Wow! Do you think they’ll keep shuttling?
My guess would be no, no longer shuttling stallions but I could be wrong. Maybe if there is a stud that is willing to host one of Spendthrift’s horses maybe.
Maybe someone can elaborate on/explain something I’ve long noticed about Australian racing.
They seem to have far more geldings racing than the US, UK, and Japan. Is this because of shuttling? I.e., they get access to some of the very best stallions in the northern hemisphere, so they’ve got the luxury of de-balling most of the colts.
I’m not discounting the fact that Oz and En Zed have some excellent home grown sires as well, like Snitzel and Encosta de Lago. So they have a pretty good selection of proven stallions.
well crap … i blew a huge mouthful of coffee on my keyboard when I read the “de-ball” comment. So funny this morning for some reason. Thanks for the giggle!
If it’s true that Australia has a higher percentage of geldings racing than the U.K. I’d be mildly surprised.
I’d guess that a higher percentage of geldings than the U.S. would be explained by the popularity of jump racing in Australia and the U.K., along with the tendency toward longer racing careers, not by shuttling.
It would be interesting to see the statistics comparing 3 year old stallions being retired to stud in the U.S. vs Australia.
Off topic, I’m sad to see Air Force Blue exported to S. Korea. I liked him.
Air Force Blue - I was both surprised and saddened. He was showing some real promise as a sire, had some good runners already.
Turn that the other way up, could be Korea is developing a good TB industry, just as Japan has done. Japanese bred horses make a good showing on the international circuit these days.
