Hap (14071)
This week we go to a younger sire. Hap was a very good runner and he is a son of Theatrical (IRE) a pretty darn good sire. So why is it in Hap’s three crops of racing age in the sim he has no stakes winners? That is the mystery we shall attempt to solve in the next few paragraphs.
Real Life- Hap is by Theatrical (IRE). His dam sire is Hagley and his dam’s dam sire is Boldnesian. Hap has a dosage index of 1.57 indicating a good deal of stamina. He was a very solid race horse winning ten of twenty starts. He never got that grade I win but was a six time graded stakes winner. He won stakes from a mile to a mile and an eighth. He was second in a couple of grade I races the most notable being the Arlington Million at a mile and a quarter. He did not start his career off until he was three and ran well at three, four and five.
His first real life crop will hit the track this year in 2006. As two year olds it will be interesting to see what kind of impact they have. I think his offspring could take a little time to develop but it would be no surprise to see him have success next year.
On the website at the farm he stands at they give a few recommendations. He pedigree makes for a great outcross to Mr. Prospector or Raise a Native line sires. Seattle Slew, Nasrullah through Blushing Groom and Never Bend , Bold Ruler, and a fee Turn-To line sires through Roberto or Hail to Reason.
Sim Life – Hap has only twenty-four active runners in the sim. He has no stakes winners to date from a total of forty-six runners. Hap only has five allowance winners from his current runners and all of them are from his first crop of sim runners. He has nineteen three and four year olds and not one allowance runner. With these kinds of statistics and results you have to wonder if Hap really is this bad.
He has been bred to some nice dam sires at first glance but lets take a closer look. Hap started his sim career around the same time as the introduction of retired mare breeding. Yes he is bred to Storm Cat and Kris S. but in both cases the mare used was not very good and neither has produced any runners of note. He is scratch bred to Mr. Prospector and that runner was solid but has not raced in over a year so who knows if that runner would have improved.
He was bred to a Sadler’s Wells mare and a Seattle Slew mare. Both mares were one time stakes winners but do not have good production as broodmares. Now this last year Hap was only bred to four times and by this time he has been mostly bargain bred.
You see in his runners that a majority of them run well enough to be very useful. You could maybe make the excuse he really has not been paired with good dam sires. From forty-six breedings he has only been paired with Mr. Prospector line sires three times? That is extremely low considering the popularity of the Mr. Prospector X Northern Dancer cross.
Breeding Suggestions – You have to put relevance into the recommendations put forth on the web site of the farm where he stands. Think Mr. Prospector or Raise a Native line sires. Gulch, Miswaki, Machiavellian and mentioned on the site. Seeking the Gold, Forty Niner, Woodman, Gone West, and Silver Ghost are other choices. Affirmed is one of my favorite dam sire pairings and fits here as well as Majestic Light. Alydar and a few of his sons seem to make sense.
Seattle Slew and Roberto line sires seem to make good matches with Hap. I always like adding Ribot where I can. Damascus, Blushing Groom, Never Bend, Zabeel, all seem good choices.
Northern Dancer does appear in the fourth generation of Hap’s offspring. Inbreeding to Northern Dancer is an option. Probably better done through the dam’s dam sire in this case or using a Mr. Prospector line dam sire that already has Northern Dancer in his pedigree.
The other interesting inbreeding is to Hail to Reason in the fifth generation of his offspring. Again I would probably choose to do this through the dam’s dam sire using a grandson of Hail to Reason like Dynaformer, Halo’s Image, Cure the Blues, Devil’s Bag, Kris. S, Lear Fan, Red Ransom, Saint Ballado, Silver Hawk, or Sunday Silence
Hap (14071) X Forty Niner (2270) X Lear Fan (3467)
Hap (14071) X Affirmed (83) X Nijinsky II (4344)
Hap (14071) X Thunder Gulch (6584) X His Majesty (2803)
Bargain Bred – At this point Hap is an excellent candidate for bargain breeding. Hap cost about 25-30 BPs at the end of the week. Paring him up with cheaper versions of the sires above is a good idea.
Hap (14071) X Turkoman (6813) X Sunny’s Halo (6346)
What to Expect – Hap is likely to produce later developing runners. That does not mean his two year olds will suck. They should be solid runners that blossom as three and four year olds. His runners run well on both surfaces and are probably a little better on turf. I think most of his runners will be route runners between a mile and a mile and a quarter. He should produce a few that go further as well. I think his sim status will start to turn around and his real life runners will help the cause when they hit the track.
As always if you have any questions, comments, or sire requests please drop me a line at mcbwildcat@aol.com. Be sure to reference the Breeding Corner. Good luck and good breeding!
