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Sunday, September 25, 2011

Broodmare shuffle?

An email discussion I had with another stable recently got me thinking about broodmares.

I've got nine at the moment with House of M waiting in the wings to fill the spot as number ten.  She may retire at the end of this year, but if she doesn't, I'll need to secure a lease on a mare; as my plan calls for 10 foals in the next breeding season.

In assessing my band of mares... I'm pretty satisfied.  For the most part, they are Classic or longer distance.  The exceptions being Nova, who can actually handle up to 9F but was more successful as a sprinter, and Domino, who has produced a couple of very nice foals.

I prefer long distance horses and have been trying to slowly accumulate mares of that nature.  False Demon, Shattered Record, Affirm Gal, In Spirit, Arctic Fox, Second Strike, and Ace Of Grace all fall into the distance category.

I am a little disappointed in False Demon.  She has a very nice AR and looks to be a perfect match with War Machine; in fact, I bought her specifically to pair with the Triple Crown champion.  Unfortunately, both of her two offspring sired by WM have been disappointments.  The 2yo colt Trebuchet will make his debut some time this year, but is extremely finicky on surfaces; so much so that we actually fear for his ability to make a start without scratching.  The 1yo filly Anck Su Namen also hates dirt and is a sprinter no less.

False Demon's most recent foal, newborn Blue Fairy, by Nightwing, looks much more like we expected.  She projects as a dirt-loving distance filly. 

Anyway, the point of this ramble is that I would consider some kind of mare swap for the next breeding season because I'd like to get some new blood into the stable.  I really haven't got anything particular in mind but if you are thinking along the same lines, drop me an email and maybe we can work something out.

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