Stallion News

Starine · Mon May 05, 2014 5:05 pm

Wow. I had no idea it had gotten that bad. That picture is just...

RuffiantoRags · Mon May 05, 2014 5:30 pm

Oh my gosh, that facebook picture of him is both shocking and stunning. It's amazing how he adapted to his injury, he looks like a very kind horse. What excellent care he must have been given to let him breath the fresh air of life as long as he did.

serenassong · Mon May 05, 2014 5:44 pm

Godspeed, Chelokee, R. I. P.

second_glance · Wed May 07, 2014 8:11 pm

Triple Group 1 winner Al Kazeem is back in light training after proving subfertile as a stallion:

BaroqueAgain1 · Wed May 07, 2014 8:43 pm

That's unfortunate....I'll bet the foals from those 25 lucky mares are going to get a lot of interest from potential buyers/breeders. It would be a shame if he's never used as a stallion again, even if his in-foal rates are low. Look at poor War Emblem...he's not exactly knocking up the mares at a high rate, but his offspring are so good, his connections persevere with him.

Miss Woodford · Wed May 07, 2014 8:59 pm

Starine wrote:Wow. I had no idea it had gotten that bad. That picture is just...

I'm wondering if they did a disservice to him keeping him alive for this long. Surely he couldn't have gone faster than a slow walk on that foot. There is no way he wasn't in some kind of pain at all times.

Private Thoughts · Thu May 08, 2014 9:58 am

second_glance wrote:Triple Group 1 winner Al Kazeem is back in light training after proving subfertile as a stallion:

I am surprised that they are concerned about only 25 mares in foal. Sure that is not normal and is low in number, but it used to be the average stallion book back in the days of Man O' War. I believe his average foal crop was about 25 foals a year. I think he could be a nice stallion just one with smaller foal crops. And if he would turn out to be an excellent sire, the small foal crops would ensure that the foals he did sire would be in high demand. Of course it would depend on how many mares he has to cover to get said 25 mares in foal. It still would be nice if he was given a chance.

BlindLucky · Thu May 08, 2014 1:32 pm

Private Thoughts wrote:I am surprised that they are concerned about only 25 mares in foal. Sure that is not normal and is low in number, but it used to be the average stallion book back in the days of Man O' War. I believe his average foal crop was about 25 foals a year. I think he could be a nice stallion just one with smaller foal crops. And if he would turn out to be an excellent sire, the small foal crops would ensure that the foals he did sire would be in high demand. Of course it would depend on how many mares he has to cover to get said 25 mares in foal. It still would be nice if he was given a chance.

I think the problem with that is on the side of the mare owner. Say you book to him, and she doesn't catch. Do you try again... and then again? How far into breeding season do you wait to send her to a different stallion if she doesn't catch? Or do you give up on the first try (or not even try him at all) and go for a stallion with a normal fertility rate?

serenassong · Thu May 08, 2014 1:37 pm

Private Thoughts wrote:
second_glance wrote:Triple Group 1 winner Al Kazeem is back in light training after proving subfertile as a stallion:

I am surprised that they are concerned about only 25 mares in foal. Sure that is not normal and is low in number, but it used to be the average stallion book back in the days of Man O' War. I believe his average foal crop was about 25 foals a year. I think he could be a nice stallion just one with smaller foal crops. And if he would turn out to be an excellent sire, the small foal crops would ensure that the foals he did sire would be in high demand. Of course it would depend on how many mares he has to cover to get said 25 mares in foal. It still would be nice if he was given a chance.

I seem to remember Mr. Riddle had something to do with that, had the final say as to which mares he would cover. For the limited number of mares that he did have, very nice results.

I wonder how many mares did not get into foal- if it was closer to 100, that could be a concern.

BlindLucky · Thu May 08, 2014 2:57 pm

serenassong wrote:I wonder how many mares did not get into foal- if it was closer to 100, that could be a concern.

I was reading that Al Kazeem was syndicated for "no fewer than 100 shares", 1 share = 1 mare. So I'm guessing that he had a decent sized first book. Mizdirection was in his first book, wonder if she got in foal or they sent her to someone else.

http://www.ownerbreeder.co.uk/2013/12/combined-forces/

frankel13 · Thu May 08, 2014 3:20 pm

Looks like he will get a limited opportunity next year:

Deer sent three mares from his Oakgrove Stud in Chepstow to Al Kazeem, none of whom got in foal. He added the horse may get a second chance as a stallion, but in a private capacity.

"We'll stand him at Oakgrove and certainly be sending mares to him next year," he said. "It's bitterly disappointing that we don't have a mare in foal to him, but if I can't have Al Kazeem as a stallion I'll try to breed a stallion from him!"

Natalma · Thu May 08, 2014 7:25 pm

Private Thoughts wrote:
second_glance wrote:Triple Group 1 winner Al Kazeem is back in light training after proving subfertile as a stallion:

I am surprised that they are concerned about only 25 mares in foal. Sure that is not normal and is low in number, but it used to be the average stallion book back in the days of Man O' War. I believe his average foal crop was about 25 foals a year. I think he could be a nice stallion just one with smaller foal crops. And if he would turn out to be an excellent sire, the small foal crops would ensure that the foals he did sire would be in high demand. Of course it would depend on how many mares he has to cover to get said 25 mares in foal. It still would be nice if he was given a chance.

I have to agree with this. With a limited book and proper management, he could still stand at stud. Of course, he may not sire anything of note and then it wouldn't matter. If he has even one really good horse in his first crop, it would be worth it to keep going with him. I don't have the stats offhand, but Cacique was pretty subfertile, but had a Gr 1 winner in his first crop, and they tried again with him with a limited book.

serenassong · Thu May 08, 2014 9:11 pm

Not all is lost with a first year stallion getting a smaller than expected percentage of mares in foal. Look at the case of War Emblem. They figured out what kind of mares he liked, let him have those, and sometimes were sneaky about getting other mares to him. Over time, he did accept other "unpreferred" mares- and it worked enough that he got some real nice runners.

Thought that I read that they sometimes use products in the semen to help the chances for conception to happen- think they call it extenders? Not sure if they would use something like that outside of the US.

serenassong · Thu May 15, 2014 7:48 am

Thought I would post this about Schramsberg (Storm Cat x Serena's Song '06)

He is lovely, and is doing well in Canada. Should see his first babies on the track next year.

http://barnoneranches.com/wp-content/up ... al_web.pdf

http://barnoneranches.com/stallions/schramsberg/

ThreeMustangs · Thu May 15, 2014 10:57 am

"Fifty years later, Northern Dancer's genes still produce winning results"

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/hors ... 0056.story

Diver52 · Thu May 15, 2014 1:40 pm

Just a question relating to Al Kazeem--would fertility improve with fewer covers? I believe they tell couples trying to conceive that the man should "abstain" for a certain length of time before sex in order to maximize sperm count. Might a subfertile stallion have better fertility rates if he bred fewer mares?

ChampionCurlin · Fri May 16, 2014 9:37 am

For anyone interested, Darby Dan is having a twitter contest where you can win a meet-and-greet with Shackleford. The drawing is tonight.

swale1984 · Fri May 16, 2014 11:43 am

Per Bloodhorse, DEHERE has died of a heart attack. He was 23.

http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/ ... -in-turkey

8596wool · Fri May 16, 2014 9:12 pm

swale1984 wrote:Per Bloodhorse, DEHERE has died of a heart attack. He was 23.

http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/ ... -in-turkey

RIP.

second_glance · Tue May 20, 2014 10:38 am

Trinniberg will shuttle to Brazil.

http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/ ... -to-brazil