BARGAIN BRED RACING SERIES & BREEDING CORNER

Montbrook (4062)

This week we go to one of those sires that have just not seemed to work well so far in the sim. Despite producing some very nice real life runners in the past few years Montbrook has not had that same success in the sim. He was Florida’s Leading sire in 2002, and 2003. He was the runner up this year.

Real Life- Montbrook is by Buckaroo. His dam sire is Jet Diplomacy and his dam’s dam sire is Diplomat Way. On the track he was a multiple graded stakes winner. He is one of the few remaining stallions carrying on the Buckpasser line. The knock on him thus far has been the inability to produce a horse that can even get to the Kentucky Derby. In the last few years he has produced many a solid two year old and strong three-year-old runners that get derailed in their attempt to get to the Derby.

Some of his better-known derby trail runners are Snuck In, Trust N Luck, Out of the Box, and Chapel Royal. He is the sire of a very solid sprinter still running in Shake You Down, as well as the almost upset Breeder’s Cup winner a couple of years ago in Thunderllo. He has a three year old this year named Seize the Day who finished third in the Hollywood Prevue to Declan’s Moon. He produces very solid runners from five furlongs to a mile and a sixteenth.     

Sim Life – He only has thirty-one sim runners. Zero stakes winners. In looking through some of his retired runners I could not find a stakes winner there either. So to my knowledge Montbrook has never produced a stakes winner in the sim. If ever a sire is due to produce a stakes winner this is the one. He has produced multiple graded stakes winners in real life no reason to think that cannot happen here in the sim.

Nine of those thirty-one are allowance winners. It is interesting to note that three of the dam sires that have produced well in real life each produced a solid runner in the sim. Dahar, Cutlass, and Notebook. In real life his good runners tend to come from not so well known dam sires could that be true in the sim? Mostly he has been bargain bred but he has been used with some very nice dam sires like A.P. Indy or Silver Deputy with little success.  

Breeding Suggestions – Montbrook’s pedigree is one that looks like it can cross with anything and have success. However he has not had much success so maybe that is not true. I think there are a couple of sire lines that seem to produce better than the others so I will concentrate there. Both times Cutlass was used in the sim as a dam sire it produced a solid runner but was it the Damascus line nicking well with Montbrook or the fact that using Cutlass actually created an inbreeding to Tom Fool? I think it was more likely the inbreeding however do not count out the Damascus line.

The Nasrullah line seems to be a solid sire line to cross with as it has produced in both real life and the sim with some success. The Princequillo line has not been used a lot but in a couple of his better runners he is present in the pedigree. The other line that should cross well is the Northern Dancer line. Not much Mr. Prospector line has been crossed with him and Seattle Slew has not produced as well as one would think.

So we will look to the Nasrullah, Prinquillo, and Northern Dancer lines. In Reality and Damascus could blend well and also look for a possible inbreeding to Tom Fool. I do not think inbreeding to Buckpasser has worked so I would avoid that. There are a couple of very solid Nasrullah line sires that have Princequillo line sires as dam sire. Mill Reef, Riverman, and Secretariat. Mill Reef and Riverman have blended well traditionally with Sadler’s Wells. That would be a bit expensive of a breeding for a sire that has been an under achiever. Other solid Northern Dancer line sires that would be solid choices are Vice Regent, Topsider, The Minstrel, Shareef Dancer, Obligato, and Northern Baby.

Montbrook (4062) X Sadler’s Wells (5534) X Riverman (5349)

Montbrook (4062) X Mill Reef (3979) X Vice Regent (6946)

Montbrook (4062) X Tri Jet (6740) X Prince John (4939)

Montbrook (4062) X The Minstrel (6552) X Secretariat (5677)

Bargain Bred – Montbrook gets down into the mid to lower sixties, some weeks a little lower. That makes him a solid candidate for bargain breeding but in his case it may be tough to find solid matches that look good. Many of the same things we looked for above we can find to fit in a bargain breeding.

Montbrook (4062) X Oceanic Dancer (4518) X Full Partner (9006)

Montbrook (4062) X Bedford (526) X Hurculean (8103)

Montbrook (4062) X Cresta Rider (1381) X Judge Smells (3204)

What to Expect – His runners vary. For the most part his runners will run well as two year olds and peak as three year olds. In other cases his runners will mature later and like Shake You Down run well at ages five and six. He has plenty of real life runners that can and have hung around the track to rack up sixty plus races. His runners should be durable maybe staving off wear and tear a little longer than usual. Dirt is probably his best surface but he is capable of throwing a turf runner. His runners will likely be best between five furlongs and a mile and a sixteenth, just like his real life runners. 

Knowing that sire stats are updated each year and that open graded stakes wins are a big part of that it was a little amazing to see that Montbrook had not produced a sim stakes winner. He is no chump in real life and seems to have a solid graded stakes winner every year. Will you be the first in the sim to breed a stakes winner with Montbrook?