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Selecting a Stallion
for your Broodmare
by Susan Archer
This
article is sourced from the
New Zealand
Thoroughbred Breeders Association
This
article was originally published in the NZTBA members' newsletter Newsfile,
March 1999
The first
question a broodmare owner must ask is "Do I plan to sell or race
the horse I’m going to breed?" If you intend to race it you
need pay no attention at all to any of the following suggestions because
you are in the powerful position of being able to select a stallion
purely on the basis of his performance as a sire, physical type and/or
pedigree, with no regard to the many subjective and frequently irrational
factors that influence the price of yearlings and the attitudes of those
who purchase them. In practice, most breeders are potential sellers
and very few people can afford to ignore the market completely.
If you
do plan to sell the horse you breed you must next determine where your
mare fits in the marketplace and what kind of stallion best matches
her perceived value. Over-mating a moderate mare by sending her to a
top-class, expensive stallion is rarely a successful commercial tactic;
under-mating a first-rate mare by sending her to a commercially unattractive
stallion is also not recommended.
One way
of looking objectively at your mare is to obtain a catalogue-style pedigree
page for her and compare it with broodmares represented in recent catalogues
for sales at which you’d hope to sell her progeny. Thoroughbred
data services companies can provide this information at a reasonable
fee.
Once
you have objectively assessed your mare these are some of the key points
you need to consider when selecting a stallion for her:
-
The
reputation, resources, commitment and professional skills of
a stud are critical in determining whether or not a stallion
has a chance to become commercially attractive and is able to capitalise
on the racetrack success of his progeny. The owners, managers and
staff all contribute to how a stud is perceived in the marketplace
and that perception can work for or against a stallion. Less obvious
but equally important are the vets, farriers, and other professionals
employed by the stud. A well-credentialled stallion at a poorly
managed and under-resourced stud will have a hard time
attracting the support of either the owners of quality broodmares
or yearling buyers.
-
A
stallion’s service fee can be one indicator
of the quality and size of the book(s) he’s previously covered.
If he’s been very cheap he probably won’t have received
too many well-bred or well-performed mares; if he’s been expensive
he may not have received large numbers of bookings. For more complete
information the New Zealand Stud Book can, for a small fee, and
with the consent of the stallion owner, provide you with a list
of the mares
a stallion has served in past seasons.
-
The
size and quality of a stallion’s book of mares can determine
the competition your yearling will face
at the sale-time. Breeding to a very popular stallion can
mean that your horse is one of fifty or more yearlings offered at
a particular sale. Faced with such numbers, buyers often become
extremely selective, making it difficult to sell anything other
than an exceptional yearling.
-
A
good opportunity may be presented by a young stallion whose
service fee has been reduced. He may well
have served mares of very good quality at the previous fee but the
stud, finding it difficult to fill his book in the second, third
or fourth season, before he has any or many runners, reduces his
fee to boost numbers.
-
Remember
that there is always a possibility that a shuttle stallion
largely owned outside New Zealand may
not return here in the future. This can
affect how that horse is perceived in the marketplace. When a horse
no longer stands in New Zealand (or, indeed, dies) interest in his
progeny
tends to wane rather than increase. This will, of course, depend
on how well the stud handles the promotion of that horse’s
progeny and how successful the horse has been here.
-
Against
that, it’s important to consider the growing demand, especially
at premier yearling sales, for yearlings by stallions with
internationally
desirable credentials, for example European Group
race form or fashionable North American pedigrees. In some cases
it can be well worth using a stallion who is here for only one or
two seasons if he has sufficient international appeal.
-
Non-shuttle
stallions can also be sold and/or re-located: this can
be a positive or negative move for a stallion’s career, depending
on where he’s been and where he’s going, when it happens
and how it’s
handled by the studs involved. The marketplace can judge a stallion
harshly if it looks as if he has been "dumped" from the
line-up at a major stud.
-
Stallions
that are perfectly launched still have to produce
a regular supply of top racetrack performers to keep their commercial
gloss; stallions that leave top performers but were poorly
launched often
continue to be under-valued, especially in the yearling marketplace.
-
The
skill of the shrewd breeder with a limited budget
is to pick a horse that offers value now, and has potential for
upside because of what he’s previously served, the commitment,
reputation and skills of the stud, and the quality of progeny already
in the stables.
-
Do
take account of the costs – apart from the
service fee - of producing, rearing and selling your foal. These
costs will include insurance, agistment, farrier & vet costs,
transport, sale entry fees and commission, and, if you place your
horse with a stud draft, a share of the costs of sale hospitality
and promotion.
-
The
key advantages of placing your horse in the draft of an
established sale vendor (this can be a
major stud, a professional agistment and sales preparation farm
or an experienced, successful private breeder) are the value in
the marketplace of a recognised "brand-name" and the availability
of the specialist skills required to prepare and sell horses.
-
Don’t
skimp on the job of caring for your in-foal mare, rearing
your foal and preparing it for sale: taking a poorly reared,
ill-prepared horse to
a sale is asking for disappointment.
-
Do
take responsibility for managing your mare’s breeding
career; studs cannot be expected to give you objective
advice about where to send your mare.
-
The
yearling sales are not the only marketplace worth considering. Many
horses are better placed in ready to run or horses in training
sales. The additional time involved does increase the cost
and the risk, but can also maximise the value of your horse, especially
if it is not a good yearling sale type (e.g. immature and backward),
has an unfashionable pedigree, is a late foal or has had a setback
at some stage in its early life. A weanling sale
can be a good option for a quicker return, especially if your foal
is by a stallion whose progeny make a good impression in the first
half of the season and/or sold well at the yearling sales; and private
sales of trials or race winners can be very profitable.
-
If
you do elect to sell your horse as a yearling, remember
there are choices here too. It can make excellent sense to sell
your horse in the market where distinguished members of his family
raced; or to avoid selling against large numbers of other progeny
by his sire.
THE STAGES OF A
STALLION’S CAREER
First Season (Serving first book of mares this season)
First season sires attract attention relatively easily, simply because
they are new; however, watch for studs who not only launch their new
stallions effectively, but also work hard to build and maintain their
stallions’ public profile with regular news items in the media,
well-designed brochures and videos, mail-outs, magazine advertising,
open days at the stud, participation in stud tours and parades, and
race sponsorship. The quality and size of that first book of mares is
critical: it will largely determine the size and quality of the stallion’s
first yearling draft which will in turn shape the first impressions
of buyers. Studs that own or manage large numbers of top-quality mares
can give a stallion a terrific start.
Second
Season (Oldest now Foals)
Everything lies ahead of these horses and the pressure now comes on
the studs that stand them to promote them and their progeny, not only
by media advertising and publicity, but also by creating positive chat
and vibes about them, especially among the auction houses, agents and
trainers.
Third
Season Sires (Oldest now Yearlings)
If a stallion has served a good number of quality mares in his first
season a strong yearling sale can be anticipated. Good sale results
can add to the value of a mare in foal to a third season sire, and give
a broodmare owner confidence that the stallion is getting every opportunity
to prove himself.
The eventual destinations of his first yearlings have a big bearing
on a stallion’s commercial career. It’s very desirable to
see a good number of his first crop go to New Zealand’s major market,
Australia, especially to Sydney or Melbourne. This gives him the best
chance of receiving maximum benefit by way of favourable publicity and
general industry chat, if and when his first crop runners do well. However,
if his first runners in these places do not do well, or take "too
long" to mature, he can be just as quickly "canned" by
owners, trainers and agents. Remember that most of these people are
also punters and do not like to back losers! This can be a serious setback
for a young stallion.
Fourth
Season (Oldest now 2yos)
Encouraging sale results, positive stable chat and good early trials
and race results in key markets can make 4th season stallions
very attractive; this can be considerably helped by the efforts of the
stud owner, managers and staff to "talk the horse up" by way
of advertisements and feeding information to agents, trainers and the
media; also by racing some of his progeny themselves.
Fifth
Season (Oldest now 3yos)
This is the commercial "crunch-time" for many stallions as
the industry expects that if a sire is going to be successful he will
have begun to make a serious impact by the summer after his first crop
progeny turn three.
Success with their first crop to the races gives 5th season
sires a great start, but they are still forging their reputations; sale-ring
success will depend on a continuing flow of winners and quality/numbers
of foals in their 2nd/3rd/4th crops.
Sixth
Season (Oldest now 4yos)
By the time they enter their sixth season, most stallions have found
a spot somewhere in the marketplace. To improve their position racetrack
results will have to be startling; if they haven’t come up with
the goods by now it's unlikely – though not impossible - that they
will be commercially appealing in three years’ time. A change of
location, to studs with the ability and resources to "re-launch"
them may give them a second (and final) shot at commercial success.
Sometimes a stallion in his fifth or sixth season has made a good start,
served good numbers of attractive mares, made an impact on the racetrack,
then stalled. There can be all sorts of reasons for this. Sometimes
a stallion stalls after he leaves one very good horse in an early crop
but doesn’t quickly follow up with any other runners of the same
quality; or he leaves lots of winners of reasonable quality but doesn’t
have a major stakeswinner; or he fails to leave winners in New Zealand’s
major markets eg Australia or Hong Kong. At a reduced fee this sort
of stallion can be considered, if the stud remains committed to him
and the market is prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt. The
downside risk for a stallion in this situation is big; so is the upside.
Some
stallions have "rollercoaster" careers: hot one season with
lots of good winners, they serve good books of nice mares at a high
fee; next season, fewer winners, fewer mares of lesser quality; then
the foals of the nice mares come on stream, they race well, the stallion
is popular again; then another quiet year, a smaller book of lesser
mares…and on it goes. Picking the best year in the cycle to breed
to a stallion like this can be rewarding!
Hot Sires
Hot sires are those everyone mentions first whenever stallions are discussed.
There are no prizes for guessing that Danehill (USA)
and Zabeel (NZ) are the current "hot stallions"
in Australasia! There is no doubt that they are "doing the job"
in terms of producing high percentages of top-class progeny who frequently
win the best races, the attention of the media and the applause of the
racing public.
It’s also worth noting that they have both been launched, managed
and promoted with great skill, energy and commitment, even when, in
the case of Zabeel two years ago, the market moved away from him.
Proven Sires
Proven stallions frequently offer excellent value and there’s little
risk of their fortunes diving suddenly over the three years (although
if they die the market can lose interest in them quickly). By now buyers
have usually formed firm opinions about a stallion’s progeny and
new evidence is unlikely to change those views – one way or the
other. However, the market always looks for what’s new and fashionable,
and the progeny of stallions that have been around for a long time can,
undeservedly, be discounted because of that.
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