I have been looking at With Approval, who has recently moved to lanwades stud in the UK, as a potential sire for Spirit of Chester (Lend a Hand). Anyone have any view of him as a sire. The stats i have seen are a bit out of date and given that i think he's 20 now, wondered if he was on the wane.
Cheers for any thoughts
Patrick
WITH APPROVAL
Moderators: Roguelet, WaveMaster, madelyn
-
rubicon1967
- Yearling
- Posts: 61
- Joined: Mon Dec 19, 2005 7:31 am
- Location: york, england
Use him!
He was one of the, if not the, most under-rated sires while he was here in the States. He still has the potential to sire a top-shelf turf horse and a superior all-purpose track horse (if your all purpose tracks "play" like our new all purpose tracks).
One can only imagine how much different his career might have been had he been a "Mr. P" or "Northern Dancer" (or "Storm Cat" as the case may be at present). Of course, in North America's defense, his get did not seem to fair well on the dirt, and that is where the money is found.
He is a truly wonderful horse and, although genetically "it" may be in him, I have heard nothing but good things about the temperment and intelligence of his foals.
He was one of the, if not the, most under-rated sires while he was here in the States. He still has the potential to sire a top-shelf turf horse and a superior all-purpose track horse (if your all purpose tracks "play" like our new all purpose tracks).
One can only imagine how much different his career might have been had he been a "Mr. P" or "Northern Dancer" (or "Storm Cat" as the case may be at present). Of course, in North America's defense, his get did not seem to fair well on the dirt, and that is where the money is found.
He is a truly wonderful horse and, although genetically "it" may be in him, I have heard nothing but good things about the temperment and intelligence of his foals.
-
wilf
- Breeder's Cup Contender
- Posts: 1882
- Joined: Sat Dec 25, 2004 10:50 am
- Location: Ocala, Florida.
I cannot believe they shipped off an old stud like him......not good. I was at Fort Erie and watched him win the Prince of Wales Stakes , lovely horse. He was very good on dirt and turf and people forget that it took all of Gary Stevens urging for favourite In The Wings to go by With Approval in the final strides in the Breeders Cup Turf. I wish him well and at Lanwades he has a great home.
With Approval
I adore this guy, and like Kal, and would ship a mare across the pond to him if I had unlimited funds. 
I was so sad to see him leave, because I wanted to breed our recently retired mare to him.
We've had two With Approval fillies in our barn (we try to find them because they're always undervalued at sale), and while their dispositions are completely different (one had two crosses of Ribot on the dam's side, which made her the "starchier" of the two), both are extremely intelligent, hard-knocking runners.
Our first one retired from the flat and we sold her to the steeplechase folks, who LOVE With Approvals. She won her very first time over the jumps. The other, we've only had for a year. She had never been raced on the grass before we got her (3 successively bad dirt tries), and when we put her on the lawn the first time (after she put on 200 pounds and overcame her mistrust of people), she cruised to a win, and at 25-1.
She's from the immediate family of Lonesome Glory, and it was our good fortune to get her for a bargain price.
WA's an extraordinarily undervalued sire, both for turf and dirt, but in our books, there's no better sire for our small turf program, especially for fillies who can go long.
And, the best bet that I DIDN'T make was the most lucrative one in my recent memory. The With Approval broodmare sire $2 exacta with Miesque's Approval and Silver Tree, Bailey's last mount. I made note of it, thought about it, and never played it. Sheesh. $338 I guess I didn't really need.
I was so sad to see him leave, because I wanted to breed our recently retired mare to him.
We've had two With Approval fillies in our barn (we try to find them because they're always undervalued at sale), and while their dispositions are completely different (one had two crosses of Ribot on the dam's side, which made her the "starchier" of the two), both are extremely intelligent, hard-knocking runners.
Our first one retired from the flat and we sold her to the steeplechase folks, who LOVE With Approvals. She won her very first time over the jumps. The other, we've only had for a year. She had never been raced on the grass before we got her (3 successively bad dirt tries), and when we put her on the lawn the first time (after she put on 200 pounds and overcame her mistrust of people), she cruised to a win, and at 25-1.
She's from the immediate family of Lonesome Glory, and it was our good fortune to get her for a bargain price.
WA's an extraordinarily undervalued sire, both for turf and dirt, but in our books, there's no better sire for our small turf program, especially for fillies who can go long.
And, the best bet that I DIDN'T make was the most lucrative one in my recent memory. The With Approval broodmare sire $2 exacta with Miesque's Approval and Silver Tree, Bailey's last mount. I made note of it, thought about it, and never played it. Sheesh. $338 I guess I didn't really need.
-
StrawberryFelidos
- Allowance Winner
- Posts: 425
- Joined: Sun Feb 27, 2005 3:04 pm
Speaking from the outside looking in, I must say that it's a shame that turf sires like this guy are so undervalued in the US- turf racing is a legitimate part of American racing, after all. But, of course, the Triple Crown isn't run on turf, and the "biggest races" (ie:the most valued ones by American standards) are all on dirt. It's a shame, really, that a good US turf horse has to work ten times harder to get respect than a dirt animal does (think how often a Breeder's Cup Turf horse gets considered for Horse of the Year, as compared to a Breeder's Cup Classic winner). But that's just my soapy box which I should get off of now 
I wonder, how could turf sires and turf racing get more respect? It seems to be a shame that people try to turn good turf sires into good dirt sires when they are already so good at what they do. That's like trying to make Shakespeare into a brain surgeon because "being a doctor is more respectable than being a writer"
I wonder, how could turf sires and turf racing get more respect? It seems to be a shame that people try to turn good turf sires into good dirt sires when they are already so good at what they do. That's like trying to make Shakespeare into a brain surgeon because "being a doctor is more respectable than being a writer"
-
erins isle
- Grade III Winner
- Posts: 1125
- Joined: Mon Sep 20, 2004 6:26 am
- Location: The basement of Europe
-
rubicon1967
- Yearling
- Posts: 61
- Joined: Mon Dec 19, 2005 7:31 am
- Location: york, england
I QUITE LIKE THE LOOK OF HIS PEDIGREE FROM A BREEDING PERSPECTIVE FOR OUR MARE SPIRIT OF CHESTER. BUT I ALSO THINK WA HAS NOT HAD MUCH LUCK IN THE STATES BEING A TURF SIRE, AND BY UK STANDARDS 5% STAKES WINNERS TO FOALS IS VERY RESPECTABLE. CANT GO WITH OUR MARE THIS YEAR - SHES BEING COVERED BY FOOTSTEPSINTHESAND BUT NEXT YEAR MUST BE A BIG CHANCE.
THANX TO EVERYONE 4 YOUR COMMENTS ON WA
THANX TO EVERYONE 4 YOUR COMMENTS ON WA