Quick Hits...

Battlestar has Triple Crown aspirations.

Three year old colt Battlestar (Nightwing x In Spirit) has the potential to do some damage on the 10F-12F circuit this season.  He has a fairly uncommon combination of speed, stamina, and kick which should set him apart.  I won't divulge the exact numbers, but he is the only horse I have which fits into this category.  Unfortunately, he is rather picky on hard surfaces, which may cause an occasional scratch.  I will try to set his schedule so that a run at the American Triple Crown is possible.

Liam, the 4yo colt acquired from Whisperwood late last season, has been a bit of a forgotten commodity at Otsego Farms.  In fact, I just noticed that he was not even listed on the spreadsheet listing all of my horses.  The fact is, I am very high on this fellow, especially after he won his first and only race since we acquired him.  With numbers of 79/92/92/67/1000, he has more ability than a sprinter, distance-wise, but has exceptional speed for a miler.  We'll target him at 7F-8F, expecting very good results.

We're looking forward to seeing unraced 3yo filly Slaya (A View to a Kill x Shattered Record) hit the track later this season.  She is a very late maturing type, not hitting her peak until age 4-5, but we'll see where she's at with a try later in the season.  She looks like a multi-surface Classic type racer.

Mona Lisa (War Machine x Second Strike), a slow-starting sprinter with questionable speed and poor stamina, will be on an extremely short leash this season.  One start is all she'll get.  A PSR less than 75 and she's gone.

Ironically, Charlemagne, the 4yo colt who is a full brother to Mona Lisa, has almost worn out his welcome as well.  He has some ability, but has also been a disappointment.  I acquired their mother, Second Strike, for the sole purpose of breeding with War Machine.  She had a nice career and her AR looked to be a great fit with the Triple Crown winner.  The results were so pathetic though, that I decided to never pair her with War Machine again.  Then two foals later (Reichenbach Falls, Union Jack), I arranged a swap for this past breeding season with Foxies Lodge.  I used Sovereign Belle (War Machine), and she used Second Strike (Jenny's My Gal).

Defending distance

I've never been partial to sprinters.  Maybe it's the smaller purses.  Perhaps the races are a little less glamorous.  For some reason, they seem a little less masculine to me, and as you all know, I'm all about masculinity.  Whatever the reason, I'm firmly entrenched in the Classic and Distance castle with a wide moat surrounding me, the drawbridge pulled up, and longbowman manning the towers.

I breed primarily for distance.  I buy primarily for distance.  Consequently, I pay particular attention to the Stamina for every horse I breed or buy.  Based on the Stamina Rating, and in my experience and opinion, horses generally fall into these broad categories:

65-67  Sprinter

67-69  Miler

69-71  Classic

71-73  Distance

73-75  Endurance

Individual horses may have success in the adjacent category, either up or down, depending on the other characteristics they possess.  However, regardless of their other strengths, it is safe to assume that a horse with a 66 Stamina Rating is not going to win the 10F Kentucky Derby and the 12F Belmont would be completely out of the question.

In the 65-67 class, I only have a total of three horses:

Xtra Gold 4F - I bought based on talent, knowing exactly what she was.

French Twist 3M - Bred as a sprinter/miler, so no surprise here.

Mona Lisa 3F - Random factor raising it's ugly head.

In the 71-73 class, I have nine horses:

Crossbones 6M, Methy Bus 6M, Refractor 6M, Alphabet 5M, Astrapios 4M, Crackerjack 4M, Battlestar 3M, Hollands Best 3M, and Zombieslayer 3M.

Every one bought or bred for distance.  I'm sure my new 2yo crop will add a couple more to that list.

I have dabbled a bit with the sprinting class in the past few years, matching broodmares Nova and Nebula with sprinting sires, but I think they are both capable of throwing Classic+ as well, as evidenced by my decision to match them both with Union Jack this past breeding season.

After this season, Refractor and Alphabet will most likely retire and it's possible that both will stay on as stallions.  That would give me five monster distance studs (War Machine, Nightwing, Union Jack) which is more than I need, to be sure.  But how do you let any of those guys go?

What It Takes

My first article at the Otsego Insider. The site's fearless leader, Jim Webber, has already made the "exciting announcement". Various Photo Finish players, like Karen and Donny, have chimed in on the subject. Chelsey is already talking about deadlines. Deadlines?!?! What have I gotten myself into?! Great. Now I have to come up with something to write about. Not to mention the fact that it has to be at least a little interesting. These people want to be entertained! I'm in soooooo much trouble.

The Breeding Gnome has struck

Source: lolroflmao.com via Gail on Pinterest

2016 Breeding Pairs

Six of the 10 foals born in 2017 will feature Otsego Farms stallions.  Three will be sired by War Machine, two by Union Jack, and one by Nightwing.  The other four spots will be handled by Memcay, Pluto, Sinking Fear, and Kostya.

War Machine x On The Prowl

We are excited about newcomer OTP.  She was a speedy, early maturing type, and we think she'll be a magnificent match for War Machine.

Colt - Hella Good

Filly - Hella Good

War Machine x Affirm Gal

This pairing produced the nice distance colt Zombieslayer in 2014.  We like what we've seen in limited racing, so we thought we'd give this match another go.

Colt - Galahad

Filly - La

War Machine x Sovereign Belle

A one-year mare swap with Foxies Lodge brought SB over to pair with War Machine.  She had a solid career, but has proved to be a producer in the breeding shed.

Colt - Double Infinity

Filly - Double Infinity

Union Jack x Nova

This is a departure from our usual breeding strategy.  In this case we match a turf stayer with a dirt sprinter/miler.  In Jack, we trust.

Colt - Jackanova

Filly - Jackanova

Union Jack x Nebula

Departure from usual breeding strategy, part two.  Both Nebula and Nova prefer dirt and have better than sprinter stamina, so we're hoping for fast, classic-type racers.

Colt - Three Rings

Filly - Three Rings

Nightwing x House of M

This one has us very excited.  M was a true talent, with speed and stamina.  War Machine wasn't an option, since he sired House of M, so we decided to let the old man have the honors.

Colt - Moon Knight

Filly - Trouble

Memcay x Ace Of Grace

AOG has the chops for 16F and when we acquired a free breeding to Memcay, it seemed like a perfect match.  This one will probably go long.

Colt - Twin Flame

Filly - Twin Flame

Pluto x Arctic Fox

AF has churned out some nice looking colts in the past three years by Otsego stallions.  We thought an opportunity with an outside stud of Pluto's calibre might pay dividends.

Colt - Admiral Boom

Filly - Dream Girl

Sinking Fear x In Spirit

Another free breeding awarded via the Survival Contest.  IS has been very successful as a broodmare for us and this looks like a very nice match.

Colt - Jax

Filly - She Bangs

Kostya x Domino

We have loved the look of the sprinters that Domino has produced in the past three years.  Former Otsego Farms racer Kostya should sire another sprinter.

Colt - Tesseract

Filly - Tesseract

Just for fun...

Hello? How did I forget about this little filly?

Well... Natalia is really not very little.  At 17.2 hands this 3yo light gray filly is actually bigger than her poppa, FDL's stud stayer Braveheart.

She showed up in my stable this afternoon, completely unannounced.  I had to call my Accounting Department and ask them what the Hell was going on!  Evidently, during the auction I made a bid early on, then promptly forgot about it.  Even after the auction ended, I hadn't realized that I had won.

It was a sweet surprise, let me tell you.  I see something in this filly.  She's big and strong and has decent speed to go along with improving stamina.  Plus she seems to have the will to compete, finishing second in two career races (both at 8F), at odds of 6/4 and 9/4.

What suprised me was that I threw out a low-ball bid, figuring I'd never get her.  I was too busy monitoring my other bids (mainly Alphabet) to notice that I snagged her for just $21,000.

Nice.  It made my day!

A history of the Kentucky Derby and Otsego Farms

The Kentucky Derby is probably the race that American stables covet most.  In the 14-year history of this race here at Photo Finish, Otsego Farms has sent five colts to run for the roses.

2004 Kentucky Derby

In the 2004 Derby, just the second in PF history, Nightwing made the start in a tough 15-horse field. 

There have been some strong fields over the years, but top-to-bottom, this one may have been the deepest.  Along with winner Thunder Arctic, the field also contained legendary horses such as Dansilver, Dubai Gold, Chatterbox (the only filly in the field), Congenial, Blushing Approval, Vampirical, and Troll Tower.

Nightwing went off at 11-1 and finished a very respectable 5th.

2006 Kentucky Derby

This was the year that War Machine won the Derby, then continued on to win the American Triple Crown.

He was the 9-4 favorite, but had to contend with some stiff competition.  Among the 12-horse field were illuminaries such as Smart Money Golden Tombi, Star Studded, Dancing Delaware, and Big N' Rich.

War Machine had to deal with an off-ish track that was only rated GOOD; the only race in the 14-year history of the Kentucky Derby that was not rated at FAST.

2007 Kentucky Derby

Doomsday was unloved by the punters, as evidenced by the 29-1 odds, making him a definite longshot.  There were many that questioned the appropriateness of this entry.  However, with a record of 4-1-2-0 at the time and coming off a 2nd place finish in the Arkansas Derby, the connections at Otsego Farms felt he had earned a shot.

This was an exceptionally top-heavy field with superstars Pegasus Song (who became the first filly to win the Kentucky Derby), Lazy Loper, Take A Gander, A Bus, and Braveheart all participating.  Doomsday was not up to the task, finishing 10th in the 12-horse field.

2008 Kentucky Derby

Turf stayer Union Jack was a last minute entry in the 2008 race.  He had three previous attempts on dirt in his 10 races leading up to the Derby and his 10-6-1-0 record was definitely worthy, but we had misgivings nevertheless due to his marked preference for turf.

He was fairly well-received by the oddsmakers with a 9-1 line at post time, but finished down the pack in 7th in a large 19-horse field.  Union Jack drew the unfortunate post position of 19 in the race that was won by a filly for the second consecutive year, Perfect Bell.  In fact, fillies finished 1-2-3 in this race, with Isca's Revenge getting 2nd and Case Closed finishing 3rd.

2014 Kentucky Derby

After a five year absence from the Derby, Otsego Farms sent Crossbones in 2014.  At 15-1 odds, he was not expected to contend in the congested 20-horse field.  This group was probably one of the weaker fields in Derby history, but had stars such as filly Isca's Dawn, Pluto, Mongoose, Nemisis, Spaceman, and Methy Bus.

Crossbones finished suprisingly well in 3rd place, behind filly Isca's Dawn (who became the 3rd filly to win the KD), and colt Mongoose.

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So, in five attempts at the Derby, Otsego Farms has fashioned a record of 5-1-0-1. 

The only Otsego Farms horse that may be considered as a Kentucky Derby hopeful for 2017 is Battlestar (Nightwing x In Spirit).  His early schedule will be geared specifically towards the Derby and the Triple Crown.