Jan has been Discreet Cat's month

[Calzone Lord]

Originally Posted by parsixfarms

I haven't seen too many up close. I have to think that the suprising lack of interest in his offspring and the sharp decline in his stud fee had to have something to do with Forestry's "fall from grace" (from a $100,000 stud fee to $12,500).

I suppose Forestry didn't have a bad year last year with Shackleford winning the Preakness and all.

Had DC been retired at age 3 - as an undefeated phenom - with Bernardini - I bet he would have got supported a lot better.

Sheik Mohammed went on his most insane buying spree, and bought Street Sense, Hard Spun, and Any Given Saturday the folllowing year ... and while none of those horses could warm-up Discreet Cat on the race track, they all retired without seeing their form completely fall apart... and all retired at the same exact time.

[parsixfarms]

Originally Posted by Calzone Lord

I suppose Forestry didn't have a bad year last year with Shackleford winning the Preakness and all.

Had DC been retired at age 3 - as an undefeated phenom - with Bernardini - I bet he would have got supported a lot better.

Sheik Mohammed went on his most insane buying spree, and bought Street Sense, Hard Spun, and Any Given Saturday the folllowing year ... and while none of those horses could warm-up Discreet Cat on the race track, they all retired without seeing their form completely fall apart... and all retired at the same exact time.

Despite having Shackleford last year, Forestry's stud fee stayed exactly where it was in 2011 - at $12,500 - at a farm that can be pretty aggressive with stud fees. His AEI v. CI numbers (1.53 v. 2.46) are pretty weak.

I tend to agree with you that, had Discreet Cat gone to stud a year earlier, he may have had better support. That being said, didn't Henny Hughes go to Darley the same year as Bernardini, and he's pretty much ended up in the same position (starting at $40K and now standing for $12,500) as Discreet Cat.

[Calzone Lord]

Wasn't a lot of Forestry's high stud fee because of The Green Monkey?

[Calzone Lord]

I'll spare the torture of a long post -- but French Deputy was an outstanding talent who only raced six times. He's turned into a killer broodmare sire.

He was trained by Neil Drysdale -- an old Charlie Whittingham asst -- and like Whittingham was said to be, Drysdale was not a very good trainer of 1st time starters or layoffs.

French Deputy won his debut in 1:08 3/5 at 5/1 odds at Santa Anita. It was 11 lengths back to 3rd place in a field of 10. Very well spread for just a 6f sprint.

In just his 4th career start, and off a 6+ month layoff, French Deputy ran a 119 Beyer while winning the '95 Jerome. Highest figure by any 3yo that season.

French Deputy was bought and sent to Japan when his oldest offspring were just 3-years-old.

So, basically, French Deputy only had 3 or 4 crops who raced in America. His best horse was champion, and freak, Left Bank. Unquestionably the best horse Todd Pletcher has ever trained.

French Deputy was champion 1st year and 2nd year sire in Japan - he was by all accounts a huge success as a sire in Japan.

What I was surprised at last night was how well he is doing as a broodmare sire with those 3 or 4 crops he left behind in America.

A lot of very good runners... and they are as precocious as hell.

[Indian Charlie]

French Deputy shoulda been a great one.

If you ever get a chance to see photos of him from when he was in training, do so. One of the best lookers I've ever seen.

[Calzone Lord]

He was great for four races.

[parsixfarms]

Originally Posted by Calzone Lord

Wasn't a lot of Forestry's high stud fee because of The Green Monkey?

I think he had reputation as a very good "sales sire" for which The Green Monkey served as the exclamation point.