When I spoke to Nevele R Stud’s Peter O’Rourke recently I was delighted to learn that Tintin In America has settled in very well at Nevele R and is relaxed and comfortable. The soreness in his leg is no worse and in fact a little better, and it has not affected collection of his semen at all. In fact Peter describes him as a ‘great little stallion” and his fertility rate for his first year standing as a sire will be around 90%, which is outstanding.
Tintin In America winning the 3yo Breeders Crown.
Tintin In America served 63 mares this season (40 in NZ and 23 in Australia), including about 15 on farm at Nevele R.
Although that is lower than Nevele R hoped, Peter says there are reasons for it – the overall numbers of mares being bred to continues to downward trend so there are basically fewer mares spread around a healthy number of sires, and the stud also had the herpes virus alert which contributed to fewer mares on farm than usual.
However the quality of the mares Tintin In America got in his first season was good – about 50% were winning mares, Peter says, which shows a level of confidence in the sire. When a new ‘young gun’ stands at stud at such a reasonable fee, there is always the risk that the majority of mares he gets will be less performed ones brought in from the ‘back paddock’ in the hope that a miracle may occur! Although Tintin had exceptional speed, it is a big ask to upgrade mares unless they also bring something to the table, and many a new sire at the lower end of the stud fee spectrum has faced that problem.
As a 15.1h stallion with a reputation for speed and endurance (he won at the highest level from age 2 to 4) he will be attractive match for medium and larger mares. It will be interesting to see if he is one of those sires who ‘stamp’ their progeny in type or not. A really important attribute he will hopefully pass on is his will power, which his dam Zenterfold also had as a racehorse – a desire to win, a really competitive streak, an arrogance. My own belief is that Tintin’s ability is driven from his maternal line, and my selection of sires is really to complement that with additional scope, and to ‘call’ to its best genes through pedigree matching. That’s not downplaying McArdle’s contribution as a sire, but just from knowing the family well.
As the breeder of Tintin In America I remain very interested in his well being, and it was great to get an invitation from Peter to visit him whenever I am in Christchurch.
Post note: Re my previous blog, when just about to leave for the yearling sales – Tintin In America’s half brother Lot 148 Destination Moon sold for $67,000 at the Australasian Classic sale at Karaka on 8 May 2012. That’s a price I’m very pleased with, and he has gone to a good owner (Kerry Hoggard) and good trainer (Gareth Dixon). As I said in my blog, a good price like that gives something back to the vendor but also leaves room for the new owner to add value and hopefully get a good return. I will be following his progress with interest. He certainly had the same energy and assertiveness that Tintin had. Fingers crossed for the same speed!
(Apologies for the lack of blogs post sale, for a number of reasons including family ill health and computer problems I have not been able to get to the blog for the past couple of weeks.)
b4breeding 