b4breeding

(Part 1 of 3) Here’s an intriguing question: Why are the fabulous sons of amazing broodmare Rich N Elegant proving a mixed blessing as sires?

First, let me set the scene. Every year the latest hotshot colt is retired off the track and heads straight into a career as a stud. He will join several others who probably raced alongside him, sometimes losing to him and sometimes beating him, and now they are taking on an even more challenging career. Being a great sire.

To have a shot at success as a sire, a colt  must have performed well enough to catch the eye of the trainers and breeders who will be buying his future yearlings. He will have a reputation and a racing media profile that his stud managers can build on. Ideally, he comes from a proven or very commercial sire line. Even better he will link to a strong maternal line that is well liked. His pedigree may offer outcross or ‘golden cross’ opportunities with a large pool of mares in the country or state where he stands, because that will help with the marketing and hopefully the outcomes. Preferably he is a good looker (although a skilful photographer can work wonders). And of course he needs to be fertile.

But even when all the stars are lined up – by a champion sire, from an exceptional broodmare, top earner as a racehorse and brothers who also performed superbly and have gone to stud, a reputation of being from one of the hottest families in harness racing, and good looks…. he might still not strike gold as a sire.

In this blog, I want to take a look at a “rich and elegant puzzle”, a classic example of this situation, and ask the age-old question: Why?

Rich N Elegant is one of those mares often referred to as a broodmare gem. She wasn’t a bad racehorse herself, pacing 1:57.4 at 2 and 1:56.8 at 3, and earning almost $US100,000. But it is as a broodmare that she really makes her mark. She’s the dam of 12 foals over the age of 3, and these offspring have already earned just over $US7.6 million to date.

Most remarkably, five of her sons are standing at stud – Richess Hanover, Rustler Hanover, Righteous Hanover, Red River Hanover and Rocknroll Hanover.

Here’s the puzzle. To date, the first four Western Hanover sons have been disappointing at stud. I’m not saying all their offspring are flops. Red River Hanover’s Mister Zion, Red Zone, Code Red, River Field and Garnett River are just a few who have done well. Red River Hanover now stands at Warwick Stud in Victoria for $2500. Rustler Hanover has built up some credentials as a sire in America. He stands at Winbak for $US4500 and is more a mid range journeyman sire now. His seasons in Australia have resulted in only a handful of really successful progeny. Righteous Hanover was a high priced yearling who was lightly raced due to injury and retired. He stands at Stallion Station for around $1500 and has only had a handful of foals with good percentage success but nothing really outstanding so far. Richess Hanover, who raced successfully as a 2 year old, now stands in Illinois at $US3500 but was never available ‘downunder’.

None of them rate as top sires in the highly competitive world of stallions at stud.

There were only six Red River Hanover yearlings in this year’s 2011 New Zealand yearling sales, and four of those were in the last day at Christchurch. That, and the shifting location and pricing of the stallion himself, tells a story. The expectation when he first stood here was based on a strong foundation, but that expectation hasn’t been fulfilled. Neither the stud who stood him nor those people who bred to him could have predicted that.

Or could they? There’s an intriguing question!

This article is not slagging off these talented sons of a wonderful mare, or the many horses that are sired by them, or the breeders who spotted an extremely well credentialed sire and booked their mare. I will be the first to crack open a bottle of bubbly if, for example, Champagne Kiwi (Lot 362 in Christchurch) goes on to win some of the classic 2yo and 3yo races or ends up as our Interdom champ!

What I’m trying to find out is why the excellent pedigree and performance credentials of Rich N Elegant’s sons haven’t led to them becoming reliably good sires.

And then there’s another fascinating question: Why is one out of the five Rich N Elegant sons at stud (Rocknroll Hanover) bucking the family trend and becoming a super sire?

To help me answer these questions, I asked New Zealand breeding consultant/writer Frank Marrion and Australian pedigree consultant Ray Chaplin (www.equineexcellence.biz) to present their viewpoints.

Ray Chaplin uses his analytical techniques to find some possible answers. He assesses the EEA(trade mark) Genetic Excellence Affinity of Rich N Elegant herself with the three stallions she has used, and then compares those stallions’ records in siring champion horses with each other and with two different ‘top sires’ we can access: Bettors Delight and Art Major. The results are fascinating. This blog can only summarise Ray’s work briefly – his full report with the tables is available free of charge by emailing contact@equineexcellence.biz and it is well worth a read.

Frank Marrion takes quite a different perspective, looking at the overall chances of picking a future champion sire based on pedigree and performance, and throwing light on individual characteristics that can have a huge influence on siring success.

Both of them highlight that getting the right type of mares – genetically or temperamentally – can make a big difference to a sire’s early success and reputation.

These views are expressed in the following two blogs.