A Value and Bargain Breeding Reflection.

I wanted to discuss my own value and bargain breeding results from the past year. The idea was to take a look at my own horses I bred for a fairly low cost, and see just how effective my value breeding has been.

More often than not I bred a lot of duds. Sometimes I think this was due to bad luck, and other times I think I could have simply put more time into the planning of the new horse’s pedigree.

I have had some successes though worth noting. Probably the most notable is my horse Dark Ritual which will run in Equinics this coming Saturday. I also had some success with a Future Storm sired horse named Infernal Darkness which I bred late last year. Many of my horses the jury is still out on, but here is a look at some of my successes and what I was thinking when I bred them.

Dark Ritual (O’Reilly x Cape Cross x Conquistador Cielo)

Bio: Dark Ritual has run three races and won two with speeds of 75, and 76 in both his wins. The 76 came in a regular stakes win. Dark Ritual is a turf running two year old that at worse appears capable of winning regular stakes.

My Plan: It was early in the year and I was studying sire stats from Australia. It was clear O’Reilly was doing well at stud, with some real nice runners in real life to boot. At the time I wasn’t really sure what nicks I should be looking at, and in hindsight that was probably a good thing. I figured O’Reilly might have gotten a boost with his success being hard not to notice. His stud fee had also hit 60k.

I knew Cape Cross was all over the place in the Eastern Hemisphere and doing very well, so I simply took a shot with him as dam sire, as he was a cheap option too. I have always liked MR. P. influence and Conquistador Cielo gave my backend that, and kept things turfy. The breeding in all cost me 298 credits and despite it not making waves in the chat room I gave it a shot.

Conclusion: Regardless of what happens in Equinics this week I am very pleased. I paid $2.98 for a horse that has given me a ton of enjoyment already. This I think is a great example of how studying potential sire upgrades may help you with breeding early in the year. I tried several more O’Reilly’s but they didn’t pan out, but nonetheless it appears O’Reilly was in fact poised to kick out at least one good runner.

Over the Andes (Noverre x Interprete x Never Bend)

Bio: Over the Andes has only raced once and finished 2^nd with a 68. The two year old shows good early promise and has somewhat similar breeding to stand out runner Invasor.

My Plan: I was searching through a list of the top 100 North American broodmare sires list when I came to Interprete. Interprete mares hadn’t foaled many offspring in 2008, but the few foaled managed to win at a very good rate. Considering Interprete could be bred extremely cheap, I figured I would give him a shot, so I started with just Intereprete. I then looked at progeny of interprete’s. It was tough because there wasn’t much to go on, but Invasor stood out for sure. I knew Invasor was foaled from an Interprete mare, so I took a closer look at his pedigree. Candy Stripes sired Invasor and Candy Stripes was sired by Blushing Groom with Northern Dancer on his dam’s side.

I found Noverre who occasionally sires a nice runner, and is cheap. Noverre is sired by Rahy, and Blushing Groom is his dam’s dam sire. I also liked the fact that Noverre’s dam sire was Northern Dancer. I was bringing back into the mix the Blushing Groom and Northern Dancer lines that I was sure made Invasor such a good runner, but my clone wasn’t so close that it might get some “clone jinx”. Never Bend seemed like a solid DDS I could bring into the mix for some quality.

Conclusion: So far Over the Andes has only the one nice debut. Do I think he will be a star? Probably not, but I do think he can earn well for a while. It’s still too early to tell but early indications are positive. I am high on the horse from an earning standpoint. The horse was fairly cheap to breed, and may be a good example of how a lot of research, and time can pay off.

Infernal Darkness (Future Storm x Bustino x Kennedy Road)

Bio: Infernal Darkness debuted in late November of 2007 breaking maidens with a 77 speed figure at six furlongs. He then ran two months later and finished 2^nd in Global Runners two year old dirt division Owner restricted allowance race at seven furlongs with an 82 in the slop. Two months later in early February of 2008 I ran him in the The Sadler’s Mills Special at eight furlongs. The field was light with five runners and Infernal Darkness ran a respectable 84 finishing six and a quarter lengths back. After three races in which he finished 4^th twice he showed me a glimmer of hope when I moved him to 11 furlongs on dirt with a 3^rd place finish and a 93 speed. I got a little impatient to see him run again and ran him on short rest again at 11 furlongs. The result was an abysmal 7^th place finish and a 79 speed. After eight races Infernal Darkness has a win, a second, and a third. He has earned $22,100.

My Plan: Dark Ritual was about as simple a breeding I could do. I had been checking the random breds, and there he was. I was curious about breeding him, so I gave it a shot. I like to check the random breds on occasion. I rarely breed random breds, but I like to keep an eye on my options. I have on at least one occasion seen a random bred I liked better with a different DDS. Sometimes I take an idea from there and go with it. A good place to keep an eye on for potential bargains.

Conclusion: The horse was bred with very little investment. It has won me a contest horse already, and has given me some minor thrills. The jury is still out on this Future Storm, but if he likes longer he may be up for some good things in the future. He is relatively light raced and seems to enjoy an off track. I may take advantage of that in the future. I will continue to lightly race Infernal Darkness as this approach seems best for him. I am optimistic Infernal Darkness will turn out to be a very solid distance horse so long as I get back to lightly racing him. He is truly a nice example of why you should check random bred’s out on occasion.

Penny  (Henny Hughes x Afleet x Hawkin’s Special)

and

Siege of Boston  (Squirtle Squirt x Boston Harbor x Relaunch)

Bios: Penny has one start and has broke maidens with a 70 speed rating while Siege of Boston has run twice finishing 3^rd, and then 2^nd with speeds of 66 and 69 respectively on dirt.

My Plan: Both of these breedings were done during the last big sale when breedings costing 500 or less were half off. Penny was maybe bred a bit too soon, but nonetheless I managed to get a Henny Hughes sired baby for 250 credits. I knew Mr. P. line should work fine with Henny Hughes, so I gave Afleet who is sired by Mr. Prospector a shot.

The DDS was very random. I simply wanted a cheap DDS to get me under the 500 number. I researched hard to find a DDS that was obscure, cheap, and had produced some solid results. Hawkin’s Special was just the DDS I was looking for. He was cheap with 5% stakes winners, and 20% for 3+ allowances wins. He seemed okay to me, so I took my chances.

Siege of Boston was bred with one thing in mind, Speed! I wanted a two year old sprinter who would burn up the track. I also wanted that two year old to be cheap, and Squirtle Squirt was a logical sire. I knew Boston Harbor may like being paired with Squirtle Squirt, and I figured Relaunch wasn’t going to hurt. The breeding was easily under the 500, and at half off was little investment.

Conclusion: As with many of my runners it is too early to tell, but both horses show signs of some earning potential. Both were cheaply bred, and Penny in particular looks to show real good potential. I paid under five bucks for two promising two year olds. Neither will likely be stars, but both should be solid earners, at least in the short term.

Overall Conclusion:

Due to the tendency for me to breed mostly two year olds that I lightly race; results are somewhat still inconclusive. I also left out a lot of fine runners who were bred costing between 500 and 1000. I hope this piece helps give food for thought for a lot of newer players still exploring the breeding aspect of the game. I know this reflection has been useful to me in evaluating how I have approached breeding myself.

Many of my bargains have been abysmal bust despite using sires I was certain were primed to put a nice runner on the track. A lot of those horses were bred with excellent pedigrees and nicks in mind, but only a fraction of very cheaply bred horses were successful at all. I did prove that good value sires at mid level’s can work out really nicely. The sales seem to be great places to get some very fine runners, and are in fact worth taking advantage of. I also find that early in the year is a great time to find a hidden gem.

Random breds are worth keeping an eye on since they come at a 50% discount. They also often get you thinking about sires you may have not thought about using before. On occasion you will find a nice breeding there. I also explored the idea of trying some very cheap bargain DDS options this year, and the early results are promising.

A lot of the best value using cheaper or mid level sires seems to come from sires that have had some real life success. By taking your time and putting a good deal of research into your breedings you can breed some very nice cheap horses. Sometimes ones you are sure will be duds, do wonderful, and other times the ones you think will do great flop. A certain amount of randomness occurs just as in real life. There is no substitute for studying nicks, and recent real life history of sires in conjunction with what has worked well in the sim. With careful planning you too can breed some fine stakes runners with limited credits. Good luck to everyone n Equinics this week, and to all the viewers enjoy!