The announcement earlier this week that Silver Train was
relocating from Vinery in Kentucky to Northview-Pa was probably the worst-kept
secret in the business, with the only surprise being his $7,500 stud fee for
2012, which is the same as this past breeding season.
Although I look forward to this season of stallion
“musical chairs,” I must admit I am getting a little cynical. Nine times out of 10, horses that relocate
from Kentucky to Pennsylvania are doing so because of declining popularity
among mare owners, or runners not performing to expectations, or disappointing
sales results, or all three.
With the Pennsylvania breeding program offering such rich
incentives to owners and breeders, one would think it would be an attractive
region for graded stakes-winning, well-bred freshmen sires, much like
Spendthrift Farm’s Dublin, a Grade 1-winner who will be standing his first
season in New York, or stallions whose progeny have proven themselves on the racetrack,
like Ghost Ridge Farm’s Jump Start.
Northview-Pa had the right idea a few years back when it decided to stand freshman
sire Fairbanks, a graded-stakes winning son of Giant’s Causeway. Not only did
Fairbanks get supported by the better mares domiciled in the Keystone State, but
also by Kentucky mares through his part-owner Margaux Farm in Midway. His first
foals race next year.
Speaking of Margaux Farm, we took a peek at its web site
today and noticed that Petionville was suddenly missing from its stallion
roster.
Hmmm
… let the musical chairs begin. And just remember, you read it here first
(hint, hint).
* * * *
I recently discovered an excellent online magazine, Australian Breeding & Racing, which covers a wide variety of
topics not just limited to racing “down under.” In this current issue (see
link), there is an article entitled “The Great Stud Fee Debate,” as well as
“Colour Blind,” in which pedigree analyst Jane Henning assesses the impact of
coat color on performance.
The e-edition contains many beautiful photographs, as
well as advertisements for American stallions who shuttle. Those ads contain
many new conformation photos; the one I saw for Lookin at Lucky was especially
nice.
Here’s an interesting piece about whether a
thoroughbred’s conformation can predict its wet-track ability: http://www.breedingracing.com/pdfs/99/Editorial/wetTrack.pdf
All in all, I highly recommend Australian Breeding & Racing to anyone interested in the global
thoroughbred world. The link to the
current edition is: http://epublishbyus.com/ebook/ebook?id=10020910#/0
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