Five years after becoming the only Photo-Finish horse to win the American Triple Crown, interest in War Machine as a stud is as keen as ever.
Commanding an initial stud fee of $300,000 and with no shortage of suitors, the decision was nevertheless made to limit pairings to approximately five per season. This decision has been questioned ever since, by other stables and, if the truth be told, even by the connections at Otsego Farms.
The idea was to create a hot commodity through the basic laws of supply and demand. That actually worked fairly well. But there was a fly in the ointment; fewer offspring means fewer chances for success. While sires such as Memcay, Smart Money, and A Bus are churning out 15 foals per season, they are literally tripling there chances of success as a producer of quality racers.
Unbelievably, War Machine has actually endured some criticism as a stud because he has failed thus far to sire a superstar. Harsh standards indeed considering only seven of his offspring have hit the track up to this point.
In truth, his first batch did include a very successful debut. FDL's Garson de Garcia (War Machine x Madame de Francais) collected five wins in his 2yo season, including the Gr1 Racing Post Trophy.
Next breeding season, which is fully booked, War Machine will sire just six foals. Afterwards he will be pulled from general stud service to concentrate on producing champion foals strictly for Otsego Farms. He will still be available to other stables occasionally, in extremely limited fashion and to very select mares, on a quid pro quo basis.
Commanding an initial stud fee of $300,000 and with no shortage of suitors, the decision was nevertheless made to limit pairings to approximately five per season. This decision has been questioned ever since, by other stables and, if the truth be told, even by the connections at Otsego Farms.
The idea was to create a hot commodity through the basic laws of supply and demand. That actually worked fairly well. But there was a fly in the ointment; fewer offspring means fewer chances for success. While sires such as Memcay, Smart Money, and A Bus are churning out 15 foals per season, they are literally tripling there chances of success as a producer of quality racers.
Unbelievably, War Machine has actually endured some criticism as a stud because he has failed thus far to sire a superstar. Harsh standards indeed considering only seven of his offspring have hit the track up to this point.
In truth, his first batch did include a very successful debut. FDL's Garson de Garcia (War Machine x Madame de Francais) collected five wins in his 2yo season, including the Gr1 Racing Post Trophy.
Next breeding season, which is fully booked, War Machine will sire just six foals. Afterwards he will be pulled from general stud service to concentrate on producing champion foals strictly for Otsego Farms. He will still be available to other stables occasionally, in extremely limited fashion and to very select mares, on a quid pro quo basis.
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