Intriguing ad on Canter PA. A good looking stallion named Lemansky, by Lemon Drop Kid our out of a Pleasant Colony mare. http://canterusa.org/horses/3087/lemansky/
Pedigree wise, a nice one with plenty of graded horses. Hip 18 at http://www.heritageplace.com/sales_2013/HPFallTB2013/Hip1-45.pdf
Thoughts for sport or even steeplechase stud?
I can’t answer your question, but I just wanted to chime in on the off chance that someone may be interested in him:
I feel very lucky to have had quite a number of Kingmambos and a few Lemon Drop Kids, and they always have an outstanding temperament. I know there are exceptions to everything, but every one I have ever known has been just lovely to be around.
The ad describes him as an “old soul” with a “soft, kind eye” and that has been true of every Lemon Drop Kid or Kingmambo horse I have ever known from the second they were born. That’s likely part of the reason why he’s still intact.
He may be worth investigating from that standpoint alone.
I can imagine that people will be turned off by the inbreeding to Mr. P - I can understand that. And that for as regal-bred as he is, LDK is not a sire of sires.
But why did Lemansky never see a turf race? His pedigree screams for grass.
I would be a little concerned about his light boned appearance. Short, but light cannon bone up front. Of course that’s just me, and I’m not an expert. 
Pretty boy though.
Before my planned move abroad came to be, I really really liked this one and had planned to go see him and hadn’t necessarily intended to geld him. I think he is very nice. But would I breed to him without/before a high level performance career? No.
[QUOTE=SPRINGBORO;8366667]
I can imagine that people will be turned off by the inbreeding to Mr. P - I can understand that. And that for as regal-bred as he is, LDK is not a sire of sires.
But why did Lemansky never see a turf race? His pedigree screams for grass.[/QUOTE]
He did. He started at Kentucky Downs as a three year old without much success. There’s a good chance he and I crossed paths.
As for his later years, I’d imagine just lack of opportunity due to where he ended up. Not a lot of turf races written for low level claimers at Penn National.
I personally don’t think the Kingmambo line “plays” like other Mr. P lines. He passed on very different traits than other sons of Mr. P.
On the first one: it’s the pleasant colony part that would interest me…love that horse. Huge no to The second… Not a fan of Silver Ghost.
Just my opinion, but if CANTER is offering up a stallion for re-homing without gelding or an absolute ‘no breeding’ clause, I would stop supporting them.
[QUOTE=bathsheba8542;8373461]
Just my opinion, but if CANTER is offering up a stallion for re-homing without gelding or an absolute ‘no breeding’ clause, I would stop supporting them.[/QUOTE]
Well, this horse is clearly labeled as a “Trainer Listing” and is not owned by CANTER, so I’m not sure what your point is… you just think CANTER should refuse to list anything but geldings unless they own the horse and can sell them with a no breeding contract?
Though I do like old lady #9!
Personally, I would only consider a TB stallion that had an outstanding sport record or was at least stallion tested and approved by top WB registries. It would be great if there were also offspring in competition, but that is not a deal breaker for me. Would I use one in my HOL breeding program? Absolutely if the right one came along, to add blood as needed.
Epowers, thanks for the clarification on the listing as from a trainer and not owned by CANTER. Maybe I’m just too sensitive these days…with the horrible debacle in Orange County and seeing the pictures of horses that went to this ‘rescue’ that were starved to death, and supporting two horses of my own that came from kill-pens and knowing thousands of others are shipped to their inhumane deaths every week, perhaps I can’t see clearly the value of continuing to breed just because it might result in a nice animal. But CANTER does have a large audience and if owners want to use this audience to market their horses, CANTER then has a stronger position to do more on this issue. I realize they are offering some sort of small financial incentive to geld the horse and I wish they could and would do more.
Bath, this is a breeding forum after all. I don’t understand why you would come here and start flaming???
I’m not flaming about breeding (and frankly am trying not to flame at all, although that may not appear to you to be the case, in which case please do accept my apology). I do however find that it strains credulity that a nonprofit trying to re-home horses (of which there are far too many already) and is partially funded by the ASPCA (an organization that strongly supports neutering) is being used to market a stallion to their audience without setting some expectations for limiting future progeny. You wouldn’t hear a peep from me if this stallion was being sold for any use whatsoever through any channel, without the involvement of CANTER or other similar horse-focused nonprofits. Over and out.
[QUOTE=bathsheba8542;8373693]
I’m not flaming about breeding (and frankly am trying not to flame at all, although that may not appear to you to be the case, in which case please do accept my apology). I do however find that it strains incredulity that a nonprofit trying to re-home horses (of which there are far too many already) and is partially funded by the ASPCA (an organization that strongly supports neutering) is being used to market a stallion to their audience without setting some expectations for limiting future progeny. You wouldn’t hear a peep from me if this stallion was being sold for any use whatsoever through any channel, without the involvement of CANTER or other similar horse-focused nonprofits. Over and out.[/QUOTE]
I agree with your sentiment but I don’t hold the same standard to CANTER. My understanding of CANTER is that the main goal is to give trainers and owners of racing Thoroughbreds an audience for the purpose of selling their horses so that those horses can have a second career, other than as French cuisine. The less popular lines of Thoroughbreds, that is, the less commercial lines, are those which might well end up being raced for a while and which appeal to some people/breeders who want to promote vigor in their lines, or perhaps promote a certain less-fashionable line. These are the kinds of horses that might end up on CANTER and might appeal to a smaller breeder.
The popular stallions are usually precocious and are sent early to stud. So what happens to the less-precocious horse which turns out to be sound until he is nine or ten and is winning races? I have seen several people on this board discuss their eventer or show horse which won hundreds of thousands, even millions, in its former career as a race horse and there are some who believe this type of talent is good for the breed. Clearly, not everyone thinks the same and there are certainly different opinions about the relationship between early speed/ability and general greatness as an athlete, and that is why most stallions come from the ranks of early stakes winnings. But some people believe that this focus on early precocity without giving the horse a chance to prove he is also durable and sound is contributing to passing on speed but not soundness in whole generations of Thoroughbreds.
In any case, half the horses are mares and it would be difficult to control their use as breeding horses, so there is the practical matter.
I am not saying that the OP’s horse would qualify to be a breeding stallion in your or my or Jane Doe’s opinion, but I am saying that I don’t think that sort of restriction should be put on CANTER listed horses. Maybe on CANTER owned horses.
Fair enough; I do see from your other posts that you are a thoughtful and well considered author here.
Do you feel this way specifically because this is a stallion, or do you think that CANTER should also regulate the mares that are being sold too?
[QUOTE=bathsheba8542;8373693]
I’m not flaming about breeding (and frankly am trying not to flame at all, although that may not appear to you to be the case, in which case please do accept my apology). I do however find that it strains credulity that a nonprofit trying to re-home horses (of which there are far too many already) and is partially funded by the ASPCA (an organization that strongly supports neutering) is being used to market a stallion to their audience without setting some expectations for limiting future progeny. You wouldn’t hear a peep from me if this stallion was being sold for any use whatsoever through any channel, without the involvement of CANTER or other similar horse-focused nonprofits. Over and out.[/QUOTE]
I’ve never personally owned or handled a LDK-sired horse, but I’ve heard and seen that they are becoming increasingly popular for sport. I tend to physically like his offspring, and really like Lemansky as well. A little too straight behind, but overall he has a nice balance. And being blind in one eye would not bother me one bit. My beloved Rush was blind in his right eye due to uveitis, but was still schooling 3’6" when I decided to retire him for reasons not related to his vision problem.
I would take a chance, give him 90 days or so of retraining and re-evaluate then. If he shows aptitude and is well mannered, I’d certainly try to get a professional (sport) trainer to evaluate his potential and go from there on deciding whether to geld or not.
I see he is back at the track in training. I remain intrigued.
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