JC / Railbird

Breeding

Stakes Inflation

Chris Rossi on the graded stakes bubble:

As foal crops have declined, so has the number of race days for a total of 6,250 race days lost since 2006. Yet the number of stakes awarded graded status has remained level: 475 awarded in 2006 and 474 awarded in 2011. This failure to adapt to the new racing landscape has resulted in an increase of 14% in the number of races awarded graded status.

The 2016 projection should strike fear in everyone involved in breeding and selling American Thoroughbreds. Without correction, short fields and ducking connections won’t be just the bane of bettors in the very near future.

(Neither the Paulick Report nor Equidaily like to pick up Raceday 360 pieces, but both should aggregate this one.)

Posted in Racing on September 25, 2012 / Tagged AGSC, Breeding, Business of Racing, Graded Stakes, Sales, Stakes Inflation, Stakes Racing, Statistics

More on Corrective Surgeries

Dr. Larry Bramlage talks to the Paulick Report:

I’m one of those people who believe we really have changed the conformation of the breed — but not by the surgical conformation. It’s that we have moved the entire breed to a different conformation: the offset knee. It’s happened because those have been the most productive horses.

Posted in Racing on September 12, 2012 / Tagged Breeding, Corrective Surgery, Dr. Larry Bramlage, Foals, Sales, Veterinarians, Yearlings

Interventions

Alicia Wincze talks with breeders and buyers about corrective surgery:

“I think if they’re talking about weakening the gene pool with medication, then they’re also weakening the gene pool by doing (corrective surgery),” said trainer Charlie Lopresti. “They’re taking mares that produce crooked foals, cosmetically fixing them and selling them for a lot of money at the sale. It used to be back in the old days, only the strong survived, and if they were crooked and they could run through it, they were good horses.

“I don’t think it’s a bad thing, but I think we all need to get on the same page. And if they’re going to try and clean up the racing act, they need to clean up their act too.”

Posted in Racing on September 10, 2012 / Tagged Breeding, Corrective Surgery, Foals, Keeneland, Lasix, Sales, Yearlings

Odds and Ends

“IHA lives a life of comfort.” The Kentucky Derby winner at Big Red Farm (via).

Azeri, Ginger Punch, Lethal Heat, Moscow Burning, Stardom Bound … Kate Hunter on the Yoshida brothers’ starry broodmare band (PDF).

But the horse will tell us what he wants to do. “It’s an absolute crock. Frankel has been saying all year I can do what YOU want me to” (via).

It’s not about the surface. What Dullahan really wants is distance. Given his one-run style, this makes sense. It doesn’t raise his prospects in any of the three Breeders’ Cup races he might enter, though.

East vs. West, Sid Fernando, March 2012: “… it’s striking that even cheaper dirt tracks in the East have lower overall rates than most anything out West.” Hm.

Posted in Racing on September 1, 2012 / Tagged Breeding, Dullahan, Frankel, I'll Have Another, International, Japan, Track Surfaces, UK