EXPERIMENTAL FREE HANDICAP RATINGS FOR 2010

Barry Irwin of Team Valor with Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf winner, Pluck
(Image : Bleacher Report/VTA Blog)

“You’ve got an
Uncle in the Furniture Business…”

The Americans have just issued their Experimental Free Handicap ratings for 2010, for two-year-old colts and fillies. The top rated colt, Uncle Mo, ranked two pounds above the norm, making him something of a standout.

Interesting, the joint fourth rated colt, Pluck, is out of the South African-bred mare Secret Heart, and belongs to one of South African racing’s greatest admirers, Barry Irwin of Team Valor International. Here they are, together with a schedule of the stallions represented. Inevitably, the stallion list is headed by Lion Heart, a horse Coolmore banished to Turkey.

2010 EXPERIMENTAL FREE HANDICAP - COLTS

Wt	Horse	Sire
128	UNCLE MO	Indian Charlie
123	TO HONOR AND SERVE	Bernardini
122	BOYS AT TOSCONOVA	Officer
121	COMMA TO THE TOP	Bwana Charlie
121	PLUCK	More Than Ready
120	J P’S GUSTO	Successful Appeal
120	JAYCITO	Victory Gallop
120	KANTHAROS	Lion Heart
119	J.B.’S THUNDER	Thunder Gulch
119	SOLDAT	War Front
116	ROGUE ROMANCE	Smarty Jones
116	SANTIVA	Giant’s Causeway
115	ASTROLOGY	A.P. Indy
115	MAJOR GAIN	More Than Ready
115	MUCHO MACHO MAN	Macho Uno
115	WILLCOX INN	Harlan’s Holiday
114	GOURMET DINNER	Trippi
114	MADMAN DIARIES	Bring The Heat
114	RIVETING REASON	Fusaichi Pegasus
114	STAY THIRSTY	Bernardini
112	CALEB’S POSSE	Posse
112	MOUNTAIN TOWN	Cape Town
112	PREMIER PEGASUS	Fusaichi Pegasus
112	RUSH NOW	Tiznow
111	CLEARANCE CLARENCE	Cryptoclearance
111	MAYBESOMAYBENOT	Sunday Break (JPN)
111	SWAY AWAY	Afleet Alex
110	AIR SUPPORT	Smart Strike
110	BANDBOX	Tapit
110	COZY KITTEN	Kitten’s Joy
110	ROUGH SAILING	Mizzen Mast
110	TIZ BLESSED	Tiznow
110	VENGEFUL WILDCAT	Vindication
110	WINE POLICE	Speighstown

2010 EXPERIMENTAL FREE HANDICAP - FILLIES

Wt	Horse	Sire
123	AWESOME FEATHER	Awesome of Course
120	MORE THAN REAL	More Than Ready
120	TURBULENT DESCENT	Congrats
119	A Z WARRIOR	Bernardini
119	R HEAT LIGHTNING	Trippi
118	DANCINGHERDREAMS	Tapit
118	KATHMANBLU	Bluegrass Cat
118	RIGOLETTA	Concerto
118	TELL A KELLY	Tapit
118	WICKEDLY PERFECT	Congrats
116	BIG TIZ	Tiznow
116	POSITION LIMIT	Bellamy Road
116	WINTER MEMORIES	El Prado (Ire)
115	INDIAN GRACEY	Indian Ocean
114	DELIGHTFUL MARY	Limehouse
114	DIXIE CITY	Dixie Union
113	FULL MOON BLUES	Petionville
113	JORDY Y	Congrats
113	MAY DAY ROSE	Rockport Harbour
112	BELIEVE IN A. P.	A. P. Indy
112	HARLAN’S RUBY	Harlan’s Holiday
112	NEVERSAIDIWASSWEET	Eurosilver
112	WONDERLANDBYNIGHT	Sky Mesa
111	BOUQUET BOOTH	Flower Alley
111	FOREST LEGEND	Forest Camp
111	LE MI GEAUX	First Samurai
111	NIJI’S GRAND GIRL	Candy Ride (Arg)
110	GRANDACIOUS	Grand Slam
110	HOLIDAY FOR KITTE	Kitten’s Joy
110	JUST LOUISE	Five Star Day

2010 EXPERIMENTAL FREE HANDICAP - SIRES
(3 or more represented)

Stallion	Colts	Fillies	Total
LION HEART (Tale of the Cat)	1	5	6
TAPIT (Pulpit)	1	5	6
* CONGRATS (A.P. Indy)	1	4	5
* BERNARDINI (A.P. Indy)	3	1	4
* FIRST SAMURAI (Giant’s Causeway)	3	1	4
STORMY ATLANTIC (Storm Cat)	2	2	4
YES IT’S TRUE (Is It True)	1	3	4
AFLEET ALEX (Northern Afleet)	1	2	3
ARCH (Kris S.)	0	3	3
FUSAICHI PEGASUS (Mr. Prospector)	3	0	3
HARLAN’S HOLIDAY (Harlan)	2	1	3
MORE THAN READY (Southern Halo)	2	1	3
* SHARP HUMOR (Distorted Humor)	3	0	3
SMART STRIKE (Mr. Prospector)	2	1	3
TALE OF THE CAT (Storm Cat)	2	1	3
THUNDER GULCH (Gulch)	3	0	3
TIZNOW (Cee’s Tizzy)	2	1	3
WEST ACRE (Forty Niner)	1	2	3

* Freshman Sire

AMERICA’S RACEHORSE PRODUCTION ABOUT-TURN

“…with our figures this season pretty much matching those of last year, almost to the mare.”
(Photo : Summerhill Stud)

THOROUGHBRED BREEDING TRENDS

Times like these often see people descend into “retreat” mode, intimidated by the doomsayers and the never-ending stream of “experts”, ready to proclaim financial Armageddon. It’s little surprise then, that the greatest businesses in the world were born out of these circumstances, because they’ve seen the retreat and in it, they’ve seen opportunity.

What’s happened in the northern hemisphere though, in terms of racehorse production, has been in need of retreat for at least five years now. With a situation of hopeless overproduction in the number of foals on the ground each year, it’s no surprise to see significant changes in all but one American breeding jurisdiction.

The Jockey Club of America has reported that 2,409 stallions covered 45,317 mares in North America during 2009, according to the Report of Mares Bred statistics received through October 13. The number of stallions declined 8.9 percent from the 2,643 reported at this time last year. The number of mares bred fell 13.5 percent from 52,410 reported at this time in 2008. Giant’s Causeway (Storm Cat) and Medaglia d’Oro (El Prado) led all stallions with 194 mares bred in 2009.

Candy Ride (Ride the Rails) (182), Lion Heart (Tale of the Cat) (180), and Corinthian (Pulpit) (171) round out the top five. The only region to realize increases was Pennsylvania. The percentage of mares bred soared 29.6 percent in the Keystone State; stallions were up nine percent as well. “Our mid-August projection of 30,000 registered foals in North America for 2010 was based on initial RMB returns, and these latest statistics reinforce that estimate,” said Matt Iuliano, The Jockey Club’s vice president of registration services. Iuliano added that the largest decline in breeding occurred at the top of the market, where the number of stallions covering 100 or more mares declined for the fourth consecutive year from 113 in 2008 to 85 this year. The Jockey Club expects to receive more RMBs for the 2009 breeding season.

The one state that has reversed the trend, and has bred almost 30% more mares, is Pennsylvania, buoyed by the attractive returns accruing from their state-bred premium programme.

While our own statistics are a little more tardy in coming through, it will be interesting to see the degree to which our population of mares has been crimped by the recession. That said, our circumstances at Summerhill might be a little skewed because of the strength of the stallion line-up, with our figures this season pretty much matching those of last year, almost to the mare.

TOP 10 STATES AND PROVINCES BY NUMBER OF MARES
REPORTED BRED IN ‘09 THROUGH OCTOBER 13

Region	‘08 Stallions	‘09 Stallions	% Change	‘08 Mares Bred	‘09 Mares Bred	% Change
Kentucky	318	307	-3.5	21,317	19,059	-10.6
Florida	202	155	-23.3	5,316	4,041	-24.0
Louisiana	230	216	-6.1	3,515	3,048	-13.3
California	233	201	-13.7	3,817	2,946	-22.8
Pennsylvania	89	97	+9.0	1,237	1,603	+29.6
New York	85	70	-17.6	1,839	1,561	-15.1
Texas	191	174	-8.9	1,722	1,411	-18.1
Ontario	77	72	-6.5	1,272	1,260	-.09
New Mexico	128	124	-3.1	1,546	1,222	-16.1
Oklahoma	126	113	-10.3	1,335	1,222	-8.5