Stallion News

[Sparrow Castle]

Spendthrift Farm FB
Multiple Grade 2 winner Race Day has arrived to the farm and is now available for inspection. 1-3pm during the week.

Tapit / Rebalite, by More Than Ready
2011, GR/RO - Entered Stud: 2016
Fee: $7,000 S&N

[Horsebagger]

I like the pedigree. He's accomplished enough to like the talent level.

What I don't like is his lack of speed. I don't like deep closers as sires. I think this alone would keep me from breeding to him until such time as he proves me wrong and he's a hit at stud.

-Impeccable pedigree
-Faced top class horses throughout his career
-$2.5 MM in earnings
-"lack of speed" is all about perspective. He won twice as a 2yo, including his debut at 7f. He won an allowance race at 6.5 furlongs as a 3yo, and multiple times at 1 mile, defeating Private Zone twice amongst others. I wouldn't let his come from the clouds running style detract from the position that he actually has a tremendous turn of foot on dirt. To me, that's speed.

$40,000 is the bargain of bargains, imo. Until proven it's not, of course.

[Flanders]

I like the pedigree. He's accomplished enough to like the talent level.

What I don't like is his lack of speed. I don't like deep closers as sires. I think this alone would keep me from breeding to him until such time as he proves me wrong and he's a hit at stud.

-Impeccable pedigree
-Faced top class horses throughout his career
-$2.5 MM in earnings
-"lack of speed" is all about perspective. He won twice as a 2yo, including his debut at 7f. He won an allowance race at 6.5 furlongs as a 3yo, and multiple times at 1 mile, defeating Private Zone twice amongst others. I wouldn't let his come from the clouds running style detract from the position that he actually has a tremendous turn of foot on dirt. To me, that's speed.

$40,000 is the bargain of bargains, imo. Until proven it's not, of course.

Didn't he win the Remsen when running on the pace? Not setting it, but I remember him being way further up in the field than was his normal, in one race.

[dustino140]

I like the pedigree. He's accomplished enough to like the talent level.

What I don't like is his lack of speed. I don't like deep closers as sires. I think this alone would keep me from breeding to him until such time as he proves me wrong and he's a hit at stud.

-Impeccable pedigree
-Faced top class horses throughout his career
-$2.5 MM in earnings
-"lack of speed" is all about perspective. He won twice as a 2yo, including his debut at 7f. He won an allowance race at 6.5 furlongs as a 3yo, and multiple times at 1 mile, defeating Private Zone twice amongst others. I wouldn't let his come from the clouds running style detract from the position that he actually has a tremendous turn of foot on dirt. To me, that's speed.

$40,000 is the bargain of bargains, imo. Until proven it's not, of course.

Didn't he win the Remsen when running on the pace? Not setting it, but I remember him being way further up in the field than was his normal, in one race.

Yes, but not really. He was closer, but he wasn't running any faster. The 25.84/52.74/1:17.56 pace that day was a complete disgrace to first-world dirt racing. A :26 4/5 second quarter...I can only assume each horse was carrying a linebacker.

[halo]

I like the pedigree. He's accomplished enough to like the talent level.

What I don't like is his lack of speed. I don't like deep closers as sires. I think this alone would keep me from breeding to him until such time as he proves me wrong and he's a hit at stud.

-Impeccable pedigree
-Faced top class horses throughout his career
-$2.5 MM in earnings
-"lack of speed" is all about perspective. He won twice as a 2yo, including his debut at 7f. He won an allowance race at 6.5 furlongs as a 3yo, and multiple times at 1 mile, defeating Private Zone twice amongst others. I wouldn't let his come from the clouds running style detract from the position that he actually has a tremendous turn of foot on dirt. To me, that's speed.

$40,000 is the bargain of bargains, imo. Until proven it's not, of course.

Totally agree. Lack of speed is a horse like Commissioner.

[Admin]

I like the pedigree. He's accomplished enough to like the talent level.

What I don't like is his lack of speed. I don't like deep closers as sires. I think this alone would keep me from breeding to him until such time as he proves me wrong and he's a hit at stud.

-Impeccable pedigree
-Faced top class horses throughout his career
-$2.5 MM in earnings
-"lack of speed" is all about perspective. He won twice as a 2yo, including his debut at 7f. He won an allowance race at 6.5 furlongs as a 3yo, and multiple times at 1 mile, defeating Private Zone twice amongst others. I wouldn't let his come from the clouds running style detract from the position that he actually has a tremendous turn of foot on dirt. To me, that's speed.

$40,000 is the bargain of bargains, imo. Until proven it's not, of course.

Ummm, turns of foot are most often the result of pace. If you're jogging along, you can accelerate more quickly than when you're already traveling fast.

So am I off on my theory about closers making good sires? Who are some other closers who made good/top sires?

[halo]

Go watch Tapit's Wood Memorial.

[Admin]

Go watch Tapit's Wood Memorial.

And in other races, he was closer to the pace. He was rather all over the place in his abbreviated campaign, as well as having pretty bad results a number of times while running one way or the other. I don't really know what he was as a racehorse, but he didn't come to mind as a stone closer.

[Horsebagger]

Ummm, turns of foot are most often the result of pace. If you're jogging along, you can accelerate more quickly than when you're already traveling fast.

So am I off on my theory about closers making good sires? Who are some other closers who made good/top sires?

To me, turn of foot is the ability to accelerate. Trakus provides insightful data on individual quarter mile times internally in a race. Honor Code had multiple internal fractions in the Whitney of 23 and change. so whether he runs 23 quarters in the beginning, middle or end of a race, they're still 23 quarters. To me, that's speed. In fact, the ability to run 23 quarters in the second half of distance races REGARDLESS OF HOW SLOW you run the early fractions of a race is a pretty dynamic athletic quality in my eyes. I'll take those genes all day long. And I'm not turned off by a 'closer' as a stallion when he's won a Met Mile.

Contrast him to another recent discussion topic who will eventually be standing stud.....Keen Ice, and one I more strongly identify as a 'closer'. But one who probably has rarely seen a 23 quarter in his life, and isn't ever winning a Met Mile or any other Grade 1 mile race. He's got zero turn of foot and you won't find anyone suggesting he has any speed at all, other than maybe Crawford in one of his promotional rants.

Overall, I don't disagree that stone cold 'closers' haven't made top sires, but I'm looking at HC differently, because I'm not going to allow his style to mask his ability to flash the speed when performing. Off the top of my head, I'd say Unbridled is an example of a closer who turned out to be an attractive bloodline to breed to. Ghostzapper as a young horse was more of a closer than a speed horse, and has turned out to be a pretty solid stallion.

[Admin]

Ummm, turns of foot are most often the result of pace. If you're jogging along, you can accelerate more quickly than when you're already traveling fast.

So am I off on my theory about closers making good sires? Who are some other closers who made good/top sires?

To me, turn of foot is the ability to accelerate. Trakus provides insightful data on individual quarter mile times internally in a race. Honor Code had multiple internal fractions in the Whitney of 23 and change. so whether he runs 23 quarters in the beginning, middle or end of a race, they're still 23 quarters. To me, that's speed. In fact, the ability to run 23 quarters in the second half of distance races REGARDLESS OF HOW SLOW you run the early fractions of a race is a pretty dynamic athletic quality in my eyes. I'll take those genes all day long. And I'm not turned off by a 'closer' as a stallion when he's won a Met Mile.

Contrast him to another recent discussion topic who will eventually be standing stud.....Keen Ice, and one I more strongly identify as a 'closer'. But one who probably has rarely seen a 23 quarter in his life, and isn't ever winning a Met Mile or any other Grade 1 mile race. He's got zero turn of foot and you won't find anyone suggesting he has any speed at all, other than maybe Crawford in one of his promotional rants.

Overall, I don't disagree that stone cold 'closers' haven't made top sires, but I'm looking at HC differently, because I'm not going to allow his style to mask his ability to flash the speed when performing. Off the top of my head, I'd say Unbridled is an example of a closer who turned out to be an attractive bloodline to breed to. Ghostzapper as a young horse was more of a closer than a speed horse, and has turned out to be a pretty solid stallion.

I don't think we'll be breeding many mares this year to have a reason to consider him, but his closing style is what makes me pause. We may disagree about it, but am I right that you'd want to send him a mare with speed? And think that they'll be looking for similar among the applications, over the norm of wanting speed and precociousness to help make a mark with the first crop(s)?

[Horsebagger]

I don't think we'll be breeding many mares this year to have a reason to consider him, but his closing style is what makes me pause. We may disagree about it, but am I right that you'd want to send him a mare with speed? And think that they'll be looking for similar among the applications, over the norm of wanting speed and precociousness to help make a mark with the first crop(s)?

I don't know what they're looking for to fill his book specifically, but I know they're being very particular. Not easy to get to him. We're going to submit a young Unbridleds Song mare who's got listed black type, and try and pull some strings. She was precocious despite some injuries as a 2yo, so yes, I think that's probably the right approach. We'll see. Otherwise, it's Bernardini or Scat Daddy, most likely.

In the end, I like how Lane's End is handling their stallion fees at the moment. I don't think $40,000 is aggressive at all, so there's less concern about what happens to the fee after the first two crops. Compare that to everyone pushing fees while they can, and what likely happens to AP's fees if the foals don't sell or run in a couple of years.

[Sparrow Castle]

Coolmore America ‏@coolmoreamerica Ashford Farm
Looks like Giant's Causeway enjoyed his paddock this morning! #RainyDays #CoolmoreSires #HomeOfChampions

[BaroqueAgain1]

Well, crap. Khozan has been retired.
http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/ ... eyman-stud
What a shame...that Royally-bred colt looked like he could be any kind. Guess they just couldn't get him back to healthy after whatever that injury was.
Sure has a nice pedigree, especially with that dam. I hope he does well, so that Delta Princess has a good son to represent her.

[Northport]

I was wondering the other day what happened to Khozan... Can't say I'm surprised

[Northport]

Toast of New York has been retired and will stand in Qatar

http://bloodstock.racingpost.com/news/b ... r/1999163/

[Starine]

Al Khali retired to stud in New York
http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/ ... n-new-york

So you can choose to breed to 41-time starter and grade II winner Al Khali for $2,500, or for $7,500 you can go to his brother Japan who is an ungraded stakes winner in five starts.

[BaroqueAgain1]

If the fee were based on looks alone, their fees would be HUGE.
Both horses showed talent, but never seemed to get past the G2 or G3 level. At least Al Khali stayed sound enough to get to those 41 starts, so why is he less?

[Sparrow Castle]

Frances J Karon ‏@francesjkaron
How great does Empire Maker look?!

[Sparrow Castle]

Frances J Karon ‏@francesjkaron
Leading sire Tapit, what a beauty.

[Sparrow Castle]

Frances J Karon ‏@francesjkaron
French classic winner, Breeders' Cup Mile winner, great-grandson of the great Miesque: Karakontie. 1st year in 2016.