4,3,2,1 now give birth!

[njcurveball]

When I was a student of breeding in the 80s with aspirations of being an owner, it seemed that it was a NO NO to have a foal born before March. Most farms targeted the births for late April, early May.

Since I was in the Northeast, this made sense. Now with the help of a cross-post using a Big Mack link we see they cannot wait to get the baby out of the mare once the ball drops.

http://www.heraldleaderphoto.com/multimedia/smarty/baby.html

I think most of us will logically reason this is to have an advantage in the young races. 2 or 3 months of maturity can make a big difference in even 3 year old stakes races.

Is this a trend we will see much more and if so, are we circumventing nature? Maybe something that will have an effect on the breed?

We have great PED numbers, I wonder if someday they will somehow be effected by the maturity of the horse?

Jim

[km]

Good point Jim: rush delivery!

Although we wish they would adopt the European methods of patience and lighter racing schedules for young horses, it would seriously impact field size in this country with so many tracks running. Cheap 2yr and 3yr are cannon fodder for filling the card. This urgent need to get thoroughbreds bred quickly and ready to race ASAP has to be destructive to the breed in terms of soundess. Not to mention all the in-breeding that goes on.

AP INDY offspring are the best example of the opposite. They take awhile to mature and definitely excel at longer distances as they get older. That corresponds to huge PED ratings for AP INDY runners in route races and dozens of Gr Stakes earners. On the other hand, he may be the 'perfect storm' as a sire = Seattle Slew out of a Secretariat mare :eek:

[tomcat]

Age, maturity and sex also count at the sales. When assessing the conformity and breeding it is a must to consider the age. A large mature looking yearing may be just an early Feb colt.

[njcurveball]

Or perhaps even an early JANUARY colt. :p

[overdog]

I notice the little filly has all four feet white!

Not a good sign. Hoove/foot problems and tendency to laminitis is a fair bit higher with white hooves. While careful attention to detail by her connections can mitigate the risk, lets hope she has a great career.

overdog

a.k.a. Fraser Rawlinson

[DanG]

I notice the little filly has all four feet white!

Not a good sign. Hoove/foot problems and tendency to laminitis is a fair bit higher with white hooves. While careful attention to detail by her connections can mitigate the risk, lets hope she has a great career.

overdog

a.k.a. Fraser Rawlinson
That’s interesting Fraser…

I’ve never heard that before.

[tomcat]

"white foot, bad foot"