M’kay, so I have this mare named [color=red]Childish Dream ( finalfurlong.org/viewhorse.php?horse=3423 ) that has been doing okay in terms of racing for me this year but she’s also kinda inconsistent. My goal is to get her to champion status and then broodify her next year when she’ll be five but I’m not entirely sure if I should or not even though I really want to see her babies running around in a few years. The thing is, her parents are half-siblings and I don’t know if breeding her would be a good idea. I know that if she does become a broodmare, I definitely can’t breed her to any Worth sons lest the resulting foal have five legs and two heads. And if it is okay to breed her, who would she cross well with? She seems to be well rounded as she can pretty much run any distance if she put her mind to it and she has no preference when it comes to tracks though she’s been raced on the turf far more than she has on dirt.
So I guess the questions are should I broodify her next year, keep racing her, or just retire her all the way to pasture? And if she does become a broodmare, who should I breed her to? Suggestions, opinions, and lectures wanted and appreciated!
I would say her inconsistency is based mostly on the fact that half of her race time this year has been in Stakes races-- I would put her in some high-value Allowance races to build her points, and book her as a broody once she’s reached champ status. (As far as deciding on races, my theory is “better to be the head of a chicken than the tail of a cow.” Less expensive, too. )
The laws of genetics say that breeding your mare to a completely unrelated stallion would significantly reduce her foals’ chances of being impacted by any inbreeding (remember Punnett squares?). Then again, I don’t know how genotype/phenotype play out in FF-Land, so this question is probably best left to Shanthi.
If you’re really that concerned about breeding her to a stallion with a strong preference for one surface or distance, ship her home after a couple of races and do side-by-side breezes on dirt and turf to see how her sprint times stack up. If she’s well-rounded, I would really just shoot for the most successful but affordable option (unless money isn’t an object–in which case, do as you please. )
Yeah, I figured that the Stakes was the reason but I guess I couldn’t help myself when I saw she could run like a champ if she put her mind to it, ya know? If she doesn’t do well this time around, I’ll take your advice and enter her in those fun little Allowance races.
So even if Childish Dream if very closely inbred, her foal’s won’t be train-wrecks unless I breed her to a stallion with Worth lines instead of a totally unrelated stallion? Also, what would happen if she was bred to High On Love, who is closely linebred to Highland Rogue? I know it wouldn’t be the best idea, and I’m not gonna try it out, but I was just wondering.
As for the stallion advice, that sounds like the optimum idea. Another question here would be: What stallion would you recommend? I was thinking Strider, Nightfight, Bellagio, or High Chances but I definitely need to go with a stallion in their current price range.
Given that Rogue lines cross well with Worth lines, a Rogue sire should definitely be in the forecast–at least somepoint in the future. That being said, I would avoid any linebred stallions–unless you want to do an experiment to see how it turns out. Who know, the bugger might turn out to be a real monster! (In a good racer sort of way, not in the five-heads sort of way.)
That being said, the stallions you mentioned are all nice, but unproven. That is none of their foals have hit the track, so a rockstar on the track can be a dud in the shed. However, once they start proving themselves you’re going to see their stud fees go up to at least the 20k-30k range, if not more. That being said, I’d look for a stallion with a stellar race record and a style of running that best complements your mare. If your mare liked turf, I’d breed her to a stallion who liked the turf (or jumps) as well.
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