Souvenir Copy & High Demand sold to Jadayel

[fastappy]

http://breeding.bloodhorse.com/viewstory.asp?id=40014

That was kinda of a surprise to me. The question is what will Golden Eagle replace them with? I doubt we will see After Market standing in California.

[Sam]

The question is what will Golden Eagle replace them with?

I'm not entirely sure they will... I wouldn't bet against the farm being sold to new interests sometime in the next 2 years. I was kind of surprised Mrs. Mabee didn't sell out when Mr. Mabee died.

[fastappy]

Sorry about the After Market comment. I don't know why I got the Mabees mixed up with the Wygods. Anyhow Golden Eagle is down to one stallion, Salt Lake who will be 19 on the next breeding season (2008).

[Sam]

Anyhow Golden Eagle is down to one stallion, Salt Lake who will be 19 on the next breeding season (2008).

Are they even still racing? I'm trying to remember the last time I saw a Golden Eagle runner. Like I said, I kind of figured when Mr. Mabee died, Mrs. Mabee would disperse... maybe just keep a handful of mares at other farms. I thought she was halfway there when she sold off Avenue of Flags/Half Term and the rest of the stallions they had.

[fastappy]

California has lost a lot of breeding farms in recent years. Golden Eagle is/was one of the most prominent.

I thought the son, Larry Mabee was to take over, but apparently it's not happening.

[Maven]

Didn't Mrs. Mabee spend quite a bit on buying new mares after her husband died? It seemed, at the time, they were going to try and upgrade their stock.

[CA Michael]

Golden Eagle is consigning a number of very well bred yearlings to the Keeneland Sale. The consignor line reads "Phase 1 of a Major Reduction." Clearly the farm's dismal performance as owners in the last 7-8 years has driven Mrs. Mabee to this point. Without a major star like Best Pal or General Challenge to subsidize the enormous Golden Eagle operation its no surprise to see it collapse. I will be sorry to see the end of the Golden Eagle life cycle.

[tbrace]

Sad to see any farm close, but no one could accuse Golden Eagle of being easy to work with, especially after Mr. Mabey died.

Hopefully, someone else takes it over and brings some good new stallions to CA.

[CA Michael]

That would be nice. But its not likely that many new stallions of any import will be coming to CA anytime soon. The number of mares in production has been halved in the last 10 years (from 10,000 to 5,000); fewer owners are retiring their fillies to stud in CA; and the commercial yearling market is disintegrating. Certainly CA needs new sire blood at the upper levels, but its just not an efficient use of capital for anyone concerned with the bottom line. And, perhaps worst of all, our "leadership" is asleep at the wheel, and when it's awake, serves only itself.

[fastappy]

[quote="CA Michael"]That would be nice. But its not likely that many new stallions of any import will be coming to CA anytime soon. The number of mares in production has been halved in the last 10 years (from 10,000 to 5,000); fewer owners are retiring their fillies to stud in CA; and the commercial yearling market is disintegrating. Certainly CA needs new sire blood at the upper levels, but its just not an efficient use of capital for anyone concerned with the bottom line. And, perhaps worst of all, our "leadership" is asleep at the wheel, and when it's awake, serves only itself.[/quote]

It would be hard to argue anything you said here. It pretty much sums up the state of affairs.