I do get you, Rachel's and everyone's concerns. Not the way the thoroughbred industry works. I am sorry if anyone took offense; did not mean it that way. K
Anybody remember a couple of years ago the uproar on this very forum when a 2 year old in foal went through one of the big sales?
Nature dictates when a female's body is sexually mature. Dogs often have their first heat before 12 months, cats as young as 6 months, horses around 12 months. Does this mean that the female will carry the pregnancy to term or be capable of raising the offspring? Not always, it just means that their body is sexually mature.
It has never been a secret that American Cleopatra's value is in her ovaries. Justin Zayat said those very words during one interview a couple years ago. Racing her on the track was just for a lark, a bit of fun to see if there was any purpose for keeping her on the track before sending her to the shed. Between the bleeding incident and her last race, why would they continue to risk her on the track?
Whether she is listed in a catalog or a racing form as a filly or a mare doesn't matter. So long as she stepped into the breeding shed and took on the first or second cover from Uncle Mo is all that mattered. She'll enjoy the rest of her life barefoot with her girlfriends and a foal by her side. Agree with it or not. Like it or hate it, that was her destiny from the moment her brother won the Triple Crown.
For the record, female cats can come into heat as young as 4 months. We have a girl that did. But to give the rest of her body time to mature, she was not bred until July at 18 1/2 months. Cats have further complications. If not. Red for i3-4 consecutive heat cycles their chances of Pyometria increasn
I also know that each horse has their own individuality and thus mature at a different rate. Coz is a huge example of that. I suspect we will get news of her retirement soon.
Regarding Coz: Several months ago I would have agreed with you, but I sure hope that all this waiting pays off big time and he shows more than enough to merit racing at six.
Edit: Oops just realized you were talking about AC, not Coz.
I also know that each horse has their own individuality and thus mature at a different rate. Coz is a huge example of that. I suspect we will get news of her retirement soon.
Uncle Mo would not have been my first choice by any stretch of the imagination. I can't help but remember his liver disease-- something his dam was also reputed to have. It WAS a very rare condition, but how rare will it be now when he's throwing nearly 200 foals a year? And while his foals are undeniably precocious: They are unable to properly sustain that success. Tapit would have been my choice. Or Paynter.
Uncle Mo would not have been my first choice by any stretch of the imagination. I can't help but remember his liver disease-- something his dam was also reputed to have. It WAS a very rare condition, but how rare will it be now when he's throwing nearly 200 foals a year? And while his foals are undeniably precocious: They are unable to properly sustain that success. Tapit would have been my choice. Or Paynter.
Medaglia d'Oro and War Front would've also been good choices.
Uncle Mo would not have been my first choice by any stretch of the imagination. I can't help but remember his liver disease-- something his dam was also reputed to have. It WAS a very rare condition, but how rare will it be now when he's throwing nearly 200 foals a year? And while his foals are undeniably precocious: They are unable to properly sustain that success. Tapit would have been my choice. Or Paynter.
1) Uncle Mo was diagnosed with Cholangiohepatitis, which -from the research I've done- does not have a genetic cause, which is probably why it's so rare. The mortality rate is also extremely low, with most horses resuming healthy normal lives with proper treatment. So even if we assume there is a genetic cause, it's completely treatable with no long-lasting ill effects. 2) If the health of the foal(s) are your concern, statistically speaking Tapit is more likely to produce a foal that has cancer than Uncle Mo does to produce a foal with Cholangiohepatitis. Grey horses have up to an 80% chance of contracting melanoma, and any foal from Tapit has at least a 50% chance of being grey. 3) Uncle Mo nicks better with Cleo than both Tapit and Paynter. Mo nicks at an A with no inbreeding. Tapit nicks at a B+, but Unbridled shows up relatively close in the hypothetical foal's pedigree. And Paynter nicks a D with no inbreeding.
I'm fully on the Uncle Mo band wagon and couldn't be happier that the Zayats gave him the honor of being Cleo's first date considering the fact that it's the closest thing to an Uncle Mo/American Pharoah love child we can get. I just hope they choose to let Cleo enjoy her life as a mommy-to-be and not race her, but we'll have to live with whatever decision they make.
Still surprised that the Zayats are sending her through the sale ring, especially since they no longer have Littleprincessemma. There's a very good chance that they will put her reserve very high though (like AP and PoTN) and she'll go RNA.
UPDATE on American Cleopatra. She was bred to Uncle Mo but the Zayat Stables website lists her as "barren". No word on who she will be bred to for 2018.
She did have a 2018 Uncle Mo filly, according to Equineline. Listed as dark bay or brown, she was born May 6. The breeders are Stretch Run Ventures & Hill 'n' Dale Equine Holdings. Only 11 months old, the filly already has a name: Mo Emma.
Comments
Nature dictates when a female's body is sexually mature. Dogs often have their first heat before 12 months, cats as young as 6 months, horses around 12 months. Does this mean that the female will carry the pregnancy to term or be capable of raising the offspring? Not always, it just means that their body is sexually mature.
It has never been a secret that American Cleopatra's value is in her ovaries. Justin Zayat said those very words during one interview a couple years ago. Racing her on the track was just for a lark, a bit of fun to see if there was any purpose for keeping her on the track before sending her to the shed. Between the bleeding incident and her last race, why would they continue to risk her on the track?
Whether she is listed in a catalog or a racing form as a filly or a mare doesn't matter. So long as she stepped into the breeding shed and took on the first or second cover from Uncle Mo is all that mattered. She'll enjoy the rest of her life barefoot with her girlfriends and a foal by her side. Agree with it or not. Like it or hate it, that was her destiny from the moment her brother won the Triple Crown.
Pyometria increasn
Edit: Oops just realized you were talking about AC, not Coz.
2) If the health of the foal(s) are your concern, statistically speaking Tapit is more likely to produce a foal that has cancer than Uncle Mo does to produce a foal with Cholangiohepatitis. Grey horses have up to an 80% chance of contracting melanoma, and any foal from Tapit has at least a 50% chance of being grey.
3) Uncle Mo nicks better with Cleo than both Tapit and Paynter. Mo nicks at an A with no inbreeding. Tapit nicks at a B+, but Unbridled shows up relatively close in the hypothetical foal's pedigree. And Paynter nicks a D with no inbreeding.
I'm fully on the Uncle Mo band wagon and couldn't be happier that the Zayats gave him the honor of being Cleo's first date considering the fact that it's the closest thing to an Uncle Mo/American Pharoah love child we can get. I just hope they choose to let Cleo enjoy her life as a mommy-to-be and not race her, but we'll have to live with whatever decision they make.
Sources:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10952378
http://veterinarynews.dvm360.com/cholangiohepatitis-race-horses
https://horseandrider.com/health/gray-horses-risk-melanoma-16339
http://www.truenicks.com/free-reports/hypothetical-mating/display?stallionReferenceNumber=8562865&mareReferenceNumber=9645474&mareName=American Cleopatra
http://www.truenicks.com/free-reports/hypothetical-mating/display?stallionReferenceNumber=8292193&mareReferenceNumber=9645474&mareName=American Cleopatra
http://www.truenicks.com/free-reports/hypothetical-mating/display?stallionReferenceNumber=6106474&mareReferenceNumber=9645474&mareName=American Cleopatra