Horse Racing Forum - USA Thoroughbred Races

I think it's fun to analyze stallion choices for specific mares, so I decided to start a thread about it.

One that I was recently thinking about is the recently-retired Street Band.
2016 f. Istan X Street Minstrel X Street Cry. 1/2 to 6 other horses, full to 1; none are stakes performers. Dam is 1/2 to stakes winning Grand Heritage. 2nd dam Minstrels Lassie is a grade 1 winner.



When I was reading about her, I thought "who the heck is Istan?". He has sired 212 foals, and Street Band is his only grade 1 winner.
The best I can do for conformation (I don't think her hip is higher than her withers irl, I think it's the pic):



So, who would you guys breed her to if you have enough money to buy her this November?

My analysis: there is a conventional idea that younger mares are bred to more established stallions, and older mares are bred to younger stallions. Combines the 'known commodity' half with the unknown but potentially more commercially-viable half. I think that there is some wisdom in this, especially if you are breeding to sell.
Also: I think this is a time when nicking gets iffy. Istan has so few foals that all of Street Band's nicking is based on the Gone West line, but Gone West only makes up 25% of her genetic background.

Overall Street Band is young attractive grade 1 winner with fairly good conformation, and she doesn't appear overly large or small. She has a bit of a weak family.
My choices if I'm breeding to sell:
In the sub-$30k category: Honor Code. Honor Code is a D nick, but again I'm not sure that nicking is a huger factor for me here. Street Band hit the races summer of her 2yo year, so her precociousness may fit with Honor Code's later-maturing leanings. He also has a strong family.
$30k-$80k: Constitution. He won't be in this price range for long. I also considered Omaha Beach because I'd like a stallion with a great established family to counter Street Band's lack of family, but I'm trying to stay away from a first or second year sire for a maiden mare.
>$80k: Into Mischief. Boring, but it is an A+ nick and Into Mischiefs sell like hot cakes.
If I'm breeding to race:
<$30k: Catholic Boy or Take Charge Indy. I like Catholic Boy and his ability to run on both surfaces, I'm also a fan of his sire More Than Ready. He's a newer sire, but the foal isn't going to market so w/e. Take Charge Indy is a little bit of an out-there choice, but I love the strength of his family. He has some conformational issues in his front legs, but Street Band is correct enough to take that risk imo.
$30-80k: Tiznow. Love this old man, he's still producing good foals.
>$80k: Curlin or More Than Ready. I love More Than Ready, he's an A nick and he consistently produces great foals that can run on any surface, though they tend to be turf-leaning. Curlin is also a fantastic sire and would result in classic-type foal.

In the real world, I think whomever buys Street Band will end up sending her to Into Mischief, possibly Uncle Mo, Curlin, or Quality Road.

Wow, Istan is just really... yeah... and the mare is just very obscurely bred from a US POV.

The easy answer is Into Mischief if you want to spend that sort of cash. He’s done amazingly with that sireline. She would make it into his book with her credentials. Sell sell sell.

Now, getting more interesting... I would consider Mendelsohhn. I love Scat Daddy over this sireline and I’ve seen both stallions in person. Justify is big and bulky while Mendy is a bit more lean. I’d turn that way and get some of that family over Justify. I think a racey looking foal here would sell well.

For a safer breeding to keep, I’d play safe with Uncle Mo. He crosses well with this sire line and I think would produce a lovey colt or filly to race.

My “I don’t care let’s see what happens” choice would be a wildcard choice of Tourist and hope I get a cool turf sprinter/miler.

I would try Medaglia d' Oro since he does well with Mr. P line mares. I don't mind the doubling of Damascus either. It also flips the doubling of Mr P over N Dancer in her pedigree.

Just checked because I was curious because I would have bet money Street Band was by Street Boss... Boss x Band wouldn’t be the worst if you’re cool with some pretty up close inbreeding.

Here is an interesting read on the subject of Street Band: [https://www.truenicks.com/articles/2359 ... lion-istan]


Maybe Malibu Moon would be worth a try.

My worthless contribution, but fun is fun. Objective: breed to race/breed As I have no horses, she'd be my only mare so the pedigree must set a foundation to work with. Durability is important.

With the Mr P and Northern Dancer blood, I looked for a sire line outcross.

Deep pockets:
Daredevil - private. Turn-To on both sides via Halo. Rated A on Truenicks. Wish he had more starts, but his sire line is strong in that regard. Too bad he's in Turkey, but money is no object so I'd just buy him too.

Shallow pockets:
Holy Boss 4K -- not a sire line outcross and doubles up her Street Cry, but his BM sire pulls that in with Holy Bull, and Holy Grace has a good producing record with Holy Helena also on her resume. Truenicks A, and he ran 24 times.

I looked at Bernardini (Slew line) but Truenicks puked out a D.

That's about as much as my novice brain can deal with. (edit to add that I avoided choosing sires already mentioned). Feedback welcome.

Given the results of the Oaks today, I'm pleased to announce I'm now available for breeding consults.

So now that Midnight Bisou has been retired... who would you breed her to?

CorridorZ75 wrote: ↑Sat Aug 29, 2020 12:30 am I would try Medaglia d' Oro since he does well with Mr. P line mares. I don't mind the doubling of Damascus either. It also flips the doubling of Mr P over N Dancer in her pedigree.

Concur, for a couple of different reasons.

One, MDO does well with Mr P in general and Gone West in particular.

Two, the presence of Sir Ivor and Tom Fool on both sides. Street Minstrel's best foals have a Tom Fool line via either Buckpasser, Tim Tam, or both. Street Band brings in Tom Fool via Tim Tam, and on top of that brings in Sir Ivor via Bluebird. El Prado's dam Lady Capulet is bred on a Sir Ivor - Tom Fool cross, and reinforcing that line has worked well for El Prado and his best stallion sons MDO, Kittens Joy, and Artie Schiller. Rachel Alexandra and Wonder Gadot's dams are bred on this cross. Plum Pretty's dam is linebred to Buckpasser and descends from a mare who is a close genetic relation to Lady Capulet (by Mr. Trouble out of a full sister to Tom Fool's sire Menow).

Three, Street Band herself is very similarly bred to MDO's multiple GSW Valid.

If not MDO, I would go to Candy Ride or Ghostzapper.

Among lower-priced stallions, Munnings is intriguing. He has graded stakes winners who are linebred to Gone West and also out of Street Cry mares, he improves his mares by quite a lot, and he has a nice outcross for his female line.

KatieK101 wrote: ↑Thu Oct 01, 2020 11:48 am So now that Midnight Bisou has been retired... who would you breed her to?

Well, she's a Mr. P line mare through the Fappiano branch. My instinct is to play up the affininty between AP Indy line and Mr. P line and go to Tapit while they still can. It's an A nick and keeps Mr P and Seattle Slew in the 4th and 5th generations on both sides.