Very sad. I did read shortly after the birth that they said the mare and foal had been admitted to a veterinary hospital "as a precaution", which suggests they were concerned about something. It's been said before, but good race area often seem to have problems getting in foal/staying in foal/producing viable foals.
Nothing to do with the subject matter on your thread, Princess, but thought you might enjoy small comment I made on Thursday DT re. Claire Dyson. They are obviously very caring people at her stable, and I wish Claire every success in her career as a trainer.
An update on First Season Sires (see separate thread for details of individual sires): HELMET - 3 winners from 4 runs SIR PRANCEALOT - 3 winners from 23 runs DRAGON PULSE - 2 winners from 6 runs POWER 1 winner from 1 run FOXWEDGE - 1 winner from 6 runs Excelebration also got off the mark over the weekend in France, but this does not show up in the RP stats as they only look at GB/IRE winners.
Frankel's as yet unraced three year old brother PROCONSUL has been given an entry in the 1m2f Maiden at Chantilly this Friday. The race will be run at 12.45pm GMT (1.45pm local).
This seems to be one for your thread Princess: http://www.sportinglife.com/racing/...ve-settler-for-expanded-hugo-palmer-operation There seems to be some sort of computer-based assessment these days which tells connections whether they should aim their horse at the Derby (and I suppose other races too). What a boring, sterile world we are faced with if such decisions are made based on computer predictions and data analysis. Whatever happened to "living the dream"????
Jim Bolger is heavily involved in Equinome, or at least he was. I believe he tests all of his horses.
The first Frankel 2yo entry has been made - CUNCO (out of Chrysanthemum) has been entered at Newbury this Friday by John Gosden. Follow my dedicated Frankel's First Runners thread to keep up to date.
Flèche D'Or, dam of Golden Horn, has been scanned in foal to Galileo. Sadly she lost her Shamardal foal to septecemia. Racing Post reports that an Acclamation 2yo half-sister to Golden Horn, named Cercle D'Or, will be sent to John Gosden in the coming weeks.
A Frankel filly bred on the same lines as CUNCO topped the Arqana Breeze Up Sale today, selling to Al Shaqab Racing for €800,000. The filly, out of Listed winner ROSE BONHEUR, was described by her buyers as "a queen" and the best filly seen at the breeze up sales this year.
At what point might Juddmonte re-evaluate Frankel's cover fee Princess? Will it take a 2YO Group 1 win to force his price up?
I wouldn't expect a change for next season unless he got a series of amazing results. New Approach had his fee more than doubled (from £22,500 to £50,000) on the back of his first crop success. On the other hand, Sea The Star's fee didn't move from its starting point of €85,000 until after his first three year olds had run, when it was raised to €125,000. A couple of group winning 2yos could push his fee up a bit, but Juddmonte tend to be quite conservative in terms of changing fees. Oasis Dream only saw a modest increase in his fee for his 5th and 6th seasons at stud, before it was almost doubled in his 7th season. Dansili never stood for more than £12,500 until his 7th season when he was put up to £30,000.
Darley have revealed that GOLDEN HORN has so far got 93 out of 100 mares tested in foal. The covering season is still going and he has a total of 150 mares booked to him this year. It takes around 15 days after covering before a pregnancy can be detected via ultrasound and most stud farms will scan again at around 25 days to ensure the embryo has not been reabsorbed. A mare will be considered officially in foal if she has a positive scan 40 days after covering. The article is not clear as to whether the mares confirmed as in foal are those that have passed the 40 day stage. Article here