The News
Editor: Tudor
Writers: Tudor, Area51 (on vacation this month), El Amigo (On Vacation this month), JoeJoe, and our guest Author – Black Fox Oaks.
Welcome to the second incarnation of The News. Next month our regular columns return, but, for this month we have something special.
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Trophyhorse Breeding Choices
by Tudor
Almost everyday I have newbies to the game asking for help. Especially when it comes to breeding. I'd like to outline a few quick breeding tips down below to aid those looking for help as we head into our July Breeding Season.
1) Broodmares are worth more than the sire in many respects. A decent broodmare with a comparable distance ability to the sire and high Sis is worth her weight in Trophyhorse $. This is why they are so hard to find. When you are looking to start your broodmare band, be sure to set a specific criteria level for those you are willing to put your hard earned dollars into. Set a minimum SI you will take and decide from the onset if your going to try your hand at breeding sprinters (5-7 furlongs), mid distance (7 furlongs to 1 3/16th miles) or distance (1 3/16th miles+). You can sometimes find a mare at auction that has had 4 foals for cheap at the beginning of the month. Do not hesitate to buy this mare. Some mares produced 6 great foals. If she's cheap because no one has room, you might have the bargain of the century! Also watch the claimers towards month end, many a great mare can't stay due to room issues and the big stables put them in claimers to let someone get them that spots them.
2) Deciding a stud would be your next choice. A stud first off must fit into your budget. Do not put all your money into breeding to the latest and greatest runner who just retired with that huge stud fee. Look to his sire or grandsire or even his half brothers through the sire. Breed to the best you can afford. If you are new to the game, do not breed to a 'brand new' sire. There is no guarantee of what you will get and you cannot afford to have a horse that fails racing when the money is tight. Breed to something that is known to produce already.
3) Choosing the right distance. Do not breed a sprinter mare to a distance sire UNLESS her pedigree is distance and she was the exception to the rule.
4) Choose a pedigree that meshes well. There is a second of every studs Stats page that shows who the current best offspring are and also lists the race horses – sires name. This is always a good place to start to find where to breed two lines together. After all that combo is already successful so why not capitalize on it right away?
5) Once the yearlings are born, time them. I recommend timing them first at 1 mile and again at the ideal AWD of sire. Those training times are NOT always indicative of how great a horse you have. Sprinters tend to time faster when timed at sprinting distances. Mid-distance – they time well in that range. Distance breds – may not even hit the top 100 yearling times – so don't HP them! They can take time to get to their ideal speeds. Throughout the month time them, see where they seem to time best. This is how you can determine where to enter them their first starts!
6) Lastly and perhaps the most important.... New stables cannot afford to run in stakes. If your first crop is hitting the ground, enter them in allowances for their first races. See how much of a breeder you are without it costing the bank balance.
Common sense in this game goes a long way. Always be mindful of your bank balance and breed leaving money to spare for racing and daily fees.
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Dog Days of Summer
by guest Columnist Black Fox Oaks
It's been one of those nasty, horrible, oppressive summers so far in the northeast US, and it wasn't even summer yet. Two heat waves with the kind of humidity that makes you feel like you took a dip in the pool fully clothed. Yuck... And it's just started.
This weather makes you reminisce of things and times passed. Of years were the summer was filled with joy and lighthearted banter and play. Reminds us weekends and vacations down by the beach, up in the mountains, or at some amusement park. Of eating out, grilling, or just sitting watching the sun set with a cold glass of tea (or in some cases a little more than just tea happy 
). Saddest and best part about those memories is that you’ve forgotten about the bad parts of those same summers.
But those memories didn’t come alone. They were accompanied by friends and family. You smile as you recall the comical things that happened, or frown at the arguments that now are so trivial. And you also sigh as you recall those friends and family for whatever reason, will no longer be visiting you, showing up unannounced, or inviting you to a reunion.
Summer is a hard season in so many ways, but it can also be a season of so many rewards. It is, after all, where some of our best memories are born. And I’m not talking about the one’s that will never be replaced, like weddings, births… I talk about the little ones. Where you finally learned how to use a pogo, what bocce ball was, even the time Uncle Ned fell backwards off the dock into the lake. The good time memories that make us smile and laugh, that help to bring us together.
Summer sometimes gets such a bad rap. It’s sometimes well deserved, but we mustn’t forget to also acknowledge of the good things it can bring.
That said, I am still not looking forward to the weather this summer seems to be revving up to give us. Everything else? Who knows? The future is yet unwritten.
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Greatest Real Thoroughbred Broodmares of the 20th Century
by Tudor
Dance Smartly produced two Queens Plate Winners. Her sire was the immortal Northern Dancer. In her breeding career she produced nine foals. The 2000 Queens Plate Winner was her son Scatter The Gold and the 2001 Queen Plate Filly winner Dancethruthedawn. She also produced the graded stakes winner Dance With Ravens and stakes placed Dance Brightly. Another of her foals was graded stakes placed Dance To Destiny. She was inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 1995 and was Canada’s Broodmare of the Year in 2001.
Relaxing was sired by Buckpasser and she produced 12 foals in her breeding career. The best was Easy Goer, who won nearly $4-million and was Champion 2-Year-Old Colt. His 14 wins included the Belmont Stakes, Travers, Suburban, Whitney and the Jockey Club Gold Cup. He died at age 8 after siring just four crops. Relaxing’s daughter Easy Now won or placed in six graded stakes. Another daughter, the graded stakes winner Cadillacing, is the dam of two graded stakes winners and a stakes-placed winner. A third daughter, Comfy, was stakes placed. Relaxing was named Broodmare of the Year in 1989. She died in 1999 at age 23.
Dahlia was sired by Vaguely Noble. Dahlia produced 12 foals, six of her foals became stakes winners. The Grade I winner Dahlia's Dreamer, Delegant, Wajd, and Llandaff, plus millionaires Dahar and Rivlia. She lived to the age of 31 herself.
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WHAT’S IN A NAME?????
Written by JoeJoe
Each race horse has an official name. In the United States, The Jockey Club administers naming rules and registers names for real life thoroughbred horses. About 60,000 names are submitted each year. Rules and names for registered Quarter horses are administered by the American Quarter Horse Association.
Some horses are given noble and stately names, like the famous race horses Gallant Fox and War Admiral.
On the other end of the spectrum, some horse owners prefer to show some creativity and / or humor in naming their horses. Here are some of the more "unusual" names given to actual race horses:
A Horse Called Man
Bodacious Tatas
Buckhead
Chicken Lips
Come Home Sober
Galloping Grape
Hickeypicker
Hoof Hearted
It’s Raining Mares
Jockey Itch
Knickers In A Knot
Mortar Forker
My Tractor Broke
Nadzoff (gelding)
Nosmo King
Nosupeforyou
Odor in the Court
OffLikeAPromDress
Off My Facebook
Sotally Tober
Shesawontontomato
This Duds For You
Will Run For Food
Why The Long Face
Although none of these horses became very “famous” for their accomplishments on the track, their names alone make them “outstanding.” Have fun naming your horses!
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If you might be interested in writing a guest column or interviewing a fellow game player, please let me know. THe News is your online Trophyhorse.com newsletter. Participation is what makes it great!
Enjoy!