Low fertility, but when he hits…
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I think it’s wonderful that an Australian sire produced a Melbourne winner! It’s been too long.
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He’s gorgeous but not at all what I think would produce a long distance horse (thinking of the 2 mile races). Of course I’m not an expert or even slightly knowledgeable of builds. Plus he’s on the small side. But hey, he was a winner and now he’s producing winners.
They talked in the article about him being on the small side and maybe a benefit to that (although I think I remember hearing that the data shows taller horses are faster and there might be a bit of a marketing spin on that).
I find it super interesting to read about some of the more behind the scenes things about thoroughbred breeding like the insurance payout and the height limit in his book. Since they mentioned a few of his sons were starting to go to stud I wonder if the subfertility might be passed on.
Yes it’s interesting about the height limits. That was recently mentioned in another thread.
Big generalisations coming up but … The racing TB is generally around 16.00, with a couple of inches either side. Very small ones tend not to go into training. I’ve met some that are pony height and are used to breed show and polo ponies. Very tall ones are slower to mature and so don’t stand up well to the early training demands. However, a smaller horse does tend to sell at a cheaper price than a taller one. The place to find an auction bargain!
Currently the big money in racing only seems to want to buy big horses, but historically there have been many successful small racehorses, a number of whom went on to become successful stallions. To name a few off the top of my head: Northen Dancer, Sadler’s Wells, Distorted Humor, More Than Ready, and Speightstown.
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