Breeding sheds' Open...Opinions Needed !

[Rokeby Forever]

The mare is 3X Hail To Reason. Aptitude is 2X Buckpasser. Sounds like a match made in heaven!!!

[jagger]

Never Out is a Cure The Blues line mare. Cure the Blues has 18 Graded Stakes winners as a broodmare sire. Of these, 12 are by Norther Dancer line sires. Curiously, none by Storm Cat or sons. None of the 18 are inbred to Mr. P and, as your mare has Mr. P in her pedigree, I would probably avoid an inbreeding to Mr. P, especially as the conduit to Mr. P in your mare's case has no previous success when inbred to Mr. P.

Dehere is a very nice choice, IMO. Let's not forget that he was Broodmare Sire of the Year just a few years back. I have HEARD that he is not stopping his mares with the success that one would hope for which is why he may have done a tour in Japan. Not sure and NONE of this is confirmed, just heresay.

[hpkingjr]

My suggestion for a name, and great analysis John (Jagger) by the way, is: Never Up Never In.

[henthorn]

John, I've been studying your criteria and some stallions. These come to mind in addition to those mentioned. And I do like Holy Bull, Cozzene, Alphabet Soup and Dehere.

Bernstein is by Storm Cat and is already doing well with his South American crops; his Raise a Native comes through Exclusive Native.

Friend's Lake is not yet proven, but he is well-built, talented, and from very good female family. The pedigree is compatible, with linebreeding to Buckpasser and Bold Ruler.

Jump Start is a beauty, and becoming successful as a sire. He doesn't compound the Mr. Prospector as do some others.

I like Albert the Great, and he adds some Ribot linebreeding, balance, athleticism; he has a good one in NoBiz Like Shobiz.

Sky Classic is a good outcross with moderate frame, proven production.

Sons and grandsons of Majestic Prince, Cryptoclearance and Unbridled are less proven, but they distance the Mr. Prospector to older generations--Candy Ride's matchup is intriguing, with the Blushing Groom added for good measure; Eddington is a nice individual.

Of Kentucky outcross sires, I would not recommend Tiznow because of his size.

[tbrace]

Pleasant Tap?

[johnrr88]

Thanks one and all for your comments. There are many ways to go with this mare...but I've decided to send her to Cozzene.here are the reasons: Unlike the other stallions discussed, this may be his last year, the price is now right in my zone, he is still a great sire with 9% stakes winners and he tends to transmit the soundness I want. Further, the Cure the Blues sireline has a strong affinity to Somethingroyal (family 2s i think)...which, nowadays, you typically get to through Storm Cat. Here, Cozzene gives it to me through Sir Gaylord, his half brother...albeit from the underside of his pedigree.

Yes... naturally I thought about Alphabet Soup because he would add Ribot 5x5 to the foal but I stuck with Cozzene because i think his body type is more refined and better suited to this mare.

Pleasant Tap has always been a great pedigree matchup for her but i'm afraid the 2 of them would have created a giant foal. This is the problem with Pleasantly Perfect and the rest of that line too. Same problem, generally, with Holy Bull, I think.

So we'll see what she does with Cozzene. I can probably forget about making a two year old runner, but you never know. Aptitude next year maybe. Thanks!

[hpkingjr]

Thanks so much for posting your decision and the reasoning behind that decision. It really adds to a thread to see the finished product. May the foal be black type. Luck be with you!

[reese]

I love Aptitude, several positive things with him, he has done very well with large mares. At 20K he is a bargain I believe, he has had a potential derby trail horse both years he has had 3 year old crops.
Another plus is they will only breed him to probably at most 80 mares this spring.
If he continues to develop as a sire you will never see him at this fee again.
I also have always liked Dehere, feel he is underated.
Not a big Holy Bull fan, just don't thinks he moves up his mares much.

I agree on Aptitude. He has an outstanding pedigree and race record. He already has stakes placed runners in high profile races in his second year...Steppenwolfer, Great Hunter, Amandatude, etc.

Great Hunters trainer, D. O'Neill described the colt as "a beautiful looking individual, a gorgeous-bodied horse." J Paul Reddam is the owner so the horse had to have commercial auction appeal and can run to boot.

Great Hunter's dam had a decent race record,but was no superstar G-1 winner nor did the dam have a "blue-blood" type pedigree.

[Maven]

Aptitude is not very commercial. Great Hunter was a 30k yearling even after being spotted extremely well in the Keeneland Sept catalogue (mid-700's). He was purchased by the Whetstone's and then bought privately by Reddam after he started.

[dray33]

More Than Ready? Very interesting crosses.

Good luck to you whatever you choose!

[stlouiskid]

Best of luck, seems like a very well thought out plan. If I were you I almost would hope to have a filly, keep building that family.

[reese]

Aptitude is not very commercial. Great Hunter was a 30k yearling even after being spotted extremely well in the Keeneland Sept catalogue (mid-700's). He was purchased by the Whetstone's and then bought privately by Reddam after he started.

Great Hunter won the RB Lewis Stakes today at SA after a third in the BCJ... commercial or not...Aptitude is going to be a good sire and the dam of Great Hunter was no black-type mare.

[geowarrior]

I agree. I liked Great Hunter as a two year old and he didn't have the best trip today, however was by far the best horse in the the Robert B. Lewis (and neither the second nor the third horse gave up) and could still be better at longer distances. I'll be looking more carefully at Aptitude in the future.

[Maven]

Aptitude is not very commercial. Great Hunter was a 30k yearling even after being spotted extremely well in the Keeneland Sept catalogue (mid-700's). He was purchased by the Whetstone's and then bought privately by Reddam after he started.

Great Hunter won the RB Lewis Stakes today at SA after a third in the BCJ... commercial or not...Aptitude is going to be a good sire and the dam of Great Hunter was no black-type mare.

Not to play Fact Patrol, but his dam won over 200k and took home the Gala Lil S. and placed in the G3 Gardenia H. as well as 6 other stakes. I think its safe to say we'd all love a mare like this in our barn and she more than earned blacktype.

[reese]

Aptitude is not very commercial. Great Hunter was a 30k yearling even after being spotted extremely well in the Keeneland Sept catalogue (mid-700's). He was purchased by the Whetstone's and then bought privately by Reddam after he started.

Great Hunter won the RB Lewis Stakes today at SA after a third in the BCJ... commercial or not...Aptitude is going to be a good sire and the dam of Great Hunter was no black-type mare.

Not to play Fact Patrol, but his dam won over 200k and took home the Gala Lil S. and placed in the G3 Gardenia H. as well as 6 other stakes. I think its safe to say we'd all love a mare like this in our barn and she more than earned blacktype.

Edit to read after I posted : I just saw the DRF piece on J Servis splitting with Porter of Fox Hill Farm and did not realize the dam of GH was owned by Fox Hill Farm and trained by John Servis.

You're right...a placing in a G-3 is black-type, yes. Guess I've gotten "jaded" black type to me means G-1/G2 races on major circuits. I never heard of those handicap races Zenith placed in and I don't think they were graded... only the G-3 Gardenia and the Obdeah are. But yes, the dam of Great Hunter was a very good race horse...ITM 15/24 and 200k in the bank.