Mating crosses/Nicks
Moderators: Roguelet, WaveMaster, Jessi P, Lucy
Mating crosses/Nicks
I’ve been studying breeding foe many years. I’ve come up with the top cross. Northern Dancer and Mr. Prospector crosses win a lot of the stakes races. Further study led me to the Phipps’s formula and that is x-factor crosses. The top two are #1 Princequillo and #2 Buckpasser (Phipps bred) on the bottom. Lately the hot nick is any Mr.P sire on top of an AP Indy bottom.
45 yrs in the biz
Re: Mating crosses/Nicks
So then why are there so few great runners coming out of those bloodlines these days that the family still own? Sure they were incredible in the past but they were closed minded with stallion choices and boxed themselves in (IMHO). Taking every mare that is Mr P and crossing to Danzig and vice versa was successful but they showed very little creativity subsequently. Bad knee over bad knee might have been awesome first generation but there's a lot of unraced subsequently. There's something to be said for taking what works and repeating it but there's a reason why, over in Europe you have star mares who are crossed with different stallions every year. Makes perfect sense it would be awesome to breed back to them three generations later through different stallion bloodlines but in this country nobody thinks like that.
Re: Mating crosses/Nicks
I have found that these days so many breeders are quite indifferent to pedigrees. It's the what-is-hot and what-is-not that rules. Stallion farms used to actually have pedigree analysts - that is really not done anymore. All faith is put in those nicking programs and the "commercial" appeal of the cross.
You find very good racemares going to the hot, expensive new sire with no regard to whether that really truly is a good cross or not. In a lot of cases I think there is a much less expensive horse out there for her that is probably a much more effective cross.
You find very good racemares going to the hot, expensive new sire with no regard to whether that really truly is a good cross or not. In a lot of cases I think there is a much less expensive horse out there for her that is probably a much more effective cross.
So Run for the Roses, as fast as you can.....
Re: Mating crosses/Nicks
I'm a contrarian in this regard, looking for something of value in the more obscure pedigrees that still show the've got something. I'm really hoping that some of the sire lines less popular will hang on, then regenerate. I think K one King is an example. I'm hoping his son Monongahela goes to stud when he's done.
Run the race - the one that's really worth winning.