Guest Blog: An Old Fashioned Kind of Party

re: Guest Blog: An Old Fashioned Kind of Party

Crystal — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 00:15:19 GMT

Sound..unsound...fragile...durable...words, nothing but words. There are arguments a mile long for potential sire that made when they shouldn't have and didn't make it when they should have. Time will tell with Old Fashioned as with any young stallion. All I know is he is in the hands of some brilliant horsemaen with Taylor Made. Good Luck with him!!

re: Guest Blog: An Old Fashioned Kind of Party

aspradling — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 16:08:23 GMT

"I would go for Einstein in a heart beat."

You bet Karen, and with his fee starting as low as it is...how could you not try him? Three surfaces, second to Curlin on dirt, and I need not mention his turf abilities.

re: Guest Blog: An Old Fashioned Kind of Party

Footlick — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 23:46:03 GMT

I'm sad people would rather shift away from a stallion who throws brilliant but fragile horses instead of trying to figure out how to breed sounder horses from him. People used to try to figure out how to breed to a stallion who's progeny shows as much talent as Unbridled Song's do.. I guess they don't anymore. It must be too much work for the modern breeder.

As for Einstein, he's a Spend a Buck, so don't know really how well he's going to do historically in the breeding shed. He was sound and durable and versatile though.

re: Guest Blog: An Old Fashioned Kind of Party

mr.ruffian — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 21:55:50 GMT

Jason, is it true Zenyatta is coming back??

re: Guest Blog: An Old Fashioned Kind of Party

longwaytomay — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 21:51:20 GMT

I see that the connections of Zenyatta have announced that she will race in 2010!! Gee, I wonder who everyone would like to see her race against. IMHO if they race on dirt, anything under 1 1/8 then Rachel will win. 1 1/8 is a toss-up and anything over 1 1/8 Zenyatta will win. I can't wait.

re: Guest Blog: An Old Fashioned Kind of Party

Karen in Indiana — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 21:29:05 GMT

Or to look at it another way: Old Fashioned - unproven sire, 6-4-2-0 record, $583,280 in earnings, retired after less than a year due to injury; Einstein - unproven sire, 30-11-4-4 record, $2,945,238 in earnings, retired after 6 years due to injury. Both have good bloodlines.

re: Guest Blog: An Old Fashioned Kind of Party

Karen in Indiana — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 21:21:24 GMT

If I had a mare to breed and only had 2 choices - Unbridled's Song who is proven to throw brilliant, but fragile horses or Einstein - unproven sire, but sturdy himself with a LOT of heart and a very good race record and bloodlines, I would go for Einstein in a heart beat.

re: Guest Blog: An Old Fashioned Kind of Party

Tiznowbaby — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 21:12:26 GMT

Charlie, are you breeding to race or breeding to sell? I am curious.

Off topic, but Einstein is someone I really hope makes it in the breeding shed. I know he's not "sexy," like the early-blooming, early flame-out 3YO stars, but he sure was durable.

re: Guest Blog: An Old Fashioned Kind of Party

Mike Relva — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 18:18:41 GMT

AFLEET ALEX FOREVER

You will be shocked,but I agree. Old Fashioned is one of my favs.

re: Guest Blog: An Old Fashioned Kind of Party

AnneM — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 17:04:06 GMT

When ever someone mentions Unbridled's Song offspring -The only things that come to mind are unsound and early retirement. You can check out the stats - the average starts are really low and injuries abound. Can someone please explain to me why people go to this horse rather than a stallion that can produce sound offspring which can be in training at least 7 or 8 months without some sort of injury.

re: Guest Blog: An Old Fashioned Kind of Party

Greg J. — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 16:12:53 GMT

Jason,

I agree, Gulfstream is a stunning place to go. I was there last year for the first time, What an amazing place to enjoy a day at the races! If you get a chance, Keep your eye on the #1 colt in race #9 this Wednesday the 20th, That is all I will say...

On a side note, With the Eclipse Awards coming up on Monday, I wanted to give everybody here a chance at owning a piece of History. Zenyatta's Halter is up for auction on E-Bay with ALL the proceeds going to help the horses at Southern California Thoroughbred Rescue(SCTR). Zenyatta's Connections are amazing for helping the horses with their donation of this Incredible Item! Here is the link to both E-Bay and SCTR's Website, Thank You for looking and Remember, This is a chance at owning the Halter(With amazing Photos!) of the Two-Time Breeders' Cup Champion, The Undefeated Zenyatta!

Zenyatta's Halter:

cgi.ebay.com/Zenyatta-Halter-plus-Photos_W0QQitemZ250563245212QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUS_SM_Fan_Shop

Southern California Thoroughbred Rescue(SCTR) Website:

http://www.sctbrescue.org/

Thanks Jason for letting me post this!

re: Guest Blog: An Old Fashioned Kind of Party

sweet_tea — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 15:48:00 GMT

Rockport Harbor was not unsound. He had an injury that was related to getting stepped on by another horse in a race. This was the only "issue" he ever had.

The other horse's hoof took a chunk of meat out of Rockport Harbor's hind foot - near where the hoof and skin meet. This took a long time to heal, due to how deep it was. And even after it healed, it had such deep scar tissue that the wound opened up again when he raced, due to the movement of the hoof opening the deep scar that was weaker than the surrounding tissue. This is not a genetic soundness issue that will be passed on.

re: Guest Blog: An Old Fashioned Kind of Party

Charlie — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 15:02:07 GMT

Having purchased a lifetime breeding right in Old Fashioned I hope you "experts" are wrong and Rob Whitely is right!

re: Guest Blog: An Old Fashioned Kind of Party

SSA — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 14:23:29 GMT

Mr. Fantasy update: At Palm Meadows with new trainer Mike Hushion doing fine. Will be back on the official work tab in 2 weeks.

re: Guest Blog: An Old Fashioned Kind of Party

longwaytomay — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 13:56:39 GMT

Draynay,

You are moving May 1st? Don't you have something more important to do that day?

re: Guest Blog: An Old Fashioned Kind of Party

EMD — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 09:59:04 GMT

I visited Pamplemousse early morning the Thur. before Breeders Cup. Julio was considering sending him to Utah to continue his rehab, something about the cold weather being good for the healing. He's a real sweetie, kind of like a big puppy dog, and couldn't get enought of the loving on him.

re: Guest Blog: An Old Fashioned Kind of Party

Paseana — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 09:17:54 GMT

I have never been able to understand the continuing love affair going on out there with Unbridled's Song and his sons. I was horribly out of touch with racing for 3 years in the middle 90's, when Unbridled's Song was running, so I never experienced him. But he must have had a huge impact on people.

Dunkirk brought $3.7M as a yearling, and how many Dunkirks is it going to take before buyer/breeders wake up to reality?

Apparently, it hasn't sunk in yet. Rockport Harbor, who was about the most unsound creature since Bhuddah, who was just recently exported to Argentina, sired 118 reported foals in his first season at stud! They are foals of 2008, and will represent their sire's freshman season as 2yos of 2010. Either Rick Porter has a huge broodmare band, or breeders generally are suffering a big disconnect here, and I think it's likely the latter.

I just don't get it.

re: Guest Blog: An Old Fashioned Kind of Party

Footlick — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 05:23:44 GMT

Edward- We'll see if he can be a success in the shed or not. I don't think he hit a wall with his potential, but probably the distances were getting a little challenging for him. I think his appeal is that his sire gets such precociously brilliant animals year after year that there is hope he will too. Only time will tell if he is a flop or not. And only time will tell if breeders can figure out how to get a sound brilliant horse out of Unbridled Song. I'm hoping for Winslow Homer, but we'll see.

re: Guest Blog: An Old Fashioned Kind of Party

afleetalexforever — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 04:25:32 GMT

Thank you for giving us this trip down memory lane. Old Fashioned is and will always be one of my favorite race horses and I for one enjoyed every minute of the ride down the derby prep trail with Old Fashioned and his owner Rick Porter and Fox Hill Farm. As a fan it is incredible how the internet brings us closer to the game, and by means of the FHF website www.rockportharbor.com we were able to track his progress going forward towards the Derby. One of the greatest thrills was being at Oaklawn Park last year on SouthWest Stakes day after his win in that race, Mr. Porter allowed those of us there to see Old Fashioned win the priviledge of being in the winner's circle photo. It was an amazing thing to think back on. As we entered the Winner's Circle at Oaklawn Park I thought back to my great grandfather who loved horse racing, and how he would have the biggest grin on his face if he knew that I was in the winner's circle with the top rated horse on the Kentucky Derby Trail.

Never had I anticipated a horse's every move (well with the exception of Curlin & Afleet Alex) but Old Fashioned was a very impressive horse, its unfortunate that he wasnt able to prove his greatness on into his 4 year old campaign.

re: Guest Blog: An Old Fashioned Kind of Party

Edward — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 00:39:01 GMT

Seems somewhat revisionist. OF looked like he hit the wall in terms of his potential and distance. Papa Clem and Win Willy haven't exactly lit the world on fire. Not sure why you would consider breeding to him even if you have a "stout" mare.

re: Guest Blog: An Old Fashioned Kind of Party

nonnonheinous — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 23:55:37 GMT

If The Pamplemousse was retired, no one said anything about it.

Last I heard he was getting anywhere from 6 months to one year off to recover from his soft tissue injury. That's the rub with tendon/ligament injuries, you need to give them lots of time to heal. Bones heal much faster and sometimes more completely. Tendons often never heal perfectly and are prone to re-injury.

Although I'm hopeful he'll make a solid recovery, as now we have stem cell therapy which greatly improved healing of tendons and ligaments, and I have to assume that he got such treatment, considering how valuable and talented he is. They would want to give him the best shot at completely healing. I would if he were my horse!

In a few more months, it'll have been 1 year since he got hurt. I imagine we'll hear something official soon.

He was such a cool horse, hope he comes back as good as he was last year.

re: Guest Blog: An Old Fashioned Kind of Party

Dave — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 23:41:55 GMT

ALB Mr. Fantasy has started to gallop and should start breezing in about 2 weeks. The owners have a blog that regularly gives updates about mr. fantasy.

waytintotheraces.blogspot.com

and here is some video of him galloping at palm meadows.

www.youtube.com/watch

re: Guest Blog: An Old Fashioned Kind of Party

CRIMINAL TYPE — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 23:40:01 GMT

As a long time fan of Unbridled's sing and his babies, the months before last years derby were awesome for me. General Quarters, Old fashioned, Midshipman & The Pamplemousse (I know he is by Kafwain, but out of an Unbridleds Song mare). I for one am glad someone finally gave up some information on The Pamplemousse. I was very hot on Old Fashioned until I saw The Pamplemousse run, then said to myself, that one will give Old Fashioned a run for his money. I watched his OBS workout on youtube a 100 times, in awe. He has a strange way of going, but he can get there in a hurry. Too bad we didnt get to see what OF & The Mousse were capable of the first saturday in May. While I am a big fan of Unbridled's Song there is no way you can discount the soundness issues. However that being said, consider Unbridled Elaine, Agnes Sonic, Octave, Thorn Song, Even the Score, Domestic Dispute, Unbridled Sidney, Eurosilver. My point is, there are many of his offspring that have had great success. It could also be an issue with the dam. I do know Unbridled's Song is 17 hands and it is harder to keep a bigger horse sound. In this case bigger is without a doubt, not better.

re: Guest Blog: An Old Fashioned Kind of Party

Carlos in Cali — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 23:19:06 GMT

Right on Jason,thx.I thought I read that info somewhere.

Figured out how much 'funds' you're going to ante-up on your boy Favre..er, the Vikings this weekend?... :)

re: Guest Blog: An Old Fashioned Kind of Party

josue555 — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 22:43:46 GMT

I will breed to him, a mare that could do 1 1/8 to 1 1/4 and if the foal comes out a miler their is always a chances to place or show in the derby and always the haskell, the whitney, the breeders cup dirt mile. you don't have to be a classic runner to win hoy.