Scot , That is very clever !I'll have to try that ! On your last blog you were talking about Awesome Of Course , sire of Awesome Feather. Anyways, I had just read that the Florida Stallion , Congrats had been relocated to Kentucky  ! I knew that was coming like a freight train ! Awesome of Course could very well be the next ! This must be frustrating to Florida breeders ! I can understand why the stallion owners would do this ! The stallions have earned their right to better mares and of course, the money !

Pedigree Shelly..."the stallions have earned their right to better mares..." Really?  

Perhaps you should look at it this way.  It is the hard knockin', blue-collar Florida mares, coupled with some of the best horsemen & women in the world, that have "made" many of the stallions now standing in KY.  Let's take a look recent stallion transplants such as Exchange Rate, Yes It's True, Successful Appeal, Song & A Prayer, Macho Uno, Repent.  These stallions were towards the top of their class without the benefit of "better mares."  Yet, since they've been in KY, has any of them truly excelled with "better mares," or have they actually regressed?  

It seems Wildcat Heir has done well enough without the benefit of "better mares."  

There are many reasons why it is unfortunate Congrats is leaving for KY, which should be the topic for another blog, but...we Florida breeders just ask that you honor what we started,(again), and we certainly hope that the "better mares" don't screw him up.

By the way, Florida breds won 3 of the Breeders Cup races, including a sweep of the top 3 finishers in the juvenile fillies race.  Not bad.

Couldn't agree with you more BridleOaks. Look at Matsadoon and Skywalker after they left California. A stallion that suits one population of mares doesn't necessarily suit another population.

And let's face it, Congrats et. al. aren't going to get the G1 winners, dams of G1 winners, SW sisters to G1 winners. They will get the unplaced daughters of unraced half-sisters to the good stuff, the possible dead-end lines of the female family. Not always an upgrade of the book in moving to Kentucky.

The decision to move Congrats is a very recent one.  From what I see, the announcement came on the heels of Malibu Moon's rise in stud fee.  If they had not moved him up, I think Congrats would have stayed right here, along with Mr Sykes' mares in the mix of a full book.  $60,000 is still going to be a stretch for a lot of breeders, so why not go to a very similarly bred, similarly built individual for a quarter of the price.  Thank you Bridle Oaks for sticking up for our mares down here.  I have worked with some of the best broodmares in the world, but Florida mares have a certain tenacity about them that seems to get the job done when building a foundation for a stallion.

          I did't mean to insult Any Florida Breeders ! I'm just stating the facts ! Anytime a stallion does well in Florida they seem to end up in Kentucky ! Mr. Prospector is the first to come to mind ! Then Kris S ,Exchange Rate , Northern Afleet , Stormy Atlantic , In Reality ,Etc etc ! I'ts not just Florida , what about Maryland and Malibu Moon ? Once Malibu Moon went to Spendthrift he exploded with such fillies as Life At Ten and Devil May Care ! I just don't think he would have done "that" well in Maryland ! I had lived in Florida for 20yrs , till i recently moved to SE Indiana ! Indiana breds were totally unheard of, let alone any Indiana Bred on the national racing  scene ! Thanks to Casino's and Slots , Indiana has an excellent chance of moving forwards ! I think Florida Breds are tough durable horses that out-run their pedigrees ! I have respect for them ! I am slowly trying to get into the breeding program in Indiana. I aquired my first broodmare last year ( Wasted Words by Honour and Glory out of a Summer Squall mare ) Unfortunately due to the financial situation and the economy I was unable to see it through :( In these tough times I respect all breeders !! Sincerely , Shelly

At least none of you guys read this as "how to add dogYEARS to your catalogue".

ty...WISE GUY!!!...BACK...BACK...BACK...

         Scot , Maybe you can help ? I'm trying to get the Keeneland Sales results but , not having much luck :( I can get book one but the others are giving me a hard time ! I'm curious to see what the mares I "picked" out brought at auction  ? Any info about hip 3784 ?

• Scot's reply: Shelley, the Keeneland results tool (http://apps.keeneland.com/data/salesumm.asp?saleid=201103) has two drop-down menus in the upper right. For the first, you can select the session you want--it's default is "Session 1" but you can select another session or "All Sessions."  The other menu is to choose another sale.  Hip 3784 won't go through the ring until Thursday the 18th.  (You can keep track of withdrawn hips in the "outs" page:  http://apps.keeneland.com/livesales/outs.asp)

         Scot , Well , I finally found out what hip # 3784 brought ! I figured Scaife Road would bring somewhere between 10 to 20 k . I had picked out some other mares as well. I think Scaife Road will be a productive addition to any broodmare band at a reasonable price !

great idea.  I love the sales (timonium).  I can use this tip to see when to take a bathroom break.

"Once Malibu Moon went to Spendthrift he exploded with such fillies as Life At Ten and Devil May Care ! I just don't think he would have done "that" well in Maryland!"

Got it backwards. Malibu Moon went to Spendthrift precisely because he exploded in Maryland, with 13% SWs in his first three crops including an Eclipse winner in his second crop in Declan's Moon.