Ask Princess - 2013

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I know of two blokes whose fathers were brothers and their mothers were sisters so they both had identical grandparents. One was an internationally renowned cricketer and the other gained a relatively high position in a global chemical company. They looked almost like twins and the latter cousin was just good at cricket, he said up to about the age of 13. But that was probably more to do with nurture than nature.
Genealogically, after their parents, they were identical but how genetically different would they be? I've not done any biology....had to learn everything first hand.
 
Genetics is complex: horses have 32 pairs of chromosones, with one of each pair inherited from each parent. So for every individual pair of chromosones, you have 4 different possible outcomes (each parent carries 2 but can only pass on one). Multiply all that together (I think it's 32 to the power of 4, but it might be 4 to the power of 32!), and you'll see that being a full-sibling means next to nothing! The odds of two being genetically identical are huge!


Some other bloodstock news: BALANCE (G1 winning half-sister to Zenyatta) and SWISS LAKE (Listed winner, produced 3 stakes winners) have been booked to Frankel.
 
PNkt said:
Sad to report that Derby winner GENEROUS has died at the age of 25.
Click to expand...

Very sad to hear that, his Derby and King George processions will live long in the memory. I also saw him win the Dewhurst at 50/1 which makes me feel old <yikes>. His name lives on via his offspring and I see he is starting to have a few winners in the NH sphere.

RIP Generous <rose>
 
Generous spent his last few years at stud as a National Hunt stallion, so you'll certainly see most of his runners from here on in over obstacles.
 
Sorry, missed this and started a new thread that had been added to. As my thread was time-stamped after your announcement Princess I've copied all comments to create a new combined thread and removed mine.
 
As the start of the new breeding season is only a few weeks away, I thought I'd take the opportunity to list the new recruits to the European stallion ranks for 2013:

ARCTIC COSMOS - €1,500 at The Old Road Stud, Co Wexford
BATED BREATH - £8,000 at Banstead Manor Stud, Newmarket
BORN TO SEA - €10,000 at Rathasker Stud, Co Kildare
BURMA GOLD - €500 at Gestut Ammerland
CASAMENTO - €5,000 at Kildangan Stud, Co Kildare (Darley Ireland)
CASPAR NETSCHER - €7,500 at Morristown Lattin Stud, Co Kildare
DEBUSSY - £3,500 at Llety Stud, Carmarthenshire
DELEGATOR - £5,000 at Overbury Stud, Gloucestershire
DONCASTER ROVER - £2,000 at Hedgeholme Stud, Co Durham
DRAGON PULSE - €6.000 at The Irish National Stud, Co Kildare
ELZAAM - €4,000 at Ballyhane Stud, Co Carlow
EXCELEBRATION - €22,500 at Coolmore Stud, Co Tipperary
FAMOUS NAME - €4,000 at The Irish National Stud, Co Kildare
FOXWEDGE - £7,500 at Whitsbury Manor Stud, Hampshire
FRANKEL - £125,000 at Banstead Manor Stud, Newmarket
HARBOUR WATCH - £7,500 at Tweenhills Stud, Gloucestershire
HELMET - €10,000 at Kildangan Stud, Co Kildare
JUKEBOX JURY - €5,500 at Gestut Etzean, Germany
MAYSON - £8,000 at Cheveley Park Stud, Newmarket
NATHANIEL - £20,000 at Newsells Park Stud, Hertfordshire
NO RISK AT ALL - €2,500 at Haras de la Reboursiere et Montaigu, France
PHENOMENA - price on application at Vauterhill Stud, Devon
POWER - €12,500 at Coolmore Stud, Co Tipperary
RAJSAMAN - €4,000 at Haras de la Cauviniere, France
REQUINTO - €5,000 at Coolmore Stud, Co Tipperary
RIO DE LA PLATA - €7,000 at Haras du Logis, France
SAYIF - £3,000 at Llety Stud, Carmarthenshire
SEPOY - £15,000 at Dalham Hall Stud, Newmarket
SIR PRANCEALOT - €6,000 at Tally-Ho Stud, Co Westmeath
SO YOU THINK - €17,500 at Coolmore Stud, Co Tipperary
TAI CHI - €3,500 at Gestut Ohlerweiherhof, Germany
TIN HORSE - €4,000 at Haras de Grandcamp, France
YORGUNNABELUCKY - £1,750 at Throckmorton Court Stud, Worcestershire
 
If anyone is in the vacinity of Newmarket on 7th February, the annual stallion parade will take place at Tattersalls at 10am, before the sale gets underway at 10.30am.

Stallions confirmed for this year are:

Archipenko
Aussie Rules
Cockney Rebel
Dick Turpin
Equiano
Mayson
Foxwedge
Sixties Icon
Hellvelyn
Mawatheeq
Mount Nelson
Notnowcato
Pastoral Pursuits
 
Some more lists for you:

Stallions with first crop runners in 2013 (number of foals shown where known):

ADMIRALOFTHEFLEET 4 foals
AQLAAM 45 foals
ARCHIPENKO 42 foals
ART CONNOISSEUR 33 foals
ARTISTE ROYAL in France
BALKO in France
BUSHRANGER 133 foals
CAPTAIN GERRARD 76 foals
CHAMPS ELYSEES 78 foals
CREACHADOIR in France
DANDY MAN 56 foals
DAVORIN 16 foals
DOCTOR DINO in France
DUNKERQUE in France
FASTNET ROCK 54 foals
INTENSE FOCUS 91 foals
KAMSIN in Germany
KANDAHAR RUN in Germany
KANDIDATE in France
LE HAVRE in France
MAJOR CADEAUX 34 foals
MASTERCRAFTSMAN 119 foals
MYBOYCHARLIE 47 foals
NAAQOOS in France
PALACE EPISODE in France
SEA THE STARS 108 foals
SOLDIER OF FORTUNE in France
VIRTUAL 51 foals
WINKER WATSON 19 foals
YEATS 104 foals
 
Stallions with first crop foals in 2013:


CANFORD CLIFFS
DICK TURPIN
DRAGON DANCER
DREAM AHEAD
EASTERN ANTHEM
ELUSIVE PIMPERNEL
FROZEN FIRE
FROZEN POWER
GEORDIELAND
LILBOURNE LAD
LOVELACE
MASTEROFTHEHORSE
MONITOR CLOSELY
NATIVE RULER
PALAVICINI
POET'S VOICE
POUR MOI
PRIME DEFENDER
RODERIC O'CONNOR
TALE OF TWO CITIES
WATAR
WIENER WALZER
WOOTTON BASSETT
ZOFFANY
 
Princess this may not be strictly your area of expertise but I was wondering about the racing silks the jockeys wear. For example Barry Geraghty's possible rides for Nicky Henderson on Saturday's Cheltenham card as follows:

12.10 Rolling Star (Michael Buckley)
1.50 Sprinter Sacre (Caroline Mould)
2.25 Bobs Worth (Not Afraid Partnership)
3.00 One of several but maybe Chaterbox (Not Afraid Partnership)
3.35 Oscar Whiskey (Dai Walters)
4.10 Choice of 2 - maybe First In The Queue (Liam Breslin)

I assume the owners are responsible for providing the racing silks, as they are the owners colours. I also think most of the big jockeys have a valet or some such, who makes sure all the silks are ready and available before racing, but what about the lesser-knowns? How many sets of silks would, say, Michael Buckley or Graham Wylie have? (I assume JP McManus buys them buy the hundred <laugh> as do Godolphin / Ballydoyle (in all their various guises), Hamdan, Abdullah etc). It's a side of racing I've never thought about, but it all needs arranging and sorting out and I was wondering who has the primary accountability? The yard (i.e is it part of the training fee) or is it down to the owners to make sure the silks are available?

Many thanks in advance Princess or anyone else who has any knowledge of this <ok>
 
The yard where the horse is trained will have the set of silks. When the horse box arrives at the racecourse the travelling lad will take the silks to the weighing room and hand them over to the valet who will lay them out for the jockey at the right time.

Yes, the big owners will have several sets dotted amongst their various trainers. I'm not entirely sure how it works with the distinguishing caps when an owner has several runners in the same race, but suspect that again each yard will have the different cap options to go with the main jersey.

A small owner may well only have 1 or 2 sets that get passed between trainers, but the responsibility to have them at the racecourse on the day is with the trainer.
 
Many thanks Princess <ok> imagine if they forgot the silks!! I guess that happens sometimes, hence the "late change in silks" which sometimes occur.
 
First foal pictures appearing all over Twitter!

Below is the second known foal by Dick Turpin to have arrived.

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Out of the mare SPRING CLEAN, her breeder has already reserved the name "BLACK BESS" for her. He did admit that, had the mare produced a colt he was considering the name "BRUCE SPRING CLEAN"!
 
Following up on my list of First Season Sires above, I thought I'd follow up with a breakdown of the sire lines for some of the new boys that is taken from the latest edition of Owner/Breeder Magazine (not my own work!)

You'll be unsurprised to hear that most of the stallions retiring to stud in 2013 are descended from the Northern Dancer bloodline:

HARBOUR WATCH descends from TRY MY BEST (through Waajib, Royal Applause and Acclamation)

DRAGON PULSE descends from NUREYEV (through Polar Falcon, Pivotal and Kyllachy)

CASAMENTO descends from STORM BIRD (through Storm Cat, Giant's Causeway and Shamardal)

FRANKEL and NATHANIEL both descend from SADLER'S WELLS (through Galileo) as does SO YOU THINK (through HIGH CHAPARRAL)

RAJSAMAN descends from LYPHARD (through Bellypha, Mendez and Linamix)


The DANZIG line proves the most dominant with 12 new sires to its name:

DONCASTER ROVER (through War Chant)
BATED BREATH, FAMOUS NAME, DELEGATOR and REQUINTO (through Danehill and Dansili)
ELZAAM (through Danehill and Redoute's Choice)
FOXWEDGE (through Danehill and Fastnet Rock)
EXCELEBRATION and HELMET (through Danehill and Exceed and Excel)
SAYIF (through Green Desert and Kheleyf)
BORN TO SEA and MAYSON (through Green Desert and Invincible Spirit)
POWER (through Green Desert and Oasis Dream)

The non-Northern Dancer line stallions to go to stud are:

TIN HORSE descends from RIVERMAN (through Bahri and Sakhee)
DEBUSSY descends from SHARPEN UP (through Diesis)
RIO DE LA PLATA descends from RED GOD (through Blushing Groom and Rahy)
NO RISK AT ALL descends from GREY SOVEREIGN (through Zeddaan, Kalamoun, Highest Honor, Take Risks and My Risk)

The MR PROSPECTOR line is responisble for:

SEPOY (through Gone West and Elusive Quality)
STEELE TANGO (through Kingmambo and Okawango)
CASPAR NETSCHER (through Machiavellian, Medicean and Dutch Art)
SIR PRANCEALOT (through Gulch, Nayef, Tamayuz)
 
I have a question about hurdles. Not any particular race but the actual obstacles themselves. There seems to be fairly large differences in construction between countries. The UK they look a bit like they've been knocked up in someone's shed and, as often happens in a race, can be kicked over quite easily. In Ireland they seem to be more solidly built and appear to me to have a crossbar type construction, or plastic boarding around 18 inches off the ground. Watching the French action from Pau at the weekend I noticed theirs were similar to the Irish version. Just wondered why there is this difference. Are there regulations in the different countries as to how a hurdle must be constructed or is it just that the UK hurdle constructors are just a bit ham fisted compared to their Irish and French counterparts. Thanks
 
I'm not 100% sure on the hurdles questions to be honest. To my knowledge there are two main types of hurdles - fixed and brush. I beleive they use a type of brush hurdle in France, though I'm not sure about Ireland. I do know that you can find both types in the UK, with the brush hurdles being used at Haydock, if not other courses too.

The fixed are the most common type you will see in the UK, and while they do look a bit flimsy, they have to be designed to collapse if struck for the safety of the horse and rider.

I did some searching and found this article from 2001:



"Arguably the most fundamental change to National Hunt racing in living memory is quietly taking place. Yet, although it cannot fail to have a significant impact on the sport, its import has slipped under the radar.

'Brush hurdles' are the forgotten novelty. Their introduction means that, discounting Cheltenham's eventing-style cross-country course as a one-off, horses can now encounter three different obstacles during their British jump-racing careers. We're all familiar with fences and hurdles. Brush hurdles are something in between.

The conventional British version is based on sheep hurdles and has been in use, though often adapted, for more than 70 years. It is portable, rather than fixed like fences.

The new brush hurdles are similar to those found in France.

They look like mini-fences and are built around a steel frame. Unlike our traditional hurdle that can be flicked out of the way or even flattened, they are solid obstacles. The theory is they are much more educative for a young horse, helping him prepare mentally and physically for steeplechasing.

A horse must respect the brush hurdle in the same way he must a fence, ensuring he doesn't pick up any lazy habits that may not hinder him over traditional hurdles but could cause him to fall over fences.

The new obstacle also encourages horses to stand off when jumping and make the right physical shape they would need to clear a proper fence.

Sue Smith, the Yorkshire trainer married to famous show-jumper Harvey, is a fan.

"They teach a horse to jump which helps them when they go on to be chasers," she said.

"You also don't get the same level of injuries - skinned legs, badly cut shins, even fractures - that you do with the traditional hurdles. Even when they whack the brush ones, horses aren't hurting themselves."

Smith and fellow Yorkshire handler Ferdy Murphy led the campaign for brush hurdles in Britain - or, rather, to widen their usage. It's not an entirely new concept.

The difference is the wide - albeit not unanimous - welcome it's received.

It's said Hurst Park, which closed in 1962, used brush hurdles. More recently, they were intended for use in allweather jump racing before that discipline was phased out, but Nottinghamshire course, Southwell soon decided to retain them for its turf track. Sister course, Wolverhampton, later employed them, too.

That was six years ago. But, following a joint review of National Hunt racing by the British Horseracing Board (BHB) and National Trainers' Federation in 1999, calls for a 'safer' hurdle were answered with an experiment this summer using the brush design at Worcester. It was a great success.

From 675 runners in hurdle races from May to September, there were just five fallers. During the same period when traditional hurdles were in use the previous year, there were 21 fallers from 585 runners.

The nationwide average of hurdle fallers during that period in 2001 was 1.8 per cent. At Worcester, it was just 0.74 per cent.

Now the brush hurdle's popularityhas spread to Grade One courses. At the start of the current jumps season, Haydock introduced a sevenrace series using them, though still conducting most of its hurdle races over the traditional obstacles.

Aintree also voiced its intention to introduce the new hurdle, perhaps eventually as sole fare.

This heralds three-tier British jump racing and a potential headache for the BHB's race-planners.

Smith says the traditional hurdle should be thrown out entirely but this is not a popular view.

All sections of the industry stress that, the traditional hurdle having been modified to reduce the risk of injury, the brush should not be deemed 'better' but a different type of obstacle.

If the intention of the brush hurdle is to mould future chasers, it should be noted only 37 per cent of horses running in hurdle races go on to become chasers.

The rest - Champion hurdler Istabraq would be a famous example - restrict their career to the smaller obstacles. Would we want the Champion Hurdle staged over mini-fences?

Some trainers even disagree with Smith that the brush hurdle is a better preparation for chasing than the traditional style.

Others, having viewed the Worcester experiment, claim horses still flick through the top of them and question whether the aim of better jumping is actually being met.

It's also suggested the brush hurdle, while ideal for a flat track like Aintree, would not be practical for an undulating one like Cheltenham.

The cost of buying and maintaining both hurdles is too prohibitive for most tracks or else logistics dictate they cannot co-exist, prompting a straight choice. This can only reduce opportunities for traditional hurdlers.

Racing's chiefs, who have allowed the brush hurdle's popularity to grow naturally, acknowledge we're in the midst of huge constitutional change. Watch closely - a new chapter in jump racing has begun."​
 
Some more bloodstock news:

G1 winner DAR RE MI has been confirmed as booked to Frankel for 2013.

It has also been confirmed that new recruits BATED BREATH, NATHANIEL and MAYSON were all fully booked for their first seasons before Christmas. They have not confirmed that Frankel is fully booked, but it is pretty certain that the horse will have been massively oversubscribed.
 
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