Durability Index
Moderators: Roguelet, WaveMaster, madelyn
bdw, how is a mutual exchange of opinions a win /loose situation? I think you both contributed some excellent information and thoughts, but we all took part in stealing an important thread. There has to be a good method knowing which stallions throw unsound horses and the nature of that unsoundness. What is the big deal about a 1:33.11 compared to a 1:33.20. Maybe one had a tail wind. They are both very fast, one brokedown, the other didn't. One was HOY but only ran when everything was just right, the other faced just about everything in his generation (just guessing)
I understand & agree somewhat with what soundfast is saying in that based on rag #s Congaree was just as fast as Ghostzapper with them both earning a career best -3 which is as low as I have seen but while Congaree was a super racehorse most people including myself dont think of Congaree being as brilliant as Ghostzapper. I think that word "brilliant" sells more hype & keeps peoples sales and racing dreams going more than any other word. Say Flordia Sandy was a nice "hard knocking" type which turns more away than not even though he was fast enough to earn a 0 rag something I've never seen an Unbridled Song come close to is why I never understood the prolonged hype & commerical success on them when they are consistanly a cut below the best. On Ghostapper from a pedigree standpoint you can knock Awesome Again before you can knock his dam with him being a half to City Zip (who I remember being very bad upfront even aftfer surguries i believe) who is a very solid sire of racehorses who thows speed and a bit soundness as well even with his conformation. We all know stallion success most often times reflects on his oppurtunity from the get go but somtimes you can still tell a horriable stallion such as a Budda or a great sire such as a Distorted Humor despite their starting oppurtunities. My simple advice in breeding is put just as much depth if not more in your process of selecting your mares as you do your stallions & you will be much better off. I think most people would disagree but I personally think its easier to breed commerical than it is to race & it can actually be something you can make money at which it what I think is effecting the soundness of thoroughbreds more than anything but untill you cange the mindsets of buyers nothing will dramaticaly change. I just really think the sales business needs to become closer connected to the racing business instead of them being two seperate games as they are.
Many commercial breeders do not seem to feel responsible to the horses or the people who will race them. They can fail to produce horses that run good and just make them look good and take a smaller risk for a shorter time than those who breed to race. Do most commercial breeders know or care what happens to the horses they breed except to check for stakes winners that might put more $ in their pockets? Most do not seem concerned with soundness which is going to be their downfall. A breed to race person usually chooses mates more carefully and if intelligent takes more care to see that horses get everything they need not just to look good but become successful athletes. Commercial breeders have lost money sometimes and with the economy not doing as well some people cannot afford the losses they sustain buying commercial bred horses and so are spending less or dropping out and some who are disillusioned might not come back. Some people have begun to realize that the high stud fee stallions and high priced offspring are not worth it and they are better off with lower priced offspring of stallions who sire sounder horses. I do not know about surguries but City Zip had 11 starts at 2 and 12 at 3 which makes him seem to be a better risk than his half brother especially since his stud fee is $15K. Congaree was runner up for HOY in 2004. Cant commercial breeders at least breed to sound horses or those who sire sire sound horses so horses and jockeys will not suffer? Some stallions are by unsound horses out of mares by unsound horses like Half Ours,Jump Start,Oratory,Bluegrass Cat,etc who have all had fractures. They do not even have enough sense not to double up on unsoundness. Storm Cat, A P Indy(swaybacked which is according to what I read a symptom of fragile bone),Unbridled's Song,etc are crossed with each other. What person decides what is commercial and what is not? What ever happened to people taking pride in their breeding and caring about producing quality animals who would be useful and sound for many long years? Adena Springs belongs to Stronach who is in charge of Magna Entertainment which may soon be bankrupt. He is not the most astute businessman and if he likes horses who break their legs better than those that stay sound maybe he should stop breeding horses. Nobody will ever convince me that Ghostzapper was a better horse. I checked the Thoroughbred Times stallion directory and Ghostzapper's time was 1:33.29. His best rag was at 6.5f while Congaree's was at 8f.