Interesting article on the books for this year's British and Irish first season sires: https://www.racingpost.com/bloodsto...-in-britain-and-ireland-with-187-mares/301878
New sale topper at Goffs as Lot 330 sells for €1.6 million to agent Justin Casse, acting on behalf of US owners the Zayat family (owners of Triple Crown winner American Pharoah)
A long time since I last updated but I couldn’t let the news of the last 24 hours go by without comment. Last night it was announced that “the Iron Horse” Giant’s Causeway had passed away following a brief illness in Kentucky. This morning it was announced that Dansili, himself beaten by Giant’s Causeway in the Sussex Stakes, has been pensioned from stud duty due to declining fertility.
Looking forward to seeing the results of the horses in training sale end of may - Are they really selling Sam spinner and Summerville Boy??
A lot of these sales have closing dates well in advance of the actual sale so they may well be catalogued now but withdrawn come sale time, like half the Ballydoyle draft at the Autumn Horses in Training!
On a slightly different keel Princess, I watched a programme last night, shown on Sunday if truth be told, about the missing Shergar. Didn't learn much from the programme that I didn't already knew other than the fact that Shergar did cover a few mares in his time. What happened to any of his offspring...? Did any go on to make any sort of name for themselves or did they just pass into history like the great Shergar, though hopefully not the same ending...
Sorry red, only just seen your question. To answer he got 35 foals in total, there were no superstars though a small number of black-type horses including the Irish St Leger winner, Authaal. Two of his sons went to Stud but neither produced anything of note.
Hi Princess. If you have a bit of spare time, and of course the inclination, would you please get some news on the year Golden Fleece stood at Coolmore. Mallafets has just posted a new OP on potential greats where offered up the 1982 Derby winner Golden Fleece. It was sad to see that the horse died from what appears to surgical complications when battling cancer in 1984. Did the horse meet with any breeding success from the one season he stood as a sire? All the best.
Hi Princess. Could you explain why AI is not allowed in thoroughbred racing. In show jumping it is allowed and is tightly controlled. The use of AI has many advantages, not least the well being of the stallion, particularly young stallions. If you consider, for example, a 3yo going to stud and covering 100 mares. That must create quite a strain on the leg and back joints which are not fully fused at that stage. With AI they can avoid this. Another advantage is that if you want to put a mare to a stallion the other side of the World, the mare does not have the stress of travel and being away from home. And finally if a stallion dies young, his straws can still be used. Without AI, there can be no more offspring from the deceased stallion Thanks Princess
The main argument as I understand it is that it protects the stallion owner in that he is in control of how many and the quality of mares his horse will cover. There's a fear (probably unfounded) that the straws may end up being traded and stallions owners may lose income. They also want to avoid the scenario of a dead horse's offspring still being produced, I have to say I agree with that one - there's so much Northern Dancer around already, do we really want to keep on, for example, seeing Galileo's running 10 years after he dies? It would prevent the emergence of new lines which the breed so desperately needs. Another argument used against it is that there are not the same pressures as with other competition horses - ie the stallions are often still competing so don't have the time to take a few months off to cover mares, or the mares may be travelling to competitions globally and not be able to get to the same physical area as the stallion. As racehorses are (usually) retired before starting to breed, there are not the same factors at play.
Thanks Princess. The first argument is pretty weak as the stallion owner can be in control (eg only we can use our stallion's straws as we own them). Re the second argument (dead horse). The object of breeding is to produce the perfect racehorse. So if a promising stallion dies young what is the objection to using his straws? There is a limit to how many straws one would keep. If there are two excellent stallions and one lives for 10 years and one for one year, it seems it is OK for the former stallion to keep producing stock for 10 years or more but not for the latter Overall I think the arguments are pretty weak compared to the arguments I put forward but thanks for the feedback Princess and I appreciate those are not necessarily your personal views
Just a quick question for you knowledgable chaps - and chappettes - out there. I know that for jumps racing, the final declarations are 24 hours before, but is there any specific reason why the flat decs are 48 hours? Cheers in advance for any light shed on this.
Where is Princess. Haven't seen her for pages. Hope she hasn't left us If you do look in Princess, I hope you are all keeping well
Apoligies for asking this again but this is probably the correct thread and Princess has popped up again. Do you know if Acupuncture is used on racehorses by stables in the UK? I met recently a German chap who does this on a lot of horses in South Africa and Canada and some in Asia. He said he swears by it, but he would as gets £100 a time I think for it. Non invasive and quick treatment and works quickly according to him and indeed many others who have had it done on their animals.
