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[RC] Man o' War - k s swigartDarcy said: I have had my mare, Astra (Man O War descendant), sitting in a pasture for 5 years, in hopes of breeding for structure and not speed! I know that sounds weird. I will sacrfiice speed for a sound body any day. And shame on Arthur Hancock III for compromising his Grandfather's values! Welll.......since one of the criteria that the article says that Arthur Hancock III's grandfather used to determine the suitability of a stallion for breeding was "Never breed to a stallion that did not have at least 25 career starts" your Man o' War line filly would never have been bred by him. Man o' War had only 21 starts. Had I had the chance, I would have bred to him in a heart beat. His grandsire on his father's side, Hastings, also had only 21 starts. His grandsire on his mother's side, Rock Sand, had only 20 starts. If August Belmont had followed the same stallion selection criteria as Arthur Hancock, Man o' War would never have been born. Interestingly enough, the most recent horse to win the Triple Crown, Affirmed, is mentioned in the article as an excellent example of a "durable" horse, yet his sire, Exclusive Native, had only 13 starts. So, had his breeders followed Arthur Hancock's maxim, then Affirmed never would have been born either. I am personally of the opinion that the one of the big problems with the breeding of the American Thoroughbred is the lack of emphasis on breeding horses that can go the classic distances. The change isn't that they are racing them young. They have been doing that for over 100 years. And the change isn't that they are breeding for speed. Race horses aren't running any faster now than they were 50 to 100 years ago. The record for the Derby was set by Spectacular Bid in 1979, and the record for the Belmont was set by Secretariat in 1973. The big change is that there are a LOT more 6 furlong races than there used to be; there is only one race (the Belmont) of 1 1/2 miles on the dirt (and American turf races that are that distance are usually won by foreign bred horses), and there are no more races that are any longer than that. So Swap's 1956 world record for 1 5/8 miles on the dirt will probably stand forever. There is nowhere in the world that that distance is run any more, and I don't expect that to change any time soon. The Jockey Club Gold Cup was shortened from 2 miles to 1 1/2 miles in 1976 and then to 1 1/4 miles in 1990. The sad fact is, a six furlong race isn't a good test of quality in a horse, and American thoroughbred breeders are breeding too many horses to win six furlong races not enough to win 12 furlong races. kat Orange County, Calif. :) =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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