jess

Ha ha! He's a bit tricky that Winston, Dopey - just take tonight for example .... I reckon he's negotiated a cut from the advertising revenue during the 6pm news ...keeping us all waiting for a decision ... All the best, J

Thanks Dibbles for the info. Welcome Letham - Nigel/Adair/Hamish. Looks a stunning horse - and the temperament side of things is encouraging for breeders and must be great for you working with him on the stud. And as I said - I greatly admire that he is not only succeesful on the track - but durable - impying a tough, sound type. Racecafe would probably allow you to post his page or any info - I'd love to know something about his progeny - are the oldest ones 2 y/o? I have no mares for you in 2017 but I am interested in your horse for future seasons. Fantastic to have a stud post here in their own name - good on you Letham and best of luck with your new horse. We could well be doing business in the future. Kind regards, Jess

Oh I never said you'd done it Dopey - but I think you'll find it has been done! ...

Ha ha Dopey .... enjoying the quality horseflesh pics - but I'm not sure photo-shopping Winston into that last portrait does it for me ... ... funny though ... Why not challenge your photo-shopping skills and put one up with Winnie on board one of these fine steeds!

`morning Huey ... yes I see he is out of an NZ mare ... look forward to seeing his actual "page" as I couldn't find out too much using just the NZTR website ... PS: Dibbles I know! - but it's bloody expensive to transport to/from SI if you are in NI. And a daunting trip for in-foal mares or young foals especially. But I agree totally - the SI is very well served (no pun intended) by available sires currently and I'd have no trouble picking one if I was based down there .. Cheers, J

"Hot" is right if you go by looks - on the photos I've seen anyway ... very attractive horse. Wonder if the Aurets will consider sport horse mares - as if he's true to his photos he could be a good option there esp over a warmblood or warmblood cross mare .... Breeda - I am always impressed by durability and as you point out this fella sure had it. Given I know lots of sires don't get the opportunity to show it (set for a few key black type races as 2-4 y/o then retired to stud; job done ..) - it must say something about an individual that they race on successfully till that age. Phusically and mentally (temperament). And as an entire as well! Interesting to compare with other $5,000 options around this year like Wrote, Complacent, Vespa etc ... I wonder what how his young progeny are looking so far? And interesting to see he seems to have come from a stud which has a few stallions I recognised as having previously stood here in NZ! Would like to know more about the pedigree too - I'm pretty ignorant about US bloodlines and on a quick look couldn't find too much detail about the maternal line .. Anyone?

Anyone with half a brain will recognise the victim-blaming brigade for what/who they are - in doing so, I believe these people effectively align themselves with those who do this type of thing. And anyone who has had anything to do with victims of this type of behavior will also know - there is nothing unusual about a victim "freezing" in response to such behavior/assault. All of you who find yourselves taking aim at the victim or defending the males who do this - need to take a look at yourselves. And perhaps if you have a young daughter or a niece - think about how you would like her to be treated. J.

Perhaps the unpleasant side of breeding to select for and excessively intensify certain traits .... looks like an ugly caricature of a beautiful arab with the dished nose and big noble eye ... Dog breeders know a lot about this phenomenon ..hence certain kinds of bulldogs and other brachycephalic breeds with faces so pushed in they can hardly go walkies as they can't breathe sufficiently well for their cardiovascular system to support that degree of exercise ... some breds that can no longer whelp their own litters but have routine caesarians ...German Shepherds for a time bred to accentuate the sloping hindquarters and then everyone looked puzzled when their hip issues seemed to increase ... It is all quite ridiculous and in some cases cruel ....

Has been awful wet down there Ted ... must be in a bad state to can it eh ... are they doing remedial work on the track - or is it simply just too waterlogged and they're waiting for it to dry out? Cheers, J

Goodness. Isn't that a bit unusual for a club to be saying that far out that their track is unlikely to be fit for racing? .... bet a few people who have had their horses turned away from various venues on race-day due to unfit tracks wish their clubs had possessed such a magnificent crystal ball ........ maybe Otaki could hire it out?

Pretty impressive!!

It's early days yet for Burgundy ... plenty still to chase if you're comparing him with DB ...but I have a feeling after a few more show up round the place, the service fee in 2018 may not be the 2017 price ....... PS: not sure we'd take much from the comparison of first 2y/o crop - but by the end of the first year of 3y/o it would be interesting to compare notes .. anyone know what Burgundy is chasing as far as where Darci ended up after his first crop of 3y/o?

.... is it possible that there was some pressure on the club from 1 or 2 prominent northern trainers to present a firm track? ... so then leading up to raceday the club tried to accede to the request but when the weather didn't play ball ........... well we all know how the story ends .....

I'm looking out to see how the Camelot progeny go ... interesting prospect ...

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11924339 Courageous of his family to speak out publicly. We all sometimes need a reminder to look out for - and look after each other. But equally - families can have their hearts doubly broken by torturing themselves endlessly over what they could/should have done differently when someone takes their own life. And sometimes people have done all that they could in the circumstances or the outcome simply could not have been forseen. A person who commits suicide can be very determined to do so & may conceal their intent well. Go well `cafers - be gentle. Kind wishes and condolences to the Singer family.

Is there a site where you can follow the progress of the teams in the punters' comp at Hastings?

Hell Scooby - sorry - didn't mean to poke the bear ....let me know if there's anything I can do to assist ... eg. would you like me to send a PM when junk appears? Happy to help if I can ... J

Quite a lot of "junkmail" (junkposts) making it through on the `cafe lately ... I guess it's hard for the system/moderators to prevent them access but once they appear they don't get scrubbed out as fast as I thought they might .........

Agree guys. Personally I wouldn't be bothered with a mare who was a witch - I do the handling and even if I can handle her - it's gonna be uphill trying to produce a nicely behaved foal when the mother's trying to turn her to the devil! And if I was struggling - would it be fair to inflict some rogue on all those poor buggers down the line - farriers, breakers, trainers etc And I do know of sires who have been stroppy but their progeny no worse than average. On the other hand I have heard of sires who are unremarkable themselves but their progeny have a reputation for being a handful. All part of the challenge for us breeders I guess - part of the rich tapestry. And remember - when you breed a vicey, ill-mannered beast - and it wins lots of races - it'll just be "tough" or "spirited". But if it wins nothing - it'll simply be a pig. And I always try to have a Plan B in case they're slow - and if they're pigs - no-one who'll give them a good home will want them.

Thanks Lloyd. What a hassle for them - I didn't know that. Yep I've never seen Super Easy in the flesh - he looks a very muscular type from photos? A general comment - the thing that's hard to guage with all the sires (from the breeder's seat) is temperament - once there are a lot of progeny around there is more to go on as far as what the trainers, breakers and owners say. Parades can give at least a glimpse of the stallion's nature. Most of of us only have 1 or 2 of a given sire so it's not fair to judge on that sample size. And of course not many stud masters are going to tell you their horse is a fiery type!

Yes G he really has done a pretty good job at stud IMO. The main thing he's up against is the fads and fashions that are TB breeding and the way we breeders get lured into trying"the next best thing" when the new horses hit the market each season - rather than sticking with the tried and true .... J

Damned good horse. Those Iffraajs go pretty well eh ....

I agree with you guys. But as we often say - depends a bit what you are breeding for -yearling sales - offshore market - tried horse market - breed to race. I'm the latter and I like both these horses. A lot. Am I right in saying Burgundy hasn't had huge support maybe so far? - probably due to the fact (as Bruce observes) his performance didn't reach the heights of many of the top-ranked sires. But I'm prepared to back the fact that at his current fee I can expect a better than even chance of breeding something pretty handy - with a chance of sneaking a real good `un... J

Result at Hastings in the Gold Trail! Congrats to the team at Cambridge Stud. Burgundy now has a colt and a filly flying the flag at black type level ... not a bad start ....

I have pondered this also D. Of course Darci has the runs on the board as an established sire while Burgundy is just starting out. I like both of them a lot. Hard to resist that female line and of course they each have top class sires. And both have significant backers and broodmare bands to support them. Seem quite different horses in terms of type however. I don't think I have the answerr to your question but would love to hear any cafers' experiences with the progeny of each - especially Burgundy who we are still learning about ... Cheers, J