BARGAIN BRED RACING SERIES & BREEDING CORNER

As many of you may have read last week there was some interesting discussion about Australian racing on the main message board. Thanks to everyone that contributed to the discussion. I learned some new things and got interested in Aussie sires. It has long been debated here in the Sim that sires that stand in Australia or New Zealand do not get any respect in the game. Except for a couple of well known sires they have produced nothing of any substance. Hopefully we can try and change that.

When using sires you are not familiar with learn a little about the racing where the sire stands. Aussie racing is way different from American racing. There is a lot more of an emphasis on breeding two year olds that can run. So when you look through some of the sire’s race records you will notice that most of them did their best running at a mile or less. However the sires do not appear to be one dimensional turf sprint sires so keep an open mind.

The sire I want to spot light this week is Zeditave (AUS). After looking through many sires he just stood out. There is something about him I just love. He raced ten times as a two year old winning nine. He then raced seven more times as a three-year-old and won five more making him fourteen for seventeen in his career. Five of those wins were grade I races; two were grade II races and one grade III race. He has sired thirty-one stakes winners and his progeny have earned twenty-seven million in purses. At the end of the week Zeditave has been getting down to 61 BPs.

Most Aussie pedigrees are going to have sires in them that are not familiar to Americans. Zeditave is by The Judge (who was a grade I winner) out of a Crowned Prince mare. Many of you may be familiar with Crowned Prince who is by Raise A Native. His pedigree is such that he should go well with any sire lines.

Real Life Progeny – The Turn-To line or the Star Kingdom line influences several of his top runner’s dams. From the Turn-To line Sir Tristram, Marauding, and Imperial Prince have been used several times. From the Star Kingdom line Luskin Star, Bletchingly, and Biscay have been used. His top runner’s dam was by Assert but the dams dam was First Landing who is from the Turn-To line.

Sim Life – As of the latest breeding text file he only has twelve progeny. One two year old, seven three year olds, three four year olds and a six year old. His fastest Sim runner is #40448 Out Of Victoria (AUS). He has only three races and his fastest was a 79. Most of the progeny are young and maybe need more time to develop although he should be throwing fast two-year-olds. Of the twelve only two have the Turn-To or Star Kingdom line represented in the dams sire and another three as a dams dam sire.

Breeding Suggestions – I was a little surprised at how poor his runners have been so far but I think he can produce well on turf and dirt. Some of the top dam sires in the game would be great fits like Seeking The Gold, Storm Cat, Deputy Minister, Gone West, Secretariat etc… I would try to steer away from stamina heavy dam sires. The Turn-To sire line would be a must like Cox’s Ridge, Riva Ridge, Roberto, Halo, Bold Reason or Sir Ivor. The Star Kingdom line would be favorable as well. I might go a couple of ways. A less expensive Turn-To line dam sire like this Zeditave (AUS) X   Riva Ridge X Luskin Star. (Around 220 BPs) Knowing Zeditave (AUS) will likely produce a sprinter miler type maybe I would cross him differently like this Zeditave (AUS) X Meadowlake X In Reality (Around 250 BPs).

Bargain Bred Suggestion – I would go with lines that have worked in real life. Zeditave (AUS) X Luskin Star X Favorable Path seems a great choice.

There are a couple of good sites to look up Australian sires. www.stallions.com.au is a good place to start.