Mylute wrote: ↑Sat Aug 15, 2020 7:20 pm
I think the biggest asterisk is that he isn't at Shadai and getting Shadai mares, although I honestly think he is among the best stallions acquired by Japan in the last several years (at least going on race record).
Yeah, being at Shadai definitely means he’s up against it. Silver Charm, Charismatic, Cape Blanco, Empire Maker, Johannesburg, I’ll Have Another, Majestic Warrior, Eskendereya, etc. all horses who had strong race records or already were having
decent stallion careers who just haven’t really broken through in Japan, though I’ll admit that some only have a handful of crops on the ground there, but it’s a pretty common pattern for non Shadai imports to get three figure books for the first two or three seasons before a precipitous drop, unless they have a superstar, which it seems like many don’t get.
Is it dumb luck? Maybe. But for
all of them? Is it because they aren’t covering the top half of the best mares in the country, or not covering as many as Shadai stallions are? Probably.
I’d say Darley would be the 2nd best option for an import, they’ve done a good job with Pyro. He’s got himself a nice niche as a consistently good dirt producer, with his smallest book being his first year at stud with 84 mares, but he’s been covering three figure books ever since then. It helps that they also have the broodmare power to support their own stallions.
All that being said, I’m really hoping Declaration of War breaks the mould. He’s teed up to be a potential international supersire across both surfaces and all distances. Hopefully they can keep that momentum going.
There's plenty of resources and forums out there to learn about horse care and racing as a whole, but those people aren't actual fans, they're loons who latched on to him and only him and have no interest in learning in expanding their knowledge of the world he lives in.
