Tags
bold ruler, crestwood farm, french deputy, grand slam, mr. prospector, native dancer, northern dancer, reiley mcdonald, saratoga, scarlet tango, visionaire
Visionaire (ch h 2005 Grand Slam x Scarlet Tango, by French Deputy)
Crestwood Farm, Ky; $7,500
A very robust horse with a pretty head, Visionaire made $300,000 as a Saratoga select yearling in the capable hands of Reiley McDonald at Eaton Sales. That sum was two and a half times the yearling average for Grand Slam in 2006. So you know the horse was big, pretty, and well-grown.
He still is. In fact, I’d be surprised if Visionaire ever missed an oat in his life. He is a big-topped animal who is typical of his grandsire French Deputy and of the more substantial stock that Grand Slam can sire also.
Nicely let down from racing, Visionaire now girths 77.5 inches and stands over a lot of ground. He has a big eye and a very masculine head and topline. The chestnut horse is a good example of the muscular animals that can come from this pedigree. He has good forelegs, a strong hip, and plenty of length.
During his racing career, Visionaire showed the power necessary to come from behind in top company, and he looks like a horse who should have handled distances somewhat longer than a mile.
In terms of pedigree, he is another example of Mr. Prospector crossed on Northern Dancer, and for breeders he also represents the typical quandary: where to go now? And before anyone suggests Bold Ruler or inbreeding to Northern Dancer or Native Dancer, the big chestnut already carries duplications of all three.
So put on your thinking caps and find him some mares.
I posted this on the original new sire post but not sure if you read late comments to them. You certainly touch on my concern with this post on Visionaire. In a way, it’s like we’re breeding into a genetic corner.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on Tiago. He’s the only stallion coming in this year who’s a true outcross to the majority of the mare population in Kentucky.
We’re seeing these outcross stallions diminish in numbers quickly, especially in Kentucky and the other major breeding centers around the world, outside of Germany perhaps, and it would be of some use to the breed if we could somehow figure out the best way to breed some of these quality outcross stallions in a way that might be the most impacting.
Dynaformer is long in the tooth but does have an outcross son in Purim at stud. Mizzen Mast has shown some real competence at stud, but the likelihood of one of his sons standing in Kentucky any time soon is unlikely considering he’s no longer commercial.
Pleasant Tap and In Excess are nearing the end of their breeding careers and In Excess is proving a good sire of sires yet doesn’t have a true outcross son in Kentucky.
Yes It’s True is a young stallion who has a chance and is proving to be consistently good. The market still seems to be buying them as well. Can he get a son?
It’s all conjecture but I do think the topic is important to the breed. And maybe spotlighting them, or Tiago specifically, might garner some attention.
Stephen,
Tiago will get his own entry among the new sires here in due time, but in terms of his general bloodlines, yes, he is one of the relatively few new stallion prospects from outcross male lines.
In Tiago’s case, he is inbred only to Nasrullah through five generations and carries quite a few lines that are uncommon (Hail to Reason) or practically nonexistent in the States (Fairway, Princequillo, and Sicambre).
His Kentucky Derby winning half-brother Giacomo is another of the same sort (by Holy Bull from the Kentucky Derby winner Plaudit’s male line), and both are expected to get a representative Adena Springs book of mares who have race records and athleticism.
The combination has worked for the operation before, and it might provide some much-needed outcrosses for the breed if these half-brothers succeed at even a decent level.
With regard to Yes It’s True, he came along quite late in the stallion career of his sire and has been a useful stallion. So we should keep an open mind about the potential for Yes It’s True to do something similar.
We just never know where the next powerful sire is coming from … like Birdstone!
Cheers,
Frank