Open Forum (4571)

We continue a look at sons of Deputy Minister that can be had for a bargain price and offer some real value. Open Forum is well known in the Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma region of the country. He is always near the top of the list of top sires in Texas. He has a stamina heavy pedigree but produces two year olds that run well.

Real Life- Open Forum is by Deputy Minister. His dam sire is Graustark and his dam’s dam sire is Summer Tan. Open Forum has a low dosage index of 0.82. Do not let that fool you though his runners end up with nice speed and it really shows in his two year olds. Open Forum ran ten times lifetime with three wins and three places. His big win was the Risen Star as a three year old.

He has sired twenty stakes runners to date with just six crops of runners on the track. He has eight stakes winners in that mix as well. He had a two year old filly that just dominated her competition at the Lone Star meet and she will likely be a force in the region over the next year or more. He is producing well despite not being bred back to the Mr. Prospector line.

Dam sires like Meadowlake, Mt. Livermore and Ogygian have all produced one stakes winner and multiple winners. The Blushing Groom line has produced another stakes winner through Runaway Groom and that is a popular cross with Deputy Minister.

Sim Life – Open Forum has forty-seven active runners in the sim. Three of those are stakes winners and one is a graded stakes winner. He is one of those sim sires that is only producing about fifteen runners a year. He does not have a stakes winner from his last three crops of runners so his stakes runners are nearing the end of their careers.

Tow of his three stakes winners were inbred to Northern Dancer 4X4. In one case a grandson of Northern Dancer, Raconteur, was used and in the other case Northern Dancer was the dam sire of the dam sire North Prospect. In all three cases Mr. Prospector showed up in the pedigree. None of that is real surprising as inbreeding to Northern Dancer and crossing a Northern Dancer line sire with Mr. Prospector are very successful with most sires.

One angle that seems to work with Deputy Minister is crossing him with Secretariat. I do not see an active runner with that cross. Also crossing Deputy Minister with Seattle Slew and there is only one current runner with that cross who is a two year old. The dam sire North Prospect has been used four times with one stakes winner, an allowance winner, another that has recorded a couple of 99 speed figures, one less than average runner. 

Open forum will produce the odd turf horse in the sim but for the most part he produces dirt runners, some are good sprinters but more of them are solid route runners.

Breeding Suggestions –  Lots of ways to go and I think a combination of what has worked in real life with what has worked already in the sim makes sense. I really like adding the Blushing Groom (FR) line to Open Forum. Damascus seems like another line that will blend well here. Dam sires like Meadowlake, Mt. Livermore and Ogyian all seem to make good choices.

From the sim do not leave out inbreeding to Northern Dancer or crossing with Mr. Prospector. Also look at a couple of traditional mixes with Secretariat and Seattle Slew and we have many sires here to choose from.

From the Blushing Groom (FR) line I like several sire choices including Blushing Groom (FR) himself. Blushing John, Candy Stripes, Crystal Glitters, Jallad, Mt. Livermore, Nashwan, Runaway Groom, Arazi, and even one of his more expensive sons Rahy.

Secretariat has a nice selection of dam sires besides himself like Risen Star, Academy Award, General Assembly, Pancho Villa, and I like Tinner’s Way. However he might be better added with a dam sire that has Secretariat as the dam sire like Summer Squall, Honor Grades, Secreto, Sword Dance (IRE), Chiefs Crown, and Lion Cavern. Gone West and Storm Cat fit here but are expensive and may not be top choices for a lot of you.

 Seattle Slew has some nice choices with Slewpy, Slewacide, Seattle Song, Septieme Ciel, General Meeting, Capote, and Event of the Year. I like the Damascus line as well so let me throw out a few of those sires here like Accipiter, Crusader Sword, Cutlass, Desert Wine, Eastern Echo, Matsadoon, Ogygian, Private Account, and Timeless Moment.

Open Forum (4571) X Chiefs Crown (1109) X Gulch (2625)

Open Forum (4571) X Capote (966) X Private Account (4964)

Open Forum (4571) X Mt. Livermore (4165) X Secreto (5684)

Open Forum (4571) X Lion Cavern (3534) X Seattle Song (5661) 

Bargain Bred – Open Forum is priced to breed as a bargain. There are some solid bargain sires to pair him with to get a solid runner.

Open Forum (4571) X Desert Wine (1622) X Candy Stripes (951)

What to Expect – Open Forum produces solid two year olds in real life. So far his sim two year olds do ok and I suspect he will produce runners ready to run at two. Some of his better runners took some time to develop here in the sim so if your runner does not hit the track running be patient. His runners are going to mostly prefer the dirt however he will throw the odd turf horse. Also stretch these runners out Deputy Minister is a the most overlooked source of stamina in any sire and most of Open Forums runner excel in route races.

 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!