Value of a mare..

[Phalaris1913]

Originally Posted by pgardn

The sport of Kings has not a flipping clue as to how good a runner a foal will turn out.

But it has complete control over how valuable it will be as a yearling at auction. That, I suspect, is why the market breeders breed sales yearlings first and racehorses as an afterthought.

Originally Posted by Phalaris1913

But it has complete control over how valuable it will be as a yearling at auction. That, I suspect, is why the market breeders breed sales yearlings first and racehorses as an afterthought.

And they have not stepped foot on a track...

I guess if they look good as yearlings, and have the desired pedigree (which again, I am totally perplexed by much of this) they sell. And the horse is going to go through enormous physiological changes. A gamble that escapes me.

So I must respect people who can pick out a horse that has run, buy it, and make the horse better because they see potential. Congrats Mr. Simon.

[Phalaris1913]

Originally Posted by pgardn

And they have not stepped foot on a track...

I guess if they look good as yearlings, and have the desired pedigree (which again, I am totally perplexed by much of this) they sell. And the horse is going to go through enormous physiological changes. A gamble that escapes me.

So I must respect people who can pick out a horse that has run, buy it, and make the horse better because they see potential. Congrats Mr. Simon.

If you breed a fashionably bred mare to a fashionably bred stallion, you are guaranteed to have a fashionably bred foal. The risk is whether he is - or can be artificially made to appear - reasonably correct.

If you are trying to breed a racehorse, the risk of failure is much greater and it will take a longer time before you find out.

If you stand stallions as sires of runners, it will be four years before the first foals hit the track. The odds of a given stallion being a top sire of runners is low. Compare that to standing stallions as sires of sales yearlings. If your stallion is popularly bred and you can get vast numbers of good mares to him, you're making big money in year one. Assuming the foals are decent-looking, it doesn't matter if they can't outrun a goat. No one will know for at least four years, during which time you're making a lot of money, and by the time the stallion is exposed as a moderate sire of runners, you'll have an exciting new young sire of sales yearlings.

Breeding sales yearlings is a much surer bet, with a faster return.