Stallion News

[Mylute]

Meanwhile, as for the ladies, I know people say some mares are their happiest and healthiest when they have a foal but I wouldn't want my mare having one after 22 or 23. I'd just keep them on standby as a babysitter or foster mama. She can hang out with the active mamas and just pretend the foals are hers, lol. She'd be the "cool aunt."

I know someone who had a mare successfully give birth at 28 (accidentally, long story) and she turned out fine, but that's even more rare than a 28 year old active stallion. I think that mare ended up living to 30 or 31. Wish I could've met the mare in person but she passed before I met her owner.

[Mylute]

Thanks for the recap of your tour-were you able to pet the horses or just view them? Were the guides friendly and happy to answer questions?

We got to pet some of them aside from War Front - Annapolis, First Samurai, and Silver State. I think maybe Runhappy? We were supposed to pet Blame but again he wasn't interested in getting lovin' (from humans lol). Not everyone got to pet them, it just depended on how close you were to the stall when he opened the top part. He didn't open the stalls of all the boys.

The tour group was very large and in my opinion there was too many...it was crowded and a bit overwhelming for someone who is shy and not very assertive like me. I think that has to do with Derby week. Our tour guide was the man named Rodeo who was Arch's bestie. He was very good to answer questions and despite a very "tough" exterior he seems like a very good gentleman. We did see Blame from the front briefly when he took a peppermint from Rodeo and then immediately went back to catcalling the mare at the breeding shed. Rodeo had to be at the breeding shed at 12, and we waited like 10 minutes for more people that never showed up, so the tour did feel a bit rushed. That's my one complaint.

There was a woman on the tour who would not be quiet and would quite frankly try to hog everything. Many were visibly annoyed at her. I think she prevented several people from getting to properly view or touch Secretariat's grave. Of course this is not Claiborne's fault. I do want to go back possibly this fall (or sometime any fall) so there will hopefully be a smaller group, and maybe I can see the boys hanging out in their paddocks for better photos.

[Diver52]

I was there Derby week in 2013 and our group was quite small, thank heavens. Blame was brought out for us and I remember petting him; War Front was also brought out but I don't think they even opened the stall doors of the others. Or maybe it was just Eddington they didn't, because he bit? Can't remember for sure! First Samurai was being shown to a breeder and I remember thinking how handsome he was. I also didn't have any problem getting my picture at Secretariat's grave.

[Flanders]

They only get pensioned if they are having fertility or physical issues. Has there ever been a popular, fertile, physically able to breed stallion pensioned?

I would be shocked if there's an answer for this because there wouldn't be any reason to do so.

If a stallion was "on up there" (meaning late 20s) but otherwise in good physical condition, I personally wouldn't see anything wrong with still offering him a few mares (just severely limited). It is at least a way to keep them active. But I wouldn't want my 28 year old jumping like 50 mares that season, even if he was really wanting to and they were spaced out.

Mr. Prospector and Tagula were still going at 29 and 28 and the former died after his last season that 29th year, but they are anomalies and not at all what I would base my stallion management on. I think Tagula is still alive and just pensioned.

I think Tagula has less than 10 in his last crop (he was pensioned in 2021 so he should have some 2022 babies, no?) and Mr. Prospector had around 30 live foals in his last.

Yeah I agree with what you said and its why I posed the question. I think there has to be some reason to pension a stallion and just age usually isn't a factor. Mr. Prospector was put down because of colic, they didn't want to put a stallion of his age through colic surgery. Otherwise he probably would have stood the next year as well. He was one of those rare stallions that didn't have a big drop is fertility (he had over 80% live foal as a 29yo) and he still looked good for his age.

Very curious about that last question. If anyone has an answer, I would love to see; I can only think about A.P. Indy, but I think he was pensioned because of declining fertility?

Yes, he was pensioned at 22 due to fertility issues, midway through the breeding season. He hadn't gotten any mares bred to him in foal that year. I checked Tiznow, Distorted Humor, and Congrats who were pensioned in the past couple years and all had poor fertility their last year at stud.

[stelladaniella]

They only get pensioned if they are having fertility or physical issues. Has there ever been a popular, fertile, physically able to breed stallion pensioned?

I would be shocked if there's an answer for this because there wouldn't be any reason to do so.

If a stallion was "on up there" (meaning late 20s) but otherwise in good physical condition, I personally wouldn't see anything wrong with still offering him a few mares (just severely limited). It is at least a way to keep them active. But I wouldn't want my 28 year old jumping like 50 mares that season, even if he was really wanting to and they were spaced out.

Mr. Prospector and Tagula were still going at 29 and 28 and the former died after his last season that 29th year, but they are anomalies and not at all what I would base my stallion management on. I think Tagula is still alive and just pensioned.

I think Tagula has less than 10 in his last crop (he was pensioned in 2021 so he should have some 2022 babies, no?) and Mr. Prospector had around 30 live foals in his last.

Yeah I agree with what you said and its why I posed the question. I think there has to be some reason to pension a stallion and just age usually isn't a factor. Mr. Prospector was put down because of colic, they didn't want to put a stallion of his age through colic surgery. Otherwise he probably would have stood the next year as well. He was one of those rare stallions that didn't have a big drop is fertility (he had over 80% live foal as a 29yo) and he still looked good for his age.

Very curious about that last question. If anyone has an answer, I would love to see; I can only think about A.P. Indy, but I think he was pensioned because of declining fertility?

Yes, he was pensioned at 22 due to fertility issues, midway through the breeding season. He hadn't gotten any mares bred to him in foal that year. I checked Tiznow, Distorted Humor, and Congrats who were pensioned in the past couple years and all had poor fertility their last year at stud.

I wonder; was Raise A Native ever pensioned or did he breed until he died?

[Flanders]

I wonder; was Raise A Native ever pensioned or did he breed until he died?

Can't give a 100% answer. He was put down in July 1988 because of "deterioration of his spine" and his last foals(on PQ) were born in 1988. He is advertised as standing the 1988 season in the BH Stallion Directory. There is nothing mentioned about his passing in the Mr. Prospector book "Gold Rush".

To me this article makes it seem like he was active but its so short and doesn't go into anything much. https://www.nytimes.com/1988/07/30/spor ... royed.html

[Missbeholder]

I wonder; was Raise A Native ever pensioned or did he breed until he died?

Can't give a 100% answer. He was put down in July 1988 because of "deterioration of his spine" and his last foals(on PQ) were born in 1988. He is advertised as standing the 1988 season in the BH Stallion Directory. There is nothing mentioned about his passing in the Mr. Prospector book "Gold Rush".

To me this article makes it seem like he was active but its so short and doesn't go into anything much. https://www.nytimes.com/1988/07/30/spor ... royed.html

I think I remember that Nashua was booked for the 1982 breeding season when he was 30 years old. But I don't believe he ever covered mares. Comments on PQ say that he was pensioned in "early 1982 due to failing health" and then that he died in February of 1982, which is when the breeding season officially gets underway. It also shows that his last crop were foals of 1982 to a 1981 cover. He was still 29 when he accomplished that!

Sounds to me like he was pensioned and then died in a matter of days or weeks......at age 30!

[Nenikikamen23]

Gun Runner is once again listed as private, I wonder what's the ballpark with him

[Miss Woodford]

They only get pensioned if they are having fertility or physical issues. Has there ever been a popular, fertile, physically able to breed stallion pensioned?

I would be shocked if there's an answer for this because there wouldn't be any reason to do so.

If a stallion was "on up there" (meaning late 20s) but otherwise in good physical condition, I personally wouldn't see anything wrong with still offering him a few mares (just severely limited). It is at least a way to keep them active. But I wouldn't want my 28 year old jumping like 50 mares that season, even if he was really wanting to and they were spaced out.

Mr. Prospector and Tagula were still going at 29 and 28 and the former died after his last season that 29th year, but they are anomalies and not at all what I would base my stallion management on. I think Tagula is still alive and just pensioned.

I think Tagula has less than 10 in his last crop (he was pensioned in 2021 so he should have some 2022 babies, no?) and Mr. Prospector had around 30 live foals in his last.

29yo Victory Gallop is still active in Turkey but they gave him a special book this season of 3 mares each month from February through June for a total of 15, with no LFG. His fertility was poor last year but he's in excellent physical condition so this seems like an appropriate workload for him.

[Akitaperson]

Gun Runner is once again listed as private, I wonder what's the ballpark with him

My guess is over 200 if not then I'd guess 180s or 190s

[Akitaperson]

Gunite looks great



https://www.instagram.com/reel/C7o-ztZu ... g0amR2bTR4

[Northport]

Gun Runner is once again listed as private, I wonder what's the ballpark with him

My guess is over 200 if not then I'd guess 180s or 190s

He was already standing for $250,000, so I would guess it's now $300,000. I think that is the ballpark they were asking about.

In terms of book size... this latest iteration of Three Chimneys definitely prefers quantity over quality so I would say at least 200 mares.

[tachyon]

Johannesburg(USA)

https://x.com/yusas/status/1794528113269080167
@yusas (a week ago)

He must be proud of City of Troy's triumph in the Epsom Derby, too!

[Mylute]

Anyone remember Hi Happy? I do! Son of Pure Prize, Horse of the Year in Argentina, came over to America and won a G1, G2, and G3.

Here's an article (you'll need Google Translate) about his stud career. Sounds like he has been successful so far! 3 G1Ws, and one has won 2. Maybe some of his foals will mosey over to North America.

https://www.turfdiario.com/hi-happy-la- ... as-letras/

[MTO]

Gun Runner is once again listed as private, I wonder what's the ballpark with him

My guess is over 200 if not then I'd guess 180s or 190s

He was already standing for $250,000, so I would guess it's now $300,000. I think that is the ballpark they were asking about.

In terms of book size... this latest iteration of Three Chimneys definitely prefers quantity over quality so I would say at least 200 mares.

Why would they advertise him as private rather than an advertised fee? I could see if there was no success in his foals and going private to avoid a huge drop in his fee compared to prior years, but that doesn't seem to to be the situation here.

[Northport]

My guess is over 200 if not then I'd guess 180s or 190s

He was already standing for $250,000, so I would guess it's now $300,000. I think that is the ballpark they were asking about.

In terms of book size... this latest iteration of Three Chimneys definitely prefers quantity over quality so I would say at least 200 mares.

Why would they advertise him as private rather than an advertised fee? I could see if there was no success in his foals and going private to avoid a huge drop in his fee compared to prior years, but that doesn't seem to to be the situation here.

As a civilian who is just guessing here…

Going private in this case and the case of Justify is a way to raise the stud fee mid season or after the fee was previously announced. Justify blew up after the Breeder’s Cup and Gun Runner blew up again in the last 6 weeks. When the fees get that high, only breeders and bloodstock managers who are sending serious inquiries actually need to know the fee, so I guess stud farms don’t feel the need to make a big announcement. Sid Fernando, a well known bloodstock agent, said that after the Breeder’s Cup, Justify was actually priced at $300,000 (his initial 2024 fee had been advertised as $200,000).

I would guess Gun Runner is in a similar bracket. Though I’m not sure what availability his book has this late in the season. But, it’s Three Chimneys.

[sweettalk]

i would also guess that group discounts (send two mares get the third at 15% off!) or specialty pricing or "oh yknow a spot just opened up..." might apply based on the mare in question. so private might mean "let's talk".

i am not a breeder/owner, just remember things i was told a very long time ago. they may not have even been true then, for all i know

[Flanders]

Its late in the breeding season, they either raised his stud fee and/or they are being highly selective on the mares they will squeeze into the book. The last time they did that with him, there was a significant price increase. Truly I think he will be at least 300k next year, it could be much higher. Because he has 10 G1 winners, his oldest crop is 5. His numbers are amazing. His G1SW % is twice that of Into Mischief, will that make his stud fee twice as high?

To be fair, I removed both his and Into Mischief's 2yos from the stats, as its still early in the season:
Gun Runner: 365 foals 3+ - 10 G1SWs = 2.7%
Into Mischief: 1579 foals 3+ - 21 G1SWs = 1.3%

[flytpthestars]

Its late in the breeding season, they either raised his stud fee and/or they are being highly selective on the mares they will squeeze into the book. The last time they did that with him, there was a significant price increase. Truly I think he will be at least 300k next year, it could be much higher. Because he has 10 G1 winners, his oldest crop is 5. His numbers are amazing. His G1SW % is twice that of Into Mischief, will that make his stud fee twice as high?

To be fair, I removed both his and Into Mischief's 2yos from the stats, as its still early in the season:
Gun Runner: 365 foals 3+ - 10 G1SWs = 2.7%
Into Mischief: 1579 foals 3+ - 21 G1SWs = 1.3%

IM got lots of crops on the ground and maybe it is best to look at the stats with his first 3 crops and see how Justify compares to him

[brunanas]

Its late in the breeding season, they either raised his stud fee and/or they are being highly selective on the mares they will squeeze into the book. The last time they did that with him, there was a significant price increase. Truly I think he will be at least 300k next year, it could be much higher. Because he has 10 G1 winners, his oldest crop is 5. His numbers are amazing. His G1SW % is twice that of Into Mischief, will that make his stud fee twice as high?

To be fair, I removed both his and Into Mischief's 2yos from the stats, as its still early in the season:
Gun Runner: 365 foals 3+ - 10 G1SWs = 2.7%
Into Mischief: 1579 foals 3+ - 21 G1SWs = 1.3%

IM got lots of crops on the ground and maybe it is best to look at the stats with his first 3 crops and see how Justify compares to him

idk if that would be a fair comparison though because Justify's first books are basically the level of quality Into Mischief gets now. he didn't have good books in his early days.