The updating of the bargain mare experiment of 2007 continues this week with part two. We take a look at the other five mares that rounded out the group of mares I had claimed for this experiment. This group was much more successful than the first group. All of these mares have produced successful offspring as well as other productive runners so far during their broodmare careers.
To recap the first five mares we looked at were what I would consider the bottom half of the experiment. A couple of the mares produced some nice runners. The sires most used in the experiment were mostly in the middle tier costing between 175 and 75 breeding points at the end of the week. Also the criteria I am using to judge what is or is not a successful offspring is based off of some sample data. Those same runners averaged two allowance wins, three and a half wins over all, and a 45% in the money percentage while earning $110k on the track. Without further ado let’s get to this week’s mares.
Answer Back T – (Almostashar x Time to Explode x Greek Answer)
This mare was a stakes winner. She won five times from thirty three starts and was in the money thirteen times over all. She ran big on dirt in middle distance races with three 100+ speed figure efforts. I claimed her at the end of her career and her final two starts were on the turf where she was productive in claimers.
I was not initially sure I was going to use her as part of this experiment so bred over her with the thought of coming back to her later in that year. One of her previous owners got the jump and bred her to Drinkwiththedevil. This runner has turned out to be pretty productive. She has nine wins, six places and eight shows from thirty four races. She has won three allowances, two though were state bred races. In fact she has raced in twelve state bred races in a row. The addition of these type races I think allow for this type of mare with this type of sire to be productive for your stable. I would say she is a success for Answer Back T.
I got her for her second offspring and sent her to young sire Midnight Lute. I perhaps was not real patient with the runner. He won first time out for me but was dead last and next to last in allowance company. So I put him into claimers and he responded with improved performances. He got claimed from me a few starts later after running his best speed figure for me a 93. He has blossomed this year for the new owner with three 100+ speed figures so far winning his first allowance. I stuck him in sprints and wisely his new owner stretched him out and looks like a better middle distance runner than sprinter. Even long time players forget to try different things with runners. His four wins, five places and two shows in sixteen starts are solid and he seems well on his way to being a successful offspring for Answer Back T.
I went back to her again for her third offspring who is just a three year old right now. This filly is by Harlan’s Holiday and has four starts. She has improved each time out and won this past weekend in a maiden special weight. She has a place to go with her win and looks pretty solid as of now making Answer Back T a solid looking brood mare.
This mare was a late comer to the experimental band of mares and has proven thus far to be pretty productive. Her first offspring is a different kind of productive. She is probably not going to be productive in open allowance races but a really nice statebred, claiming or starter horse. Her second offspring seems well on his way to being a good allowance horse. She has the fewest offspring in the experiment and she is already one of the more productive.
Groovy Entrance – (Entrepreneur x Groovy Jet x Native Rhythm)
This mare raced thirty-nine times, winning fourteen races in her career. She was in the money in twenty-seven of those thirty nine starts a pretty salty percentage there. She had one stakes win and was in the money a couple of other times in stakes. She won most of her races on turf but also managed to grab a couple of dirt wins. She earned $351k in her career which saw her win in sprints and do well in long distance races. She only had one 100+ speed figure in her career.
I made bad choices with her first two sires. Her first offspring was by Monsun and he was not the top sire that he is today. He only managed one win from seventeen starts and was not very fast. Her second offspring was by Peace Rules a young sire I probably should have stayed away from. She was winless from seven starts with a high speed figure of 69.
Things took a turn for the better with her third offspring. Zinus is by Alphabet Soup and to date has won five times, placed nine times and showed three times from forty five starts. He has two allowance wins mixed in and has earned $143k on the track. He has a hand full of races where he has run a 100+ speed figure. All in all a successful breeding for Groovy Entrance.
Her fourth offspring was a useful type by Bahri, named Bahr the Entrance. She has been a solid claimer and a good bp earner. In thirty three starts she has just three wins, but also has five places and ten shows to be in the money eighteen of thirty three starts. She is versatile enough to compete in sprints and middle distances. She had a streak of claiming races where she finished 3rd, 1st, 3rd, 3rd, and 2nd . She racked up some serious BPs during this run despite one win. I would not call her a successful breeding but she has definitely been a useful runner.
Her fifth offspring was not very good. I chose to try Nayef and this runner just never showed anything. He did earn a win, a place and a couple of shows from fourteen starts but was not real useful.
Her sixth offspring and a three year old this year is Draken. She is by Dalakhani and so far she has been decent. She has a win, two places and two shows from eight starts. While competitive in allowance company now if she does not start to improve her speed figures she will likely be like Bahr the Entrance. She is still young though and could improve still to become more like Zinus a successful offspring of Groovy Entrance.
Groovy Entrance had done all right with one successful runner. I take the blame for what appears to be in retrospect not ideal sire choices for her. She has one useful runner and a three year old with a little promise. I think with smarter choices she can and has been a solid brood mare.
Bold Statement – Dixie Brass X Strawberry Road X Bold Bidder
Bold Statement had five wins, only one win was an allowance win. She ran a 111 speed figure in allowance company and ran a couple other 100+ speed figures. As a three and four year old she was very solid consistently in the mid nineties and occasionally popping a one hundred plus speed figure.
Her first offspring was a filly by Malibu Moon named Malibu Bold. She was a successful breeding winning two allowance races. She ran 43 times was in the money 24 times for a 57% in the money percentage with lifetime earnings of $102k. Looking back she was very competitive in allowance company and I never dropped her in a claimer. She probably would have had more wins had I dropped her in claiming company but none the less she was only out of the top five 8 times in 43 starts.
Bold Statement’s second offspring was a colt by Alphabet Soup. Galairis was stakes placed winning five times from 42 starts, a maiden and 4 allowance races. He was in the money 22 times in 42 starts for a 52% in the money percentage while earning $185k over his career. His top speed figure was a 107 and he would post fourteen 100 plus speed figures in his career. Another successful offspring for Bold Statement and he was a lot of fun to run.
After the first two solid runners I decided to go with a higher priced sire in Stormy Atlantic. This mare, Nepteter, was not very good. She would get two wins from 21 starts but was not very fast, and disappointing all things considered.
Her fourth offspring was bred by the other co owner of the mare. This trainer chose Touch Gold as a sire and has been a solid claiming type. 2 wins 6 places and 6 shows from 28 starts. She has a couple of 90+ speed figures but no allowance wins at this time. This is a pretty solid bp earner but not quite a success.
I bred her next to Came Home. She is winless from 15 starts. She has hit the board in 8 of her 15 starts seeming to prefer turf. I lost her to a claim, and the next owner donated her to the cpu pool so she sits there now as a four year old. While I do not think she is or has the potential to be a successful breeding she did bring in some breeding points for the stable.
This last year I sent her to Holy Bull. This filly is now a three year old and not doing all that well. She has just one third place finish in six starts with slow speed figures.
Bold Statement seemed well on her way to becoming a productive brood mare but her last few offspring have been disappointing. I think it is interesting that probably the two cheapest sires bred to her produced her best runners. I also find a little interesting that her runners collectively have a 46% in the money percentage which is not too bad especially considering one of the runners is 3 for 21 and another 1 for 6. If I get a chance to breed to her this year I will likely look for a mid tier sire on the lower end that is not from the Northern Dancer or Mr. Prospector lines. I may seriously consider using Malibu Moon or Alphabet Soup again.
The Big Ask – ( Esperero x Prince of Fame x His Majesty)
This mare ran fifty eight times and along the way was a three time stakes winner with ten total wins earning $247k. Two of her stakes wins were at two miles, and the other was at ten and a half furlongs on the turf. She never really ran huge speed figures with her best being a 98 and most of her runs earning figures in the 80’s. So I was not quite sure what this mare might do as a brood mare.
Her first offspring was Ask Not by Sulamani. At the time Sulamani was priced more as a mid tier sire than his current bargain sire status. This colt liked the turf and ran ok in routes but was better in sprints. He ran sixty times and with six wins, nine places and five shows. I had him for his first forty- eight starts, he won two allowance races and was good in high level claimers breaking the 100 speed figure mark a couple of times. His lifetime in the money was not all that great at 33% but that has been affected by his getting older having not hit the board in his final twelve starts. He earned $131k over his career a pretty solid runner and successful offspring.
Her second offspring was Resist the Urge by Bahri. Again Bahri was more mid tier priced at the time. This horse ran forty- six times with five wins, five places and six shows. He ran several times on the dirt but was best on the turf. He was much like his mamma. He liked going longer distances, and while not popping big speed figures managed to stay competitive. He managed to get one allowance win and earned $130k during his career. This one was a successful offspring.
Her third offspring was Saxon by Rainbow Quest. Decided to go with a top tier sire for her the third time around. This horse ran thirty-seven times with four wins, two places and three shows. Despite the dam liking long distances and Rainbow Quest’s stamina this runner preferred to sprint. Late as a three year old and early as a four year old was when he was running best consistently running in the 90’s and had one 100 speed figure. He earned two allowance wins during that time but really failed to stay consistent after that and was claimed when he hit the low claiming ranks. He earned $63k during his career. In a way he was partially successful but just was not consistent enough to label an over all success.
Given her solid success I went with Kitten’s Joy with her fourth offspring. A young sire but one that likely has talent to pass on to an offspring. To my surprise Ask the Cat preferred the dirt. So far just twenty-six career starts only one win, eight places and three shows. He was claimed from me after his win and while his career record does not look all that great he was a BP earner. He had a couple of races where he earned 40+ bps because of placing in back to back maiden claimers. So while not a success he was not totally useless either.
With her next offspring I stayed with a high mid tier, low top tier sire in Cape Cross. Cape Ask is just four years old with sixteen starts, two wins, four places and three shows. He likes the turf and appears to be her fastest offspring to date. He has one allowance win and $46k in earnings so far. He has posted consistent 90+ speed figures and two of his last three races have resulted in 100+ speed figures. This one seems on his way to becoming a successful offspring.
Her newest offspring is a three year old now by Shamardal. He has just four starts and so far not looking all that great. Three starts on turf, I just tried him on the dirt and the needle is not moving up.
The Big Ask is a successful broodmare. Three of her progeny fit in the mold of successful offspring. Another had a few wins and was almost there and another while a one time winner racked up BPs in maiden claiming races. Her newest is her worst I think but over all a pretty nice brood mare I hope to continue breeding.
Cantankerous T – (Canyon Creek x Lion D’Or x Native Royalty)
This grizzled mare ran sixty three times winning seven times with running in the money twenty five times over all. She earned $190k on the track mostly sprinting on the dirt with an occasional stakes appearance placing twice in stakes. Her speed figures were solid with a few 100+ speed figures, her top being 107. She was claimed after the original article to add to the band of bargain broodmares.
She started off well with her offspring. Her first offspring was a colt by Holy Bull. This colt was bred as a three year old and hit the ground running. He has won eight times from forty four starts including a stakes win earning $181k so far. His top speed figure was a 112 and has run several 100+ over his career. He is seven now still running mid 90’s speed figures although not as competitive but a successful offspring for Cantankerous T
Her second offspring was by Devil His Due. He got started late as a two year old and was solid in the beginning. He steadily improved and has been a solid allowance horse winning four times from forty starts. He has three allowance wins to his credit and has run a 100+ speed figure here and there. He has a couple of turf starts that were solid but has mostly been a dirt sprint allowance horse. He was fifth in his one stakes try while earning $93k overall. I would consider this breeding as a success even though his earnings are a little lower. So the first two runners were good for Cantankerous T.
Since her first two took to the dirt sprinting I looked at sires that had that kind of success in real life. With her third offspring I chose Posse. She only ran twelve times and honestly I probably should have kept her around a bit longer. She only managed one win and a couple of thirds. That win was in her debut and I decided to step her into graded company for her second start and she fell flat. In a way I wonder if that had an effect on her poor career. For some reason I kept her in allowances and honestly I am not sure why. It may have been because in general there is a lack of races for fillies and just not a lot of claiming options. I only ran her once as a four year old in a $25k claimer which is the lowest level she ran. Maybe if given some more time she would have proven a little more competitive in the lower claiming ranks.
With her fourth offspring I went with Cherokee Run again thinking this would be a good match for her. Only seven starts, no wins top speed figure was a 68. I made another breeding mistake and donated this one to the cpu pool instead of another runner. Still I am not sure this one would have done much.
With her last offspring I went with Orientate. This three year old filly has no wins from six starts and does not look any better than the last two. She ran a seventy speed figure once but really has not shown much.
In looking back I think Cantankerous T produces late blooming offspring. She ran her best races as a four year old. Her first offspring was bred in December of his three year old season so virtually got started as a four year old. Her second offspring bloomed late as a three year old and ran his best as a four year old. With her next two offspring I never gave them a chance to run as four year olds. So with her three year old I will probably lay her off the summer and bring her back in the fall and run her as a four year old. Cantankerous T started off with a bang and has fizzled since. Still two good offspring, one a stakes winner, from a bargain mare is solid production.
Part Two Wrap Up
This group of ten mares had some solid success as broodmares. I am not convinced all of them are worthy of breeding every year because some mares are just not going to produce. Most of the mares in this group however seemed to be the type that could produce solid useful runners and I will continue to breed many of them. They can be solid building blocks for newer stables, and a lot of fun for older players to experiment with.
I claimed all of these mares with the intent of this experiment. After I was into the experiment I started to look at my own mid to lower priced mares and look at some of their offspring. Next week I will take a look at a couple of my mares and draw some conclusions from what has happened so far. Till next time.
