Pedigree Query

Probably viewed as another Ho-Hum son of More Than Ready, Daredevil looks to have started out at $12,500, sliding down to $7500, with not enough excitement for his foals so off to Turkey he went.... and now two first crop daughters have run 1-2 in the Kentucky Oaks. Swiss Skydiver was a good buy by McPeek, for $35k. I don't know what this KY market has against Halo line horses. I, for one, Love to see Halo on top of a stallion's pedigree.

I'm with you Madelyn. The market needs some 'other' blood than MP/ND. Halo has stamina and More Than Ready has been a stellar sire for years. I'm sure he could be 'bought back' for a price...

jm

It's a Winstar failure, he went from 140 mares to 21.
Regardless of the pedigree, he was a one time stakes winner at age two who didn't do squat at age three, so what's the marketing angle when you have 20+ other stallions at the same farm?

The fact he stood in Ky at all is a testament to the owners but it was a double edged sword.

.... and now Swiss Skydiver has won the Preakness. Anyone thinking Daredevil might come back to the US?

Just goes to show you that some of these farms (Winstar is the leading example) give up on stallions far too early, likely because they have a conveyor belt of colts. The next hot thing.

I like seeing these stallions do well after being sold though. Winstar had unloaded Take Charge Indy rather quick too, and then acquired him back, but I seem to recall reading that Turkey was quite keen to get Daredevil and are quite happy with him... that being said - I am sure there is a price they couldn't refuse.

When Daredevil retired, I remember thinking "oh boy, another one of these lightly raced horses...." and here we are with two very impressive fillies in Swiss Skydiver and Shedaresthedevil.

The market for young stallions is heavily driven by the commercial yearling market, and Daredevil's first yearlings didn't sell very well even though his weanling average the year before had been quite good. (The Halo line has never been known for show-ring pretty.) Combine that with getting just 21 mares the year before his first runners came out and a modest first-year crop performance from a horse expected to get speedy 2yos (apparently, no one noticed that aside from Daredevil himself, the best runners from his immediate female family took a little while to hit their peak), and it's not all that surprising that the farm took the first good offer that came along. Until racing performance starts to outweigh flashy yearlings and breeders start becoming less risk-averse, stallions in their second through fourth or fifth seasons (depending on when their runners could be reasonably expected to show something) are going to be a tough sell compared to the big names coming fresh off the track.

Seems also that Swiss Skydiver has a younger brother that sold for...... $4K!!

According to the Paulick Report, Daredevil's on his way back to the US.

Yes, he will be at Lane's End for $25K. I liked him better at $7500

I would imagine that now he will see a much deeper and better quality group of mares. Which might be terrific or just overwhelming. We'll have to wait and see.

So happy they "got him back" physically that is--Turkey is retaining actual ownership.

Shanghai Bobby is another one that may have been exported too soon. His progeny seem to be doing pretty well since he left for Japan. His son, Extra Hope, just won the Native Diver Stakes (G3) today at Del Mar.