with the sheer number of colts born each year, there will always be more stallion prospects. It is perhaps harder now, than it was 40 years ago, for a colt to really stand out. There are just so many more challengers on the race trail. Today's business model, for some farms, seems to be just that, purely a business model with not much regard for the breed, the breeders (mare owners) or the industry as a whole.
It will be interesting to see what the future holds for Regal Heir (sp?) Farm, following the deaths of its owners.
Regarding the tenure of stallions in Lexington, it is interesting to watch the big stud farms shuffle their stallions like poker hands.. discarding so many each year after so short a time. I was perusing a relatively old sales catalog (2000?) recently and there were so MANY weanlings and yearlings by stallions who flashed for a year or two and are long gone. Somehow, it doesn't seem fair. But with the sheer number of colts born each year, there will always be more stallion prospects. It is perhaps harder now, than it was 40 years ago, for a colt to really stand out. There are just so many more challengers on the race trail. Today's business model, for some farms, seems to be just that, purely a business model with not much regard for the breed, the breeders (mare owners) or the industry as a whole.
So Run for the Roses, as fast as you can.....
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geowarrior
- Leading Sire
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Real Quiet
Real Quiet is crooked in the sense of being illegal or just having poor conformation? Because there have been other horses with various conformation related problems (including Seabiscuit) who ran fine. Although Seabiscuit was so isolated he did not get good mares and so certainly did not reproduce his talent. I do understand that not all Derby and Eclipse winners can replicate their own talent, but I feel that Real Quiet could be a sleeper.
As far as Regal Heir goes, the statement on the website says that it is going to be run as before by other members of the family. Such a tragedy for them.
As far as Regal Heir goes, the statement on the website says that it is going to be run as before by other members of the family. Such a tragedy for them.
Having seen many of Real Quiet's foals, I certainly wouldnt be real concerned about the crooked issue. He is producing some nice horses, and for the regional market I would think he'd be exceptional value. He has a colt working on the West Coast that will be starting soon that is extremely quick, and he's had some very solid performers this year. Far too soon to give up on him.
As far as him being in a barn that can get crooked horses to run, crookedness and the ability to run has nothing to do with each other. Thats why some people are huge successes in buying horses and others arent. Its easy to see a straight legged horse. Its not easy seeing an athlete. Conformation has far more to it then straight legs. In fact Real Quiet was purchased FOR his conformation.
As far as him being in a barn that can get crooked horses to run, crookedness and the ability to run has nothing to do with each other. Thats why some people are huge successes in buying horses and others arent. Its easy to see a straight legged horse. Its not easy seeing an athlete. Conformation has far more to it then straight legs. In fact Real Quiet was purchased FOR his conformation.
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geowarrior
- Leading Sire
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- Joined: Sat Jul 08, 2006 12:45 pm
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Real Quiet
Halo
I'm interested in what you say about Real Quiet's foals. The only offspring of his I have actually seen is Wonder Lady Anne L., who from what I could tell looked like a very nice filly and is stakes placed. I didn't get to see her race, however, as she was scratched from the race when the filly in the adjacent starting gate flipped over and may have kicked her. I notice that she is nominated for one of the big fillies races next week at Delaware (not the handicap, one of the other ones). I will watch to see if she runs. Meanwhile, what is the name of the colt you are interested in? I'd like to keep a watch on him too.
Regards
Geowarrior
I'm interested in what you say about Real Quiet's foals. The only offspring of his I have actually seen is Wonder Lady Anne L., who from what I could tell looked like a very nice filly and is stakes placed. I didn't get to see her race, however, as she was scratched from the race when the filly in the adjacent starting gate flipped over and may have kicked her. I notice that she is nominated for one of the big fillies races next week at Delaware (not the handicap, one of the other ones). I will watch to see if she runs. Meanwhile, what is the name of the colt you are interested in? I'd like to keep a watch on him too.
Regards
Geowarrior
I would probably agree with Halo's assessment of Real Quiet. He's a nice solid breed to race horse. Yes, he's crooked, but he ran through it and his foals seem to as well.
He's not a sales sire by any stretch, but the move to Pennsylvania where he can be a big fish in a smaller pond is bound to be good for him.
He's not a sales sire by any stretch, but the move to Pennsylvania where he can be a big fish in a smaller pond is bound to be good for him.
I don't have low self-esteem. I have low esteem for everyone else. ~ Daria
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geowarrior
- Leading Sire
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- Joined: Sat Jul 08, 2006 12:45 pm
- Location: Spokane, WA
Real Quiet
Well, going back to Madelyn's comment about the breed, what is it that we want, do we want pretty horses or do we want soundness, ability to race, less reliance on drugs, etc.? As she suggests, the choice is not totally in the hands of the 'consumer'.
But although the racing public (by some accounts a declining population) likes a winner - they also like a character. A horse with a whirly tail or crooked leg or ungainly gait or a tendency to grin at all the wrong times, or a hard-luck story who wins races, sticks around and runs for years is far more likely to capture the imagination than the perfectly conformed stallion who wins three races gets injured and is syndicated to stand at stud out of the public eye. If Smarty Jones and Afleet Alex had continued to race another couple of years, it could have made a big difference to how people view the industry, especially in light of what happened to Barbaro this year.
When I went home to Scotland over the winter I watched racing (mostly steeplechasing) all the time (well I did have the occasional conversation with my parents). When the running of the King George VI Gold Cup took place - before the race out came a past hero, winner of several King Georges as well as the Cheltenham Gold Cup - Desert Orchid, an old grey horse all wooly in his winter coat, prancing about like the champion he knew he was. The crowd went wild. Desert Orchid visits every year and gets the same reception.
I know that there had been plans to bring Seattle Slew out for such an exhibition on Derby Day, but he died. I also know that Delaware Park had an Afleet Alex Day. And ESPN did a nice little piece on Saturday on past hero Precisionist. Many local racecourses will parade their champions also. We need more of this emphasis on the characters of the horses to attract fans, and breeding the quirkiness out of our potential equine heroes isn't the way to go in my view. Not that I'm suggesting we aim for two headed monsters or anything, just not the conformation mill that we seem to have going now.
But although the racing public (by some accounts a declining population) likes a winner - they also like a character. A horse with a whirly tail or crooked leg or ungainly gait or a tendency to grin at all the wrong times, or a hard-luck story who wins races, sticks around and runs for years is far more likely to capture the imagination than the perfectly conformed stallion who wins three races gets injured and is syndicated to stand at stud out of the public eye. If Smarty Jones and Afleet Alex had continued to race another couple of years, it could have made a big difference to how people view the industry, especially in light of what happened to Barbaro this year.
When I went home to Scotland over the winter I watched racing (mostly steeplechasing) all the time (well I did have the occasional conversation with my parents). When the running of the King George VI Gold Cup took place - before the race out came a past hero, winner of several King Georges as well as the Cheltenham Gold Cup - Desert Orchid, an old grey horse all wooly in his winter coat, prancing about like the champion he knew he was. The crowd went wild. Desert Orchid visits every year and gets the same reception.
I know that there had been plans to bring Seattle Slew out for such an exhibition on Derby Day, but he died. I also know that Delaware Park had an Afleet Alex Day. And ESPN did a nice little piece on Saturday on past hero Precisionist. Many local racecourses will parade their champions also. We need more of this emphasis on the characters of the horses to attract fans, and breeding the quirkiness out of our potential equine heroes isn't the way to go in my view. Not that I'm suggesting we aim for two headed monsters or anything, just not the conformation mill that we seem to have going now.
He's narrow. His old nickname was "The Fish". I never had a real problem with his crookedness, as he's not anymore than most modern stallions.
I'm in PA and I heard the same as Madelyn that they are going to keep the farm going for the forseeable future. It's a real tradegy to the PA Breeding prgram because these were two wonderful guys making a big investment in PA for the future. They were committed to running a first-class operation and will be sorely missed.
I'm in PA and I heard the same as Madelyn that they are going to keep the farm going for the forseeable future. It's a real tradegy to the PA Breeding prgram because these were two wonderful guys making a big investment in PA for the future. They were committed to running a first-class operation and will be sorely missed.
I have hands on experience with a handful of Real Quiet's prepping for 2 yo in training sales. The fillies had a rep for being buggers. Were they nice looking? Yes. Were they stellar? Not by a long shot.
Never said I hate RQ, simply stated the facts that the numbers simply are not there for him.
As for your soundness remark Geo, I do include conformational qualities into the soundness picture, especially when considering breeding potentials.
Never said I hate RQ, simply stated the facts that the numbers simply are not there for him.
As for your soundness remark Geo, I do include conformational qualities into the soundness picture, especially when considering breeding potentials.
Real Quiet's dam side
5 of the 8 mares in the first 4 generations are reines and 5 of the 8 are double copy mares. Even the granddam who was unraced was a good producer, having all six foals winners as well as being a double copy herself. Not too shabby.