FREE-BEE

[Ramona]

A lady gave me a weanling that is now 2. She grew up to have super size and conformation. Worth racing in your opinions?

[springboro]

details please... you've given us NOTHING to work with. Name? Pedigree?

Have you had a race horse before?

[LB]

Is she a Thoroughbred?

[Mood Swings]

Oopsey?....

[Ramona]

That was dumb... . Her name is Smart Talking Lady, by Smart Chip o/o Lady Chattering.

[zinn21]

Ramona, pedigree wise she looks well below average but if you are so inclined, get her broke and breezing. If she shows sufficient talent go on with her. If not cut bait and transition to an appropriate career.

[Ramona]

I agree that the pedigree of this filly isn't fashionable, but then why did some fool part with hundreds of thousands of dollars for Smart Chip? Do you believe his pedigree was weak?

[Hold Your Peace]

I agree that the pedigree of this filly isn't fashionable, but then why did some fool part with hundreds of thousands of dollars for Smart Chip? Do you believe his pedigree was weak?

No, Smart Chip had a pedigree that made you believe he had a chance to be a good racehorse which was why somebody paid $675,000 for him as a yearling.

But your filly isn't Smart Chip.

Your filly is a daughter of Smart Chip, who despite having a pedigree that indicated he had a chance to develop into a good racehorse did NOT. He was a failure on the racetrack (as many well bred expensive horses are) and I think he went to stud in Idaho (and really shouldn't have gone to stud at all).

If a $675,000 yearling can be a failure you can imagine what kind of chances a free weanling (sired by a failure) has at being a good racehorse.

And if she's already two and hasn't even been started in training yet she's way behind the curve on that count too. Unless you were going to half ass it, to send that filly to a good training center and then to the track you're looking at least $15,000 over the next nine or ten months to have her at a racetrack ready for a race. That makes her one expensive free horse if her racing ability proves similar to her sire, her sires offspring, or her dam, or her dams offspring (none of whom had any appreciable ability). That $15,000 just gets her to the track, at the track she'd need to earn at least $30,000 a year just to cover the expense of keeping her in training and sadly very few horses are talented enough to earn $30,000 a year.

[Sock Monkey]

Ramona, only you can decide if you want to invest in trying to race this horse. It really has nothing to do with how much the horse cost or didn't and although her pedigree isn't the best, it's not the worst I've ever seen, either.

I probably wouldn't breed to Smart Chip, but with only one start I'm not sure you can really call him a failure on the track (I'm assuming he hurt himself). The dam line on your filly is weak, but not abysmal. But, horses outrun their pedigrees all the time (and, conversely, the underrun their pedigrees all the time, too).

A lot of people don't start their horses until they are three, so I don't think you are really behind any curve here, either. Although, if you want to run her it's time to get her in training. I don't know what circuit you're running on, but $15k to get her to the races is probably a high estimate - assuming things go smoothly. As is 9 to 10 months.

Now, I'm basing my statements on the assumption that your expectation is for her to be a useful horse at a lower tier track in probably the claiming ranks and are willing/able to pay day rate to a decent trainer. If you're expecting a stakes horse or free training, I'd suggest a reality check.

But, the bottom line is - you'll never know until you try. I've given this advice to someone else on here recently.... Why not get her broke by a riding horse person for 30 to 60 days (no more) and then send her off to the track or a training center to leg up? You won't have a good gauge on her ability until she breezes at least a half, but you should be able to get there within 4 months of her being at the track. If she doesn't work out, you'll still have a broke horse that you can do something else with and you'll at least know.

[Tucumcari]

It's a big financial thing to get into. Somethinaboutlaura had no pedigree and million ollars in earnings later she looks like not a bad investment. You just never know

[Ramona]

Thanks for all the realistic advice, I appreciate it. We have pretty well given up on running at 2. With the only track we have in Washington, other than the bush tracks, horses don't seem to come back at 3. That track has crippled a couple of our horses, before they had a chance. As an eample you may recall a horse called Smarty Deb, who campaigned at EMD getting a go in the BC last year, well she never came back at 3.

This filly will be broke and started at 3, as a project.

[Tucumcari]

She was in training in S Cal though. She just needed some time.