Art of Seduction finds home at Otsego Farms

Two year old colt Art of Seduction was purchased today from the Italian super-stable Olmo Dorato for $152,000.  Back and forth bidding between Otsego Farms and Texas-based Hutton's Horse Haven ended at high noon with Art of Seduction donning the blue and yellow silks of Otsego.

"His AR has him painted as a sprinter, but I don't believe that shit for a minute", an animated Jim Webber stated after the gavel came down awarding the colt to Otsego.  He continued, "His sire and dam combo of Jenny's My Gal and Flow Diagram screams stayer.  Plus, proprietary data we've collected leads us to believe he's definitely got the stamina for longer distances."

When asked about the source of this "proprietary data", Webber ducked into his 2011 Taurus SHO, winked and said, "If I tell ya, I gotta kill ya".

There's a first time for everything...

Otsego Farms has 50 stalls and I'd really like to keep it that way.  It seems like a reasonable number and I feel that I can give each horse the amount of attention it deserves with a stable this size.

But with just 50 stalls I'm constantly at odds with myself over how many foals to breed or as to whether I should buy another horse that I covet.  It's a balancing act and the easiest way to solve the problem is to just knuckle under and get more stalls.

But I am resolved to stay at 50 and in order to do that I have to do something I've never done before.  I have to sell unraced horses.  YIKES!

I have always been petrified selling an unraced horse, especially when I have bred them.  I figure this is the perfect scenario for Murphy's Law to come crashing down on my head.  If I ever breed a superstar, it'll more than likely be the one I give away, right?

But, realizing that trimming down my stable was a necessity, I analyzed my stock and picked out three youngsters that I needed to sell, the first of which was an offspring of the mighty War Machine.  

Tomyris 1F, a dirt sprinter out of Immortal should generate some interest because War Machine is starting to come into his own as a stud.  This year, several of his offspring such as House of M, Southern Belle, Conscription, General Admission, and War of the Lillies have begun to make a name for themselves.  I flat-out do not like selling unraced horses by my Triple Crown winning stallion, but that is what I've been forced to do in an effort to get into equilibrium stall-wise.

Another yearling filly, Sun Dial, was made available in spite of the fact that she was just purchased a few weeks ago.  She is a dirt stayer by Beamington who caught my eye, but in truth I simply don't have the space for her.

Lastly, Krakatoa, a 1yo colt by former stable favorite Doomsday also hit the sales page.  He is a miler who can handle dirt or turf adequately.  Our trainers feel he has great speed potential.

Three unraced horses, two of which are home bred, being sold by Otsego Farms.  As I said, there's a first time for everything.

Strong he is with the Force.

Why Refractor?  How did he become the highest-priced horse in Otsego Farms history?

His breeding of Thunder Arctic x Succubus is stellar and that had something to do with it.  But his track record of 6-0-0-1 with a top PSR of 87 hardly merits a $2,000,000 price tag, right?

It's all in the potential people.  Just like Anakin Skywalker, whose Midi-chlorian count was "off the charts", Refractor also has an attribute that is superhuman, or in his case super-equine.  Within him resides that most elusive of Photo-Finish qualities.  Excellent stamina, otherwise known as "the Force".

Heat Seeker, Gradient, Druido Supremo, and Pluto all have Excellent stamina and there are only a handful of others.  This rating typically assures a horse of significant success on the track.  In most cases, stardom or superstardom is attained, but there are no guarantees in horseracing.  Refractor has weaknesses that may derail his quest for greatness.  But the Force runs strong within him and that alone was enough for me to shell out the $2,000,000.

So, with a wave of my hand, I tell you that Refractor will win his next race...and you believe it, having succumbed to my Jedi mind trick.

That headline just about sums up this weeks racing.

House of M continued to impress with a GR1 victory in the Santa Anita Oaks.  The track was sloppy and it took her until the final furlong to get the lead, but she showed a lot of heart slogging out the win over a game Firm Belief from DVO.  "She looked real good and now some of our people are thinking she may deserve a Derby entry", said Otsego owner Jim Webber.  "I'd bet against it but we'll take it under consideration".

"That trip was as bad as I've ever seen", Webber stated when asked about the debut of Deep Magic.  It looked as if the 2yo colt was starting to make a move when he was caught behind the fading Rivendell filly Vampire Kisses.  The Otsego colt was pushed back many lengths and didn't have time to recover in the short 4.5 furlong race.

Webber classified War Hammer's effort as "ugly" as he finished last in a 4-horse field after a 2 month layoff.  "He might be the slowest starter I've ever owned, and while his speed and stamina are improving, he is still not ready for the track."

War Machine prodigy to make papa proud?

The debut of our first 2yo takes place this weekend when Deep Magic (War Machine x Isca's Revenge) takes to the track in the 4.5F Debutant Stakes.

Otsego Farms owner Jim Webber shrugged his shoulders and said, "It's always a bittersweet event when when one of the youngsters has their first race.  Excitement and elation can quickly turn to disappointment and disillusionment if the horse flops."

"Deep Magic is a miler and shows the signs of early maturation, so we feel confident he can handle this short race.  I'm just a little uncomfortable with the size of the field, but hopefully he can have a clean trip and get out front early", Webber continued.

War Hammer, the highly-touted but underperforming 3yo colt by War Machine out of Shattered Record, will also get another look this weekend in a 7F affair on the grass.  It'll be his first attempt on turf and at a shorter length than his last outing as well.

The 3yo filly House of M (War Machine x Classical Music) will complete the War Machine tripleheader this weekend by competing in the GR1 Santa Anita Oaks.  With crossed fingers Webber predicted, "I think she's got a great chance to win that race.  The field is strong but small and M is primed for the victory."

It's not rocket science...

Newton, Archimedes, Euclid, Pythagoras, Webber.  Which name does not belong in this list?

The math is actually pretty easy.  But, it seems that I get myself into a stall squeeze every year.  I've got a couple spare stalls right now.  However, breeding at the end of the season will definitely present a problem.

I've got nine broodmares which will mean nine foals.  Are you with me so far?  I've got two stalls.  So I'd have a 7 stall deficit if the season were to end right now.  Not good.  My recent purchase of the 1yo filly Sun Dial looks decidedly stupid at the moment.

I actually knew this situation was arising.  I mentioned in the blog a long time ago that I'd have to make tough, abrupt decisions concerning my equine assets.  I simply can't afford to hang onto the early maturing types that don't quickly show some ability.

The bottom line is that between now and the end of the season, I have to divest myself of 7 horses.  Shatterstar will probably have to be one of them, even though I really like the horse.  Perhaps one broodmare will be shipped out.  Recent acquisition Sun Dial may have to be sacrificed.  The rest will be determined as the season progresses. 

I need to figure out the optimum numbers of stalls/mares/racers so that my string will self-perpetuate without all the drama every year.  Where is my slide rule?

Breeding is a great idea. Why didn't I think of that?

While I was lamenting my downward turning fortunes a couple of seasons ago, my friend Steven of Golden Acres suggested that I start breeding more foals.  "It's the only way you can get and stay successful", he said.

I was very lucky early in my career.  I bought Nightwing and Predator in my first season and watched them ring up almost $9M in earnings.  Then a couple seasons later, War Machine ran amok and added $12M to the bank account.  Union Jack then came along and chipped in another $6M.

I didn't give breeding much thought at the time.  Why bother?  I was raking in the dough easy enough and I didn't need to house broodmares and stallions or wait 2 years for the foals to begin racing.

Then my luck ran out.  My string of successful horses petered out and I had no breeding infrastructure in place to reestablish my stock.

I tried to buy some veteran racers who were a little past their prime, and had some success with the likes of Big Easy, Petenwell, and Confederation.  But that strategy eventually proved to be a dead end.  Buying castoff youngsters always seemed to end disastrously.

With my resources flagging and my patience ebbing, I got the sage advice from Steven.

So, I spent some cash and got a few mares.  Virtually every one handpicked for specific attributes.  Now, I am producing 8-10 foals every year and I'm seeing positive results that I feel will put Otsego Farms back on the map.  A couple that I have coming up that I'm particularly excited about are Juggernaut and French Twist (click for AR's).

Cya at the track!