prejudices about color and nearco

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amerigo, breeding prejudice for or against color, character of racehorses, ep taylor, hyperion, lady angela, nearco, nearctic, royal charger

Does anyone know of a contemporary stallion whose reception by breeders or buyers has been influenced positively or negatively by the color of his foals?

There are some historical examples such as Nearco, who have suffered from prejudices about the color of their foals, but I was curious about the continuing existence of this particular line of thought.

With regard to Nearco, who was such a dark brown that he appeared black in some situations, doubtless one reason that breeders and buyers disliked the chestnuts was that they looked so little like their great sire, at least on the surface.

When EP Taylor purchased the wonderful Hyperion mare Lady Angela in foal to Nearco in 1952, she foaled a chestnut colt the following year (stakes-placed Empire Day) and was bred back to Nearco. Allegedly one of the reasons Taylor was able to get a season to the stallion was breeder dissatisfaction with chestnut foals. Taylor imported the mare with her foal at side, and she was carrying Nearctic from the 1953 breeding.

Another allegation against the chestnuts by Nearco was that they weren’t genuine. Well, certainly most of the Nearco stock was fairly high strung, but I cannot see any basis for saying the chestnuts were less genuine than the others.

Furthermore, Nearco’s chestnut offspring, although not numerous, were nonetheless sometimes very high class. The two best were surely his sons Royal Charger and Amerigo. The latter was a favorite for the English Derby and possessed high class, but he actually was a wayward animal.

After his export from England to race in the US, Amerigo improved in reliability, and he also proved that he had outstanding ability, first as a racehorse and then as a sire. At stud, he sired 20 stakes winners (16 percent) from 126 foals, including major winners Amerigo Lady, Fort Marcy, Politely, and Terrible Tiger.

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big prices for old horses

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american racing manual, august belmont, bold venture, equine sales, flying fox, king ranch, nearco, ormonde, rock sand, stallion values, tracery

In his response to a comment in yesterday’s post about the price that August Belmont II paid for English Triple Crown winner Rock Sand, Observer asked about record prices for horses a century ago and thereabouts.

Although it’s a bit sticky to evaluate prices from that far back because of the changes we’ve seen from inflation and changes in currency valuation, prices from around 1900 through the 1930s were fairly comparable.

At the time that Belmont bought Rock Sand, the sum he paid was equal to the second-highest price for a stallion that I could find. Both Triple Crown winners Ormonde and Rock Sand are recorded as trading for that sum. They sat in second place behind the great European racer Flying Fox, who was bought for $189,000. (None of these transactions was in dollars, but for many years, the static valuation of the British pound sterling at $5 to the single pound formed a standard conversion factor.)

The top prices began to inflate somewhat through the 1920s and 1930s. According to the American Racing Manual of 1940, the top half-dozen prices stood at $300,000 for Nearco and Call Boy (Derby winner), $265,000 for Rock Sand’s son Tracery, $250,000 for Mieuxce, Blenheim, and Windsor Lad.

Prices for American stock had plummeted by this time, however, and the sale price in 1939 for the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Bold Venture was $40,000. Robert Kleberg of King Ranch purchased him, and for that far-sighted sportsman, Bold Venture subsequently sired Triple Crown winner Assault, Kentucky Derby and Belmont winner Middleground, and Gazelle Stakes winner On Your Own.