George Washington infertile
 

coolmore have replaced him with 3 yo Holy Roman Emperor.. very odd..

from sportinglife

Holy Roman Emperor has been retired to stud at Coolmore to replace George Washington following the discovery that last year's 2000 Guineas hero has fertility problems.

The Aidan O'Brien-trained Holy Roman Emperor had been second-favourite for this year's Newmarket Classic behind his old adversary Teofilo.

A statement from Coolmore said: "In the very early stages of George Washington's stud career, his fertility has been questioned. Coolmore today brought in veterinary expert Dr Dixon Varner from the USA to consult on the matter and are awaiting prognosis."

The statement continued: "George Washington has been suspended from covering and Holy Roman Emperor, another dual Group One-winning two-year-old by Danehill and Ballydoyle's leading 2000 Guineas prospect, has been retired to take his place."


Coolmore's Christy Grassick said: "We are fortunate to have a horse of Holy Roman Emperor's calibre to take over in order to facilitate our clients with mares booked to George Washington."

Well as we all know they really needed more stallions. :rolleyes:

yeah, apparantly, HRE has already "proven" himself... shocking

The big money is in breeding, not in racing. The whole thing is upside down - racing only points out stallion prospects to these folks. When I started going racing, a stud career was something to do after the horse's main work, a racing career. I despise these big-buck breeders with a passion - their world-view has nearly ruined a great sport.

more on it from sportinglife..
Holy Roman Emperor clashed twice with Jim Bolger's Teofilo in his two-year-old season, the latest in a titanic battle for the Dewhurst at Newmarket in October.

His four wins included the Phoenix Stakes at the Curragh and the Grand Criterium at Longchamp.

O'Brien told PA Sport: "The lads and the boss had to try and replace him. We were shell-shocked about it here because Holy Roman Emperor was our best horse.

"He was the horse we were looking forward to for the Guineas and the St James's Palace.

"Paul Shanahan was here at 11.30am and the box came and picked him up at 11.50am. I spoke to the boss in between and the more I tried to persuade him not to retire him, the more he was convinced he had to retire him.

"The boss has his clients there and has to take care of them and obviously they are trying to replace like with like. It's a big shock to everyone here. We are a racing stable and everyone here does there best every day to make it happen.

"We have been very happy with him and we were looking forward to the Guineas. What can I say? It was really out of our hands and there was nothing we could do about it.

"It's a a bit like having a team getting ready for the premiership and your striker's soul being taken away. He was by far our best horse, the others have to make the jump still. He handled all types of ground, he ran in the Dewhurst on soft when we were nearly not going to run him. He got into traffic trouble on soft ground and still only just got beat and looked very unlucky.

""Obviously we were looking forward to going back for the Guineas and we thought he was ready made for the St James's Palace after that. That was made for him.

"It's a sickener, but it's a business decision. The lads have been in business a long time and have a lot of very important clients. He is a Danehill with a super physique, he has everything. With all the mares booked to George they felt they had to pull out all the stops for the people.

"He had speed, he had everything. He was well forward, we were going along lovely. Hopefully, some of the others will improve - we'll keep trying."

Neil Morrice, on-course representative for Stan James, sponsors of the Guineas, said: "The news from Ballydoyle about Holy Roman Emperor is a blow to the hordes who were looking forward to watching him lock horns with Teofilo again as a three-year-old.

"His defection has given the race a red-hot market leader in Teofilo, who is unlikely to meet Dutch Art until Guineas day."

Stan James 2000 Guineas, sponsors bet: 6-4 Teofilo, 7-1 Dutch Art, 12-1 Mount Nelson, 14-1 Strategic Prince, 16-1 Authorized, Eagle Mountain, 20-1 bar.

William Hill: 11-8 Teofilo, 8-1 Dutch Art, 12-1 Strategic Prince, Mount Nelson, 16-1 Authorized, Eagle Mountain, Adagio, 20-1 Duke Of Marmalade, Haatef, 25-1 Truly Royal, 33-1 ba

I just asked the same thing on another forum. They certainly could return him to racing but my guess is they'll send him to their hideaway for embarassments instead with Chekhov and The Green Monkey.

Id hardly call him an embarassment>he is a multiple champ!> hopefully, he'll come back racing either in Europe or in the States... alot more purse money available for him in the States..

What is the world coming to? One of our founding fathers can't be one?

An embarassment in terms of being retired early to stud and being infertile. Not an embarassment in terms of on track accomplishments.

someone may correct me,but just read that if he is insured against this, the insurance company would then own him...

Yes, there is fertility insurance..but it doesn't necessarily mean that George had it.

This is getting spooky. George Washington, the person, you know had no children of his own - he raised Martha's from her first marriage, but they had none together. Horatio Nelson, the hero, died in the Battle of Trafalgar, and his equine namesake also died in the midst of battle, breaking down diastrously in the Derby. Doo-doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo-doo <cue the bongo drums>

Hmmm. According to the Glasgow Daily Record, "HORSERACING mogul John Magnier is in talks to buy a Scottish firm who make sausage skins, it was rumoured yesterday." :(

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/money/b...name_page.html

If this expert puts the official stamp on George "Dubya's" infertility, will he be returned to racing?

They retired a newly turned 3YO? What is going on here??????

Rats. O'Brien's not a happy camper. Imagine if Street Sense or Circular Quay were retired right now sans injury, just because some new acquisition didn't pan out.

I'm actually bummed for the Jacksons because obviously what happened with Barbaro was tragic but they were the breeders of GW right? I know it's an indirect connection to them and much more minor in comparison but you feel bad that another one they've bred doesn't get a real shot as a stallion for whatever reason. Can't win.

Is he even going to be salvaged as a stallion or is this like Cigar? I saw them saying fertility issues not sterile. To me that's more AP Valentine-ish right? Are they going to try to treat him then?

Maybe it's just me but I wonder why so many recent stars have had fertility problems.

I very much appreciated that you counted your "doo-doos" in that post, I actually simultaneously sang/read them to make sure.

it makes tonight great, it really does. I appreciate little details like that!

'roids.


not sure he'll return to the track, depends as said above on insurance. if there is a policy, then the ins co would own the horse.
it's a shame these two horses are by danehill--if they were by any other stallion, they'd both still be running. but everyone is trying to replace him, and make some bucks off his legend.
here's hoping geo comes back to the track. i'd imagine he will.

they need to get these horses off of the drugs.

You've got a point, and I'm not trying to deduce the reasons behind retiring GW, but he accomplished a whole hell of a lot, that based on our breeding industry here could be construed as him having proven himself enough.

I don't say that in jest either, he was a hell of a racehorse around a mile, and with his bloodlines he'd be a lucrative stud offering in any market really.

Supposedly no drugs in Europe

LOL....Steriods, does a body good

Umm, you answered your own question....I wondered if Mott ever got his hands on GW, circa 1996...Freaking nonsense these guys.

I dont believe that there are that many, just a whole lot more being made stallions than racing

supposedly no drugs in high schools either....I know you could get them in the one I went to

usually they run them at four, but they were very up front about wanting his bloodlines, and didn't want to risk it if they ran him at four and lost him. but you'd think with the amount of danehills running around over there, they could have found another replacement. i don't think the raised eyebrows are about him so much as retiring a perfectly healthy newly turned three year old to take his place. but i'd imagine there were a lot of folks that booked to GW, and that's a lot of money to lose due to his issues, whatever they may be.

That's b/c of the crowd you went with...You were like Frenchie from Grease.

exactly

Nicely put Da Hoss!

you mightnt like the Germans, but they know how to keep their breed sound...

from the racingpost

WHILE IT is not unheard of for a stallion to enter stud having raced only at two, there is not thought to be another case in which a sound racehorse has been retired before racing at three to stand at stud.

Racing Post bloodstock expert Tony Morris said: “Obviously, Coolmore have a responsibility to breeders, but I think it’s very sad that breeding is being put above racing, and I think most people in racing will take a dim view.

“To my mind, a horse isn’t proven unless he’s run for two seasons, and in Germany a horse cannot stand at studunless he has run for at least two seasons. Retiring Holy Roman Emperor now has deprived the horse of the opportunity to prove himself, and racegoers of a lot of fun.”
German stallion owners have long had to comply with stringent rules withregards to which horses can stand at stud.

Rules written well over a century ago state, among other things, that a potential stallion must have raced for at least two seasons, must have a rating of at least 110, and should have no hereditary conformational flaws.

Rudiger Alles of the German International Bloodstock Agency believes these rules should be adhered to.

“Retired thoroughbreds should improve the breed, and while the German authorities and breeders think these rules are a good thing, they will be kept to,” he says.

“It makes sense that a horse should have had to race for at least two seasons, as a lot of good two-year-olds lose their form at three.”

Boy wouldnt that be nice if we had some of those same rules here? Great idea!

No German horse who stands at stud can have raced on any medication also from what I understand. This includes Mares who are bred.

Probably the best in the world at holding the breed to a higher standard.

I am rooting for them to win with Quijano on World Cup night, that horse is a winner.

That would be a Breeder's Cup Turf and a Dubai Sheema Classic within two years for German breds.

i am rooting also for quijano then maybe here in the states, somebody with some power in this industry can see that these horses don't have to be on drugs to perform at any level of compitition.

I pray he wins.....by open lengths if at all possible.

You wonder if a horse like that even would understand if he didn't finish first in a race.

I think it has only happened to him once in his first start if I am reading correctly.

agreed on all points

It's probably been said before, but the whole breeding/racing mis-alignment smacks of a huge pyramid scheme. You find 150 people to send you $50,000 to breed to your horse. You tell each of them that he/she can take the foal, and when it grows up there will be 150 people who will send them $50,000/year to breed. And so on.

Just like a pyramid scheme, a few people are making a lot of money, but most of the people must be losing.

I believe that sooner or later this bubble has to pop. It just doesn't make economic sense. There is not enough stakes money to support the current inflated breeding costs. The only way to make back your money is to retire and breed, and that's where it becomes a pyramid scheme.

--Dunbar