Pedigree Query

at Keeneland November had a weanling colt go thru the ring #1621 by Bolt d"Oro, for $125K!!! Thanks to joltman for spotting the relationship.

Terrific -- makes her a real commercial prospect I should think. Wouldn't it be fun to breed then sell and cash in a $100k and use it to build the rest of the stable? Or roll the dice and run yourself. Amazing things you can do with the right one.

jm

Just the thought... would be great if that was the result. Interestingly, Take a Memo and Stormy Memo are the two "big" winners for Memorette. But the fillies are producing. The Curlin filly, Call Her Chelsea, has My Borrowed Angel who has earned $155K. Take a Memo has Miss Avas Union who has earned $62K. So now the question is... what is a good stallion for Stormy Memo? Bearing in mind that it will be her first foal.

what is a good stallion?

Always the question! You have the advantage of both selling or racing. Racing as a fallback if you want to spend less or if the physical, vet or whatever else isn't there.

If you had confirmation from people that her foals might bring north of $100k, it would be looking at a truly commercial stallion that gets the Good Looker and brings big numbers at the sales for a manageable stud fee or a little less if you can find one. The other side of the outlay means finding ways for consignors to get buzz for the horse. Having the right sire is a must and if you have a hot one (Constitution) other things can get overlooked. If you have support you might get together others who can get her to a really good one (north of $50k) who can sell well, but also get the mare off to a decent start. But being that she wasn't running in stakes or big track allowance races, they'll ding her for that.

The down side of breeding to a sire of solid (if not great) runners is that you compromise the produce record just because of what she's bred to. (I know I look at it and if the breeder goes to an Into Mischief, Tapit or War Front it commands attention). Fact is though that there are a lot of stallions to like who run the shoes off the big boys repeatedly but never get respect. Mucho Macho Man is one - leading 3rd crop sire by some measures, but only $7500 and can probably get for less. ($93k avg per runner, even $45k if you take away Macho Gustos earnings. )

Another good thing for Stormy Memo is that being by Stormy Atlantic, there is a solid record from him as BM sire, so pulling that report will give a clue as to what works, or might and what hasn't and most likely, won't. The Storm Cat line gets a lot of great nick ratings but they don't all deliver - still so many look at that so finding an A or better will impress some, whether it should, or shouldn't.

There are a lot of guys who package seasons most of whom will give an opinion and a discount if you buy their take on things. There are a couple that would be worth a chat I should think.

Sounds like a great way to spend the chilly nights of December by the fireplace waiting for spring and figuring it all out....

jm

First foals tend to be a bit smaller than subsequent ones. I've usually advise clients not to spend big for stud fees on a first foal. I think breeding a Runner is the key here. I've got a client maybe willing to do the foal share thing with me. If we went with something modest - I'm looking hard at Dominus and Cinco Charlie - I can get deals to them and kept our expenses in check we could try a sale with a modest reserve and see what happens.

You see what happened at the recent sale where supply continues to outpace demand. Breeding a mare that earned 30K to a 5K stallion is unlikely to attract attention regardless, unless it's a great physical in which case FTK July is a great option. That was the right sale for my Langfuhr who was accepted but sadly needed surgery for an apical fracture in a hind sesamoid and an OCD in a stifle.
Why not look at a better stallion and see if one of the farms will do a foal share? Exaggerator is down to 15K, Carpe Diem is 7,500.

Yeh - it's the size matters always, first and foremost. One advantage is that breeding a maiden under lights you might get a very early foal who has 3+ month headstart in the growth sequence esp. as a weanling. I always like quick compact mares - Lady Tak one of the favorites. But if her foals are small, they command zero respect.

If you can get the farm in on the foal share with you and your friend, you're initial outlay goes way down. Not selling early means it's 4 years best case before the mare's produce have a chance to show anything on the track, whereas breeding and selling a weanling it's less than 2 years for cash flow purposes. Darby Dan's PR blurb said they would be continuing some of their programs to benefit breeders but I saw nothing on the website. Might be worth just getting in touch on all the new ones and see who will do what. I'm thinking of doing that with one with a later foaling mare, where if the stallion didn't get public mares, they may do a deal late just to get foals on the ground. But with your maiden, probably earlier is better (no I really don't like early foals actually) but just for maturity sake.

What does Stormy Memo look like? Size and conformation? Anything to really shore up in her look?

Good news was she was placed at 2, and won fairly early in Mdn Sp in her 3yo yr. Storm Cat line tends to go early.

hope you find something!

jm

Stormy Memo is about 15.3 compact and sturdy. Nice chest, shoulder and hip. Nice neck. But on the small side overall. Wears a 72 blanket.

The Iowa auction has the Midshipman season at $2700 right now. While the nick is supposed be a D rating, the AEI for him bred to Stormy Atlantic mares is 1.2 - which isn't bad. I have no idea what he or his foals look like or whether it would be a fit conformationally. Just a thought.

jm

The Ohio sale is also going on with some great deals, 1 day out from close. Even Lanes End stallions are in there, some at 1/3 their adv fee.

Thanks it looks though like they are all NG. Too risky

Darby Dan offered me complimentary for Stormy Memo to Dolphus. I went to see him. Nice horse.
Sky Kingdom is a really gorgeous boy, very big though.

I ended up going back to my first choice, Cinco Charlie. They made me a great deal. We bred March 30. Fingers crossed.