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?
2 comments:
There is something romantic about the notion of 2 milers to me, I'm sure you are the same Jim! The best always race and can't avoid each other due to the schedules, however this only brings in positives. The duels between Refractor and Pluto were keenly awaited, at least by myself, many times throughout last season. Can't wait for the Melbourne Cup to come around!
I need to get my sprinters out of my barn... I've got too many of them. Love and hate them. I want to get more distance blood in my barn... might have to comb the sales page if I can't breed 'em.
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