Not for an unproven sire. Sadler's Wells reportedly hit about £250k at his peak, and Galileo is alleged to be around the £175k mark at the moment. The most expensive stallion to retire in recent years was Dubai Millennium in 2001. He was £100,000 and for that the Sheikh also threw in free transport from anywhere in the globe for the mare, free board and lodging for the mare at Dalham Hall Stud (worth about £1000-£1500 per month) and free first class travel to Dubai with 5 star hotel accomodation to watch the Dubai World Cup that year.
I was forgetting that the £250k for Saddlers Wells was at his peak, having proved himself. I see that in 1995 he was IRG 100k and it took 5 years to get to IRG 150k before going private.
I never heard what Montjeu's "Private" fee was actually worth. I do know that he suffered from libido problems, hence why he covered smaller books than his stud mate Galileo. 2008 Galileo 209; Montjeu 100 2009 Galileo 193; Montjeu 120 2010 Galileo 177; Montjeu 118 2011 Galileo 214; Montjeu 92
A question for you PN and Ron... After watching the Equestrian riders in the Dressage is the route of the skills they have to perform given to them by the Olympic committee or something that is set in stone that they have to do...? I was fascinated when the horse's did that 2 step thing then the 1 step thing, just brilliant to watch. I would imagine that the training of the horses must be over years to get them to that standard so its very impressive when you see them perform like that... Looks a very hard skill to do to get the horse to change feet and skills so quickly... Cheers...
Red, the tests (as they are called) are set by the FEI (Federation Equestre Internationale), the governing body for international equestrian events. There are many different tests for each of the different international levels, which can be found here. Dressage takes years of training for both horse and rider. Those that do not understand it think that the rider sits there and does nothing, which couldn't be further from thr truth! If it is done right it should look like the rider does nothing, it's kind of the point! For two of the three levels that are ridden at the Olympics (Grand Prix and Grand Prix Special) every rider must ride an identical test. The final round, later today, is the Freestyle to music (or Kur) where the rider is given a list of moves that must be demonstrated but in no particular order. The rider also has to arrange music to suit their test, with different tempos to match the different paces. I think the moves that you are referring to are the "flying changes" which is a move ridden in canter. When a horse canters, if you watch, one front leg lands slightly in front of the other - this is the leading leg. When a horse canters around a bend or in a circle, the leading leg is on the inside, helping to keep the horse balanced. When a horse canters with the leading leg on the outside of a bend it is described as "counter canter". The "flying change" is where the horse is asked to change its leading leg without breaking stride. A regular rider would usually just take the horse back to trot before asking the horse to canter again. When done right it should look like the horse is skipping. Other frequently seen moves are: half-pass (the horse travels forwards and sideways at the same time, crossing his hind legs. Ridden in either trot or canter) Passage (a very slow trot with a high knee action) Piaffe (trotting on the spot) Pirouettes (the horse turns a half or full circle with his hind legs remaining in more or less the same spot) The moves for today's Freestyle can be found here Hope that explains some of it!
More than explains it PN... Thanks... Its just beautiful to watch and the switching of the legs from whichever skill they pass through is so elegant and graceful that they really are the ballerina's of the horse world... Many thanks, at least i know i bit more and have some idea as what to look out for now...
Not a problem. The start list for today is here, with the first rider about to enter the ring. The GB riders will not go until 3.20 (Laura), 3.30 (Carl) and 3.50 (Charlotte) as they are riding in reverse order following Tuesday's team final.
As we're getting into the swing of yearling sales season, I thought I'd compile some links to the different threads so that they are all in one place: Arqana (France) 18-21 August Doncaster 29-30 August Keeneland (USA) 10-21 September Goffs Orby 3-4 October Tattersalls October Book One 9-11 October Also, Sea the Stars first crop update thread
Princess, in the Horse Racing Forum Index there is an index to horse sales/stallion parades but it isn't up to date. Sorry about that. If you would be good enough to maintain an index I'll change the Forum index to refer to your index.
Princess, after a few beers down my local today we go talking about Frankel, as you do, and one of the questions was how many times would cover in his first year... Now you dont have to be accuarte down to the precise number but there is a few beers on this as to has predicted the closest... If its a answer that you cant give a definte answer on them its getting pinned up on the board until maybe next year to see who was right... Cant give out any of the guesses but one lad has said it wont be any lower than 1,000... Looks like Frankel would be a busy lad if he had his way... Thanks in advance...
Red gulch if he is only doing a European covering he will cover anything between 80-120 . Princess am I right in saying it will be next year before we see rvw sell or will they be 2yo racing next year ?
PN I was interested that you could give the 2012 produce of a mare from the Royal Stud. Have you got their statistics already?
Bustino, give me the mare's name and I'll see what I can find out. Red - are you talking the physical act of covering, or the number of mares? Mare wise Juddmonte are very restrictive. None of their stallions cover more than 150 per year, plus a max of 20 or so to southern hemisphere time (Juddmonte do not shuttle their stallions). Compare this to the Coolmore stallions who routinely cover 200+. The act of covering itself depends on the stallion's fertility. On average a stallion will need around 1.5 coverings per mare (some will get in foal on the first attempt, others will need several tries), so a stallion covering 100 mares could expect to physically cover around 150 times. Definitely nowhere near 1000! It just ain't physically possible in the 5 month long breeding season. Mick - Rip Van Winkle's first crop are foals this year, so we might see a small number selling at the end of the year, but most well sell next year as yearlings. Therefore it will be 2014 before we see his 2yos on the track.
pN Just 4 as I thought that nice Mr Grimwade had sent you a stud card................ Fairy Godmother Phantom Gold Golden Stream Fictitious Cheers
GGW, it was ZAFONIC. He broke his neck when trying to jump out of his paddock in Australia. Juddmonte have not shuttled any of their stallions since. His demise, however, was the making of his brother ZAMINDAR. On Zafonic's death, Zamindar was brought back to the UK from his place at stud in Florida where he has gone on to prove himself to be a sire of some great fillies including ZARKAVA, DARJINA, TIMEPIECE, etc. I've often said, if I had the money, he is the stallion I would use as I think he is underpriced at £10,000. The only reason for his low fee is because he has not managed to sire a top class colt, but his daughters have, to me, more than made up for that fact. Bustino, I will look into those for you.
Fairy Godmother - colt by Dubawi Phantom Gold - can't find a progeny record but she was covered by FASTNET ROCK in 2011, so I presume she was barren/slipped Golden Stream - filly by Dansili Fictitious - colt by Galileo This is a really useful website for checking the produce of mares. It is actually a site to check whether or not a horse has been registered with Breeders' Cup, but it links in to the major European and US stud books so is a font of great information. You have to be precise with the information you put in - the year of foaling and you have to spell the mare's name correctly and in full. If the site tells you it can't find a foal out of the mare you are looking for, odds are she did not have one that year.
Thanks again Princess... That all i needed... Ive lost my bit of the bet as i said about 250, but its a lot closer than the 1,000 that one of my learned friends thought...
