Apprentice (12748)
(No Longer Available as a sire)
This week I will talk about a very good bargain sire Apprentice. He has a solid
pedigree and has produced some very good runners with a limited number of
breedings. Apprentice stands in Peru and because of that information on him is
limited. However if you are in the market of an inexpensive sire with potential
you may have found your stud.
Real Life- Apprentice is by Forty Niner. His dam sire is Nijinsky and his
dam's dam sire is Stage Door Johnny. He has a very classy, well-bred pedigree
with a good amount of stamina. He is a leading sire in Peru and has sired a Peru
Champion Lady Apprentice. He raced in the US with his most significant placing
coming as a three year old in the Lecomte and Risen Star stakes at the
Fairgrounds in New Orleans. His record did not live up to his pedigree but he
was not a bad runner. He hit the board in ten of sixteen starts and earned over
one hundred thousand in purses.
Sim Life - Apprentice has fifty runners in the sim. The one thing that
really jumps out about his offspring is the lack of turf runners. His fastest
runner on turf has posted an 88-speed figure compared to his fastest dirt
runners that have posted 115-speed figures. Apprentice has what I would call a
versatile pedigree in that his runners could perform well on dirt or turf. Forty
Niner and Nijinksy have produced good turf runners but for some reason that has
not happened in the sim yet with Apprentice.
He has three separate runners that have posted a 115-speed figure. One did it
sprinting (#38727) (Chicanery Slew), one did it over a mile and a sixteenth
(#65448 ) (Pine Bluff) and the other did it at a mile and a half (#16277 a
multiple stakes winner) (Storm Bird). Another notable runner that has run
multiple 100+ speed figures is horse #36934. Most of the dam sires used have
been from the Northern Dancer line and one from the Seattle Slew line.
He has ten two year olds and one of those is a stakes winner. Horse #14 (Nureyev)
is a multiple stakes winner. Horse #2452 (Forest Wildcat) is his fastest two
year old so far after breaking his maiden in his first start. He has a couple of
other solid two year olds and a few that have not been very fast. That is not
really surprising though I would imagine his progeny take time to fully develop
in most cases.
Breeding Suggestions – Apprentice has a stellar pedigree that already has
the Mr. Prospector X Northern Dancer cross. Mr. Prospector will appear in the
third generation of his offspring and Northern Dancer will appear in the fourth
generation of his offspring. Inbreeding to Northern Dancer whether thru a son,
grandson, or great grandson has worked well with Apprentice. Dam sires from the
Seattle Slew and Secretariat (Bold Ruler) line should work well with Apprentice.
Buckpasser, Turn-To (Halo, Cox’s Ridge), Damascus, Nasrullah (Bold Ruler, Never
Bend, Red God) and In Reality should blend very well. I also like other Raise a
Native line sires not through Mr. Prospector like Affirmed or Alydar.
Inbreeding back to Northern Dancer has worked well with Apprentice.
Apprentice (12748) X Summer Squall (6327) X Capote (966)
I’m might try to find something besides inbreeding that would work.
Apprentice (12748) X Seattle Slew (5660) X Cox’s Ridge (1358)
He poses a challenge to get a turf runner but I would try
Apprentice (12748) X Shirley Heights (GB) (5784) X Blushing Groom (FR) (669)
Bargain Bred – Apprentice is a very good candidate to breed bargain bred
runners. He gets down to 39 BPs by the weeks end and there are many combos I
like. Strodes Creek was a solid race horse finishing second in the derby and
third in the Belmont.
Apprentice (12748) X Strodes Creek (6298) X Lord Durham (3602)
Apprentice (12748) X Salt
Dome (5559) X Slew O’ Gold (5945)
At the very end of the week
you may be able to squeeze this one into a bargain.
Apprentice (12748) X Slewpy
(5965) X War Secretary (7019)
What to Expect – Apprentice has a good deal of stamina and those type
sires usually produce slower developing runners. His top three years old runners
have really started to run well in the last couple of months. He is capable of
producing fast two year olds but if yours is slow to start you may need to be a
little patient. His runners love distance and can run along way in some cases.
They also overwhelmingly love the dirt. However if your Apprentice runner seems
a little stale like he is not going anywhere try the turf.
