Cunningham, my question to you re: Mineshaft:
No matter how ugly/awkward/ etc.......his offspring appear to be now, don't you think breeders will at least wait until they run before judging him? Ok, maybe he won't sire the big, good-looking horses that sell well, but he is was still a superior racehorse with a superior pedigree and still has every right to be a great sire. Are stud fees set based on expected yearling sales prices or racetrack performance? If the former, then based on the lack of buzz, I guess I can understand why his stud fee would go down. However, isn't it still all about performance? How can any farm manager who dislikes Mineshaft's foals possibly even know whether they can run or not?I guess what I don't understand is that he was very highly regarded coming off the track; he was expected to be AP Indy's successor. Why is that not still possible? It makes no sense. Mineshaft hasn't lost his genetic ability between the time he retired and now - his pedigree is still the same. What is different, other than his foals are not precocious?
I would sincerely hope that, since Mineshaft was AP Indy's best horse (although Pulpit was right up there - he was brilliant) and the best hope to carry on the Bold Ruler line (what are the odds on Vindication being anywhere near as good as Indy at stud? Not very good, no matter how nice his foals are), breeders will at least give him a shot to suceeed before calling him a dud and forcing Lane's End to send him to Japan. How depressing -IMO,Mineshaft is still a better prospect at stud than Empire Maker and before he even gets off the ground, he's already deemed a failure.
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