Tags
airdrie stud, aptitudes of racehorses, boxing metaphors in racing, discreetly mine, harlan's holiday, ky stallions for 2011, majesticperfection, new stallions, physical type as a key to breeding, sprinters, types of racehorses
Majesticperfection (2006 b by Harlan’s Holiday x Act So Noble, by Wavering Monarch)
Airdrie $10,000
A very handsome horse, Majesticperfection is the new boy at Airdrie Stud, where the horse’s sire, Harlan’s Holiday, entered stud and attained prominence as a popular young stallion.
In Majesticperfection, Airdrie has a young horse of very appealing qualities. He has substance, he has length, he has masses of rounded muscle, and he is likely to produce foals with these eye-catching qualities.
Showing the attributes of a pure sprinter, with electric acceleration from the gate and the power to carry speed three-quarters or so, Majesticperfection is built like a tank.
He yields only to Munnings in body mass, and with respect to mass, it is very interesting that the two highest-ranked sprinters retired to stud for 2011 (Majesticperfection and Discreetly Mine) are notably different in body type.
As noted, Majesticperfection and Munnings are examples of the lengthy and heavily muscled horse who punches hard from the start of the fight, but neither wants to go 15 rounds. They are sprinters by type and aptitude. It is their best use and their proper medium.
In contrast, Discreetly Mine is bred to be a two-turn horse, perhaps even a middle-distance horse for the classics, and he looks like one. He is nicely balanced and muscular, but he cannot compare with the two sluggers above for raw power. So how’d he end up doing so well at sprints?
That is one of the subtleties of racing and breeding. It’s not a game of absolutes, and isn’t that great!
In looking at the shape and structure of horses, we are trying to visualize first how they will perform on the racetrack and then how they will reshape themselves as sires of the next generation.
And some few, like Majesticperfection, show you exactly how they tip the scales. All you have to do is look. Oh, and watch that left hook.