Pedigree Query

It was announced today that Orientate is relocating from Gainesway to Northview Stallion Station in Chesapeake City, Md.

Is their any confirmation of move? I've searched for supporting news articles and can not find one. I love Orientate and hope this is true. He is weak on soundness but as fast as they come.

It has not been reported in the trades, but Carl McEntee of Northview Stallion Station announced it at the Stallion Show on Sunday. You might want to call them if you're interested.

Depending on his fee, I can see the sporthorse crowd either using him, or picking up his foals once they're done racing.

He is scheduled to arrive at Northview today(Friday Feb 1,2013). I saw him at Gainseway several years ago. Not at all physically impressive. Looked more like a fillie than a sire. Curious to see if he has filled out. He is a great addition to the Mid Atlantic roster.

Here's the confirmation:

http://www.paulickreport.com/news/blood ... n-station/

If he is delicate and weak on soundness why would sport horse people want him???

He is delicate. I believe the average lifetime starts of his progeny is around 13 which is well below average. Sires who's progeny are sound average around 19 or 20 lifetime starts. The mare must bring the soundness if you select this guy. If you have a sound mare lacking in speed, he is a great choice for racing of course.

Blue feather wrote:He is delicate. I believe the average lifetime starts of his progeny is around 13 which is well below average. Sires who's progeny are sound average around 19 or 20 lifetime starts. The mare must bring the soundness if you select this guy. If you have a sound mare lacking in speed, he is a great choice for racing of course.

Your numbers made me curious, so I looked it up. According to equineline, to date Orientate has had 487 starters make 7,618 starts for an average of 16 starts per horse. I would guess that's probably around average these days.

I think it's hard to generalize how many starts might be average for a "sound sire" as there are so many reasons why a horse might retire, other than lack of soundness. Coming from either end of the spectrum, lack of talent and value in the breeding shed probably top the list. There are lots of horses who continue to race only because they are marginally earning their keep and have nothing better to do. Some are sound and some aren't but they do continue to pile up starts for what that's worth.

By the way, Orientate himself made 19 starts in his career which puts him within your definition of "soundness".

Thanks LB. When KimMine mentioned sporthorse it piqued my interest. Looking at his BH stallion page I didn't get a hint that there was an issue of delicacy and by the look of the sales figures for his 2 yr olds in training last year a few buyers thought well of him. Those 20 yearlings that sold 16-17k each, is that a close to break even numer on a $6500 stud fee for the east coast?

He'll stand for $5,000 at NV.

Here is an article from 2012 focusing on the soundness and durability of sires. It is my understanding that the average number of starts per year multiplied by average numbers of years raced by their progeny equals the average number of lifetime starts. As the article below shows, Orientate ranks 89th of 100 sires listed with his progeny's average lifetime starts of 13.78. Futhermore, the article states the average sire is somewhere around 18 lifetime starts. Although a sires own race record is likely an indicator of soundness, that is not always the case.

http://www.grayson-jockeyclub.org/resou ... %20web.pdf