understanding stamina and classic performance iii

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Belmont Stakes, classics, dunkirk, fashion, Kentucky Derby, soundness, tesio, Unbridled's Song

This post came to us from reader and fearless commentator Shimatoree, who offers his observations and reflections on the Thoroughbred and racing class.

Jay’s article on the issue of comparing today’s thoroughbred racehorses in America with those of the bygone days is interesting to say the least.

A little perspective must be added, though, to the lure of the by-gone days and the Thoroughbred.

What is missing from the article is a mention of other factors which played a role in the soundness of the by-gone era Thoroughbred.

As Tesio has pointed out in his comments the sociological and political factors of human beings plays a role in the evolution of the Thoroughbred race horse . (italics are the editor’s)

The owners in the past were few and mostly very wealthy capitalists. It was well known that a lot of these owners used to simply shoot the horses that could not run fast enough or were unsound.

So a large number of the unsound horses were eliminated, and those that remained were sounder.

In those days, no one thought much about culling horses rather brutally. In fact, no one much objected to doing the same to human beings either, and even though this sounds like a polemic, the historical facts speak for themselves.

And from my experience, to think that some sort of help will come from the genetics experts is completely false as no help is likely to come in this field.

Yes, there is lots of talk and theoretical discussion, but in a practical sense – nothing of substance will be achieved as is the case in human medicine.

The issue of unsoundness has nothing to do with either inbreeding or outcrossing.

It is simple – if you inbreed to sound stock, you will have sound stock and so on.

And the elimination of the FASHION factor from commercial breeding. Those that write on this topic of Thoroughbred breeding in journals and magazines need to have the courage and character to speak up.

For example, today Unbridled’s Song is a very popular stallion, and his offspring are in great demand.

Yet not one journalist from a trade publication has written about the fact that his offspring are extremely UNSOUND.

No bloodstock advisor has spoken about this. The filly Eight Bells died after breaking down in the Kentucky Derby, and practically no one said anything about this.

His sons are in great demand, and they are producing the same unsoundness.

Just look at the stallion Songandaprayer. His offspring are very fast but break down very often too. Dunkirk sold for $3.7 million. He has made very few starts. Should we blame that on anything other than the fact that his father is Unbridled’s Song, who sires very unsound horses? If we did that, we would be less than honest. Following the Belmont, Dunkirk has a condylar fracture, and trainer Todd Pletcher says the colt will be back. And I could go on.

When how much you can sell your yearling for becomes the end in itself, the question of soundness goes out of the window.

The yearling seller is only interested in selling his yearling for good profit, and after that it is not his problem.

The advisors and trainers who are mostly responsible for selecting the yearlings for owners are not doing their job in a responsible fashion by knowingly selecting unsound stock.

What makes the thoroughbred racehorse good and sound is a combination of many things, but you have to start with the right parents so the bone and ligament soundness is there.

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how fast is a derby horse?

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breed stasis, churchill downs, classics, Kentucky Derby, mr. prospector, native dancer, northern dancer, soundness, strength of materials

In his response to a lengthy message from Jay Leimbach on Adrian Parry’s “tb_breeding_theory” group, Tony Morris has made an exceptional synthesis of the factors involved in molding the Thoroughbred of 50 years ago into the animal we have today. Clearly, they are not the same animals, and the squashy nexus of commerce (international stallions, etc.), politics (jockey clubs, etc.), and social pressures (synthetic surfaces, changing attitudes, urban growth, etc.) all worked to that end.

There was also one table in Leimbach’s commentary regarding average times for the Kentucky Derby that illuminates one other point of interest for those of us with a concern for the history of the breed, as well as its future.

For the past six decades, the average time for the 10 furlongs at Churchill Downs has hovered right on 2:02 1/5. There have been insignificant fluctuations up or down, but the times have stayed admirably consistent despite different climate conditions for the race.

Some point to this as evidence that the Thoroughbred has stagnated genetically — or even worse — has regressed because the blooded racing horse had steadily decreased the average time for running the 10 furlongs of the Kentucky classic over the preceding decades.

In contrast, I interpret the data to indicate two different things. For one, we have reached a level of stasis in the breeding population. No matter how badly we breeders plan our matings and no matter how oddly we manage our horses, there are a sufficient number of horses in the population capable of running 10 furlongs in about 2:02 early in May to ensure that the race will be won by something of that ilk. Regardless of pedigree or fashion or price or anything.

I believe essentially that there are enough good horses in the breeding pool that a reasonable number of horses capable of running 10 furlongs in solid time will be born every year and that enough of these will survive the rigors of training to compete in the classics. This is despite considerations of pedigree or planning and suggests the depth of the bloodstock pool, as well as the random manner that genetics works out the details for us.

And on a second and quite different point, there is a concept in physics called the “strength of materials” that helps engineers and builders judge how much wood, steel, or concrete is needed to create something that will perform a function (think of bridges, buildings, and towers, for instance). That is the concept we are dealing with in the construction of Thoroughbreds.

Unlike engineers, breeders cannot select a horse for legs of a specific diameter or density. But by using racing class as evidence of soundness and using the most capable trainers available, owners can maximize the potential of their racers.

If a horse’s legs cannot stand the stress of racing any faster, it becomes unsound. If a horse is built with too much bone, it isn’t as fast as the one with somewhat less. So racing is selecting the horses with the minimum strength of materials needed to race as fast as possible and win. Therefore, horses with extraordinary speed and a tinge of fragility (Mr. Prospector, Native Dancer, Northern Dancer) are the best breeding prospects because they are right on the borderline of the perfect proportion of bone to weight and power.

And from the data regarding the Kentucky Derby, a Thoroughbred possessing the norm for strength of materials to run 10 furlongs and survive will get you the distance in 2:02 or thereabouts.

Cheers,

Frank.

understanding stamina and classic performance ii

Tags

brigadier gerard, citation, classics, german breeding, hail to reason, jay leimbach, man o' war, monsun, national stud of england, northern dancer, peter burrell, raise a native, secretariat, soundness, stamina, tony morris

The internationally recognized bloodstock columnist and author Tony Morris offered the following observations on Jay Leimbach’s discourse on stamina and the classic Thoroughbred.

As a synthesis of the issues, combined with lengthy personal observation and study, these comments are among the best I’ve ever read.

Jay,

In many ways, you and I are on the same wavelength. If either of us were the benevolent dictator of the breeding industry, things would be very different – or would have been, if either of us had been given the job as a lifetime post 40 years ago. It would be hard for a new dictator to alter things now.

There should be rules such that the Germans have – no job for a stallion who did not race for at least two seasons, did not achieve a rating that proclaimed his class, that had ever competed under medication, or had recognised hereditary faults. Germany produces sounder horses than any other country; of course, she doesn’t always produce the acknowledged best in the world, and her rules would have meant that such as Hail to Reason, Raise a Native, and, if we believe what has recently been claimed, Northern Dancer would not have entered the breeding population. But she has given us Monsun, and if nobody outside Germany knows of no other German sire, they ought to know about him.

The fact that today’s top horses do not race as often as their predecessors of a few (equine) generations is not all about lack of soundness; commercial considerations are often a large part of it. But there is no doubt: today’s horse is softer than the horse of even 40 years ago. We have bred from inherently unsound stock, and unsoundness breeds unsoundness.

But, Jay, references to breeding policies in plants and animals such as sheep and cattle don’t really signify much. In the early 1970s I was writing to eminent geneticists and asking them why they couldn’t offer solutions for the Thoroughbred; all I got in response was self-congratulatory guff about what they had done for increased milk yield and the good news for butchers in terms of beek and pork. They didn’t want to talk about the Thoroughbred, because they hadn’t a clue about the ATHLETIC animal, who is a completely different beast.

We are in a different world now, and the current crop of equine geneticists will revolutionise the game within a few years – if their findings are published.

In 1960, Peter Burrell, former director of the National Stud in England, gave a lecture in which he said that he believed that the British Thoroughbred had gone as far as it could go in the years before World War I. I have always accepted that view. I also took from that the assumption that American Thoroughbreds of that time were behind the British, and I believed that. Yes, there were exceptional individuals in the States, but overall the standard there was lower.

It remained lower for some time. Noor, who was some way short of top class here, had a few shots at Citation, and when properly on his game, could give him weight. Anyone who has properly analysed form, and recognised both the advances in breeding and the increased competitiveness of racing will know that Citation was a better horse than Man o’ War, and that Secretariat was a decided improvement on the pair of them.

By Secretariat’s time, America had more than caught up with Europe, but he was an exception. We were already recognising that America produced better horses than we did, we imported them in huge numbers, and Americans sent their stock to race here. The impact of all that was we found that traditional European pedigrees didn’t work anymore; Brigadier Gerard was the last of our home-grown superstars.

But, surprising as it may seem, the better American horses who came here – and they are still coming – have never been rated as highly as Brigadier Gerard was. America had reached the peak that Europe had reached just before World War I; the odd one might always rise above that plateau, but when it did, it would never reproduce itself.

I am well aware that America takes far more notice of times than we do in Europe, but, seriously, nowhere in racing do they really matter, when the main objective is to defeat the opposition. There is no virtue, or any more cash, in doing that in a faster time than is necessary. How many Kentucky Derby winners ran a faster time than Citation? How many of them were better than Citation? Aside from Secretariat, name one, and try to justify it.

I wrote a piece for the Racing Post a couple of days ago, referring to the fact that there was nothing special in her female line since Hail to All, and referred to his career – 12 starts at 2 and 16 more as a three-year-old. Yes, to be sure, horses aren’t as sound as they were then, but they also aren’t campaigned as aggressively, and commercial considerations affect the situation.

Think on’t.

breeders of derby favorite enjoy the ride

Tags

classics, Collect Call, Kentucky Derby, Lorraine Rodriguez, Oaklawn Park, Old Fashioned, Remsen, Rod Rodriguez, Southwest Stakes, Thoroughbred racing, Unbridled's Song

The shortest-priced individual selection for the Kentucky Derby is the Unbridled’s Song colt Old Fashioned, winner of the Remsen late last year and of the Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn in his 3-year-old debut.

The gray colt was bred in Kentucky by Lorraine and Rod Rodriguez, who have had some uncommon good luck from a relatively short time in the Thoroughbred game.

On Friday, they spoke about their introduction to the sport and the pleasure they have received from their involvement with it in the following interview.

Lorraine Rodriguez

How did you acquire Collect Call?

She was at the Marshall Naify dispersal in Washington state. We wanted to get into racehorses, had been in the horse business, and she was our first purchase.

They had a video of her breaking her maiden, and she was a horse that stood out. The good ones always do.

 What is Collect Call like as an individual?

Collect Call is a good-sized mare, although she is not big, not stocky-built like some Meadowlakes are. She has quite a presence to her and is quite a princess. She is not one who likes you to love all over her. She was very successful on the racetrack, and when the time came to breed her, Fusaichi Pegasus was our choice for her.

Roman Ruler won the Haskell, I think, just before we sold her yearling filly, and the yearling was just beautiful. All her foals are very good-looking. They all have a lot of body and a lot of eye appeal.

We had never sold a horse at sale until her yearling filly, and then we put Old Fashioned in the sale and he brought a very handsome price.

We breed and buy to race. But sometimes you have to do other things with them.

Rod Rodriguez (In Las Vegas at a handicapping tournament)

Do you board Collect Call in Kentucky?

We keep her at Taylor Made Farm. She has been there since we brought her to Kentucky and has stayed there.

How do you make the matings for Collect Call?

Taylor Made has made some general observations and suggestions. We always consider proven stallions and also the choice of new stars. That was the case with Fusiachi Pegasus, who was a new and successful young stallion.

We chose Empire Maker because he was a top performer, a young stallion, and it’s a tough choice with all the nice stallions out there.

We are going to use Curlin this year with Collect Call. She was supposed to be bred on Feb. 16 for the first time, and everything went well.

We would never hesitate breeding back to Unbridled’s Song. We have a lot of options.

Do you have any plans for the Ghostzapper or the new foal?

We are going to race the Ghostzapper and will ship him to our trainer Chris Paasch and will begin racing in Southern California.

We had him in the [Keeneland September] sale but we didn’t receive the bid we wanted [RNA at $635,000]. That is how we look at every one of them. If they bring an acceptable price, we sell, and if not, we are happy to race them.

Unlike a lot of breeders, who don’t plan to race, we have the option.

How many horses do you have in training?

We have about 15 in training in Southern and Northern California and about 15 more in stages of training.

How did you get into Thoroughbreds?

We were into Quarter Horses and cutting horses at our local ranch, and our vet suggested we might like going into Thoroughbreds. We had a percentage in one racehorse and then went to the Naify dispersal sales, where we bought five horses. Collect Call was the most successful, and we were very fortunate.

Do you breed many horses in Kentucky?

We have only a couple in Kentucky and the rest are in California at our farm, Cottonwood Creek Ranch. A couple of stallions at our farm raced for us, and we brought them back to our California farm and stand them there. The two stallions are Popular [by Saint Ballado] and Roman Dancer [by Polish Numbers]. Both were stakes winners and very nice horses. They have now produced some offspring and have had winners.

How many horses do you have in California?

We have probably another 40 to 50 horses there: weanlings, broodmares, yearlings. We have cattle on the ranch, and we are primarily interested in racing the horses.

What was your business prior to Thoroughbreds?

I was an automobile dealer, had several dealerships, and after I sold those out, went into real estate, and I am a commercial real estate developer.

My business path has been one of taking chances, and so far we’ve been very fortunate.

Do you have plans for further involvement or expansion with horse racing?

I am certainly happy with our involvement in it. As far as expanding, that is down the road. We will see how the home crops develop.