Which horse would you breed to?
Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2020 12:18 am
This is obviously a hypothetical question but Coolmore could possibly find themselves in the unique situation of standing 3 triple crown winners at the same farm(if Tiz the law wins the derby and Preakness like many are predicting or thinking he will). That I can remember I don't know if any stud farm has ever stood 3 living American triple crown winners at the same farm at the same time so coolmore could possibly make history there. But IF tiz the law wins the triple crown, which of the three winners do you breed to? For me I'd breed to tiz the law or American Pharoah over justify. I like Tiz the Laws sire constitution and I like his bloodlines. I like the fact that tiz has held up sound through a tough three year old campaign so far and that Barclay Tagg is training him. I like Tiz the Laws conformation and if Tiz the law wins the derby, Preakness and classic one could argue that with a three year old campaign consisting of Florida derby, Belmont, Travers, derby, Preakness and classic wins is damn impressive. That would be 7 gr 1 wins in a single season if the horse can accomplish it and I'm not sure we would ever see another three year old accomplish that.
American Pharoah- I'd send a mare to him next. I love his conformation and he has a lovely temperament. He raced in 9 grade 1 races in his two and three year old season and won 8 of them. He's a proven sire and has thrown winners on turf and dirt on three continents (north American,Europe, and Asia). His babies are durable and have proven they can run. Pharoah himself was a versatile horse and if I recall correctly Pharoah was also sound and retired sound. I know they had a hard time filling his book when he first went to stud and that a lot of deals were cut but I think that had more to do with the fact that coolmore priced his fee wayyy to high than anything.
Justify- I wouldn't breed to him. I just wouldn't. I'm not too impressed with him conformation wise and I feel he has too many soundness issues for me to comfortably send a mare to him. He didn't race at all at two and he only raced six times at three. He won the triple crown but my impression is that he wasn't the soundest racing. It seemed like bob had to keep him patched together with duct tape in between races and I still remember how ouchy/lame justify seemed the morning after his derby win. He won the Belmont and then never raced again. He had to be retired because of a bad ankle(inflammation in his ankle). He seems to wear patches and some heavy shoeing on his front hooves now at stud and that raises concerns in me that justify has some on going soundness issues that he could pass on. I'm also concerned that the breeders arent liking what they see from his foals already on the ground. It seems like coolmore is having to market justify HARD down in Australia in order to get enough breeder interest to make it worth shuttling him which makes me think that he's so far not a hit in Australia and the breeders just aren't liking what they see.
Yes Justify has foals on the ground, but he hasn't yet had a runner hit the track which makes him still unproven. If I had to send a mare to an unproven sire and I could ONLY choose between justify or Tiz the law...I think I'd end up sending a mare to tiz the law over justify anyday
American Pharoah- I'd send a mare to him next. I love his conformation and he has a lovely temperament. He raced in 9 grade 1 races in his two and three year old season and won 8 of them. He's a proven sire and has thrown winners on turf and dirt on three continents (north American,Europe, and Asia). His babies are durable and have proven they can run. Pharoah himself was a versatile horse and if I recall correctly Pharoah was also sound and retired sound. I know they had a hard time filling his book when he first went to stud and that a lot of deals were cut but I think that had more to do with the fact that coolmore priced his fee wayyy to high than anything.
Justify- I wouldn't breed to him. I just wouldn't. I'm not too impressed with him conformation wise and I feel he has too many soundness issues for me to comfortably send a mare to him. He didn't race at all at two and he only raced six times at three. He won the triple crown but my impression is that he wasn't the soundest racing. It seemed like bob had to keep him patched together with duct tape in between races and I still remember how ouchy/lame justify seemed the morning after his derby win. He won the Belmont and then never raced again. He had to be retired because of a bad ankle(inflammation in his ankle). He seems to wear patches and some heavy shoeing on his front hooves now at stud and that raises concerns in me that justify has some on going soundness issues that he could pass on. I'm also concerned that the breeders arent liking what they see from his foals already on the ground. It seems like coolmore is having to market justify HARD down in Australia in order to get enough breeder interest to make it worth shuttling him which makes me think that he's so far not a hit in Australia and the breeders just aren't liking what they see.
Yes Justify has foals on the ground, but he hasn't yet had a runner hit the track which makes him still unproven. If I had to send a mare to an unproven sire and I could ONLY choose between justify or Tiz the law...I think I'd end up sending a mare to tiz the law over justify anyday