To nominate or not to nominate that is the question

[StealingKat]

Tis the time of year when we nominate our stallions to the breeders cup program. Question is : Is it really worth the cost for those of us with regional stallions? I am hemming and hawing and looks like I will this season but I would love to hear feedback from other small time breeders. Is this a justifiable expense?

[KamiBrooks]

I'm totally new at this, but to me the biggest things to consider are:

- Will it get you additional mares? It takes 1 addtional to break even on the nomination (unless your stud fee is less than $1000, then it may be serveral mares). With mare care, you might even be ahead a bit. It could make foals sell for more if the mare owners nominate the foals. So improve your sales stats. If you had a good idea that nomination would draw 10 added mares, then that would be enough right there. So if your stud is like many others (say 4 sons of storm cat all priced similar) in the area, nomination could be a market differentiator.

- How many BC races (0portunity) are in your area? And how competitive are they? I'm in an area where people ship in from KY to NY to race, so competition is strong for the few races written in this area.

- Has your horse thrown anything that even gives you hope of a horse that can compete at that level or does he have something special about his pedigree that makes you really confident that he'd throw competitive horses?

- Do you just really WANT to see his off spring in a BC race? Sometimes, all business logic aside, that can be justification enough. If he's not nominated, it can't happen.

I personally don't nominate, because I don't see a good chance for a positive ROI in my situation.

Kami

[StealingKat]

Thank you so much Kami! Your opinion is great!