READING an article reporting on the Asian Racing Conference last week I was struck by one of the speakers who was making the point that they were “ fortunate to be able to take our breeding decisions purely on the ‘fit’ between the mare and the stallion, and not based on the eventual sales value of the yearling or the foal”.

Unfortunately most of us, commercial breeders, do not have this luxury and trying to find a happy medium between ‘fit’ and commercial reality is possibly what we should be striving for.

ASSESSING THE MARE

A few questions need to be asked before selecting a stallion for your mare:

1. Should my mare be covered or rested?

Unfortunately all our geese are not swans and with a mare that has had a number of foals the question has to be asked is she viable. Only you can answer this. But for myself I would hope that my mare would have produced a winner with an acceptable rating with one of her first three foals and that a couple out of these three would have left a profit in the sales ring. If you still believe in the virtues of the mare but she is losing money with her stock can you afford to keep her? Maybe you can if you have more profitable stock to sell that year but the cracks can only be covered for so long.

2. Mares Conformation and pedigree?

With a maiden mare I always question her conformation on whether she is correct enough to be covered. If she is not correct, is her pedigree strong enough to slightly overlook these conformation issues and take the risk (I am more the glass half-full man and willing to take more of a risk on this score).

3. Is the mare a poor breeder?

If your mare is difficult to get in foal your veterinary and diesel bill will no doubt accumulate. We all love to blame the stallion or the vet sometimes but in a large number of cases it can be down to the mare’s poor fertility. If the mare does eventually go in foal between all the costs incurred you may find that it feels like paying two stallion nominations for one mare!

4. Physical size?

Sometimes it may be beneficial to analyse the size of your mare if it is a maiden mare. By mating to a stallion that produces stock that is known to be large in size, will this present difficulties foaling your maiden mare the following year?

STALLION SELECTION

Finding the the right stallion for your mare probably starts with what you can afford and how much she warrants. If I can find a proven horse for a young mare that is commercially sound in the sales ring, I will try to go on this route. But finding these stallions is becoming more difficult with increases in nomination fees, so unfortunately, using unproven horses is now becoming the risk we all have to take.

Don’t be afraid to ask for advice from respected people in the industry, they will probably have seen a lot more stock from an unproven stallion during the yearling and foal sales.

CONFORMATION

Finding a balance between your mare and stallion is hopefully a good starting point in regard to conformation. If the mare has some shortcomings in this regard hopefully the stallion will complement this. With an older mare we can probably work out what suits her in regard to conformation and if you keep saying about the foals “she looks just like the mother” (once the mare is good looking and producing winners, not a crooked one producing runners as fast as donkeys) then your options are more plentiful. After trying to sell your mare’s stock at the sales you will soon find what issues need to be addressed (offset knees, light of bone et cetera) as the market tends not to overlook these conformational issues.

ATHLETIC ABILITY

The market has gone so selective that if a mare’s progeny do not have an athletic walk in truth you can probably look at the reality of not making a substantial profit. But, if the progeny have ‘the walk’ then the likelihood is you are in for a good pay day, albeit your stallion still being received in a positive way. I always try and buy an athletic mare to breed from as it probably gives you more options in stallion selection.

PEDIGREE

Having assessed the merits of your mare you then need to research the stallion’s racecourse talent and whether the pedigree suits your mare. There are numerous publications that are available from the Weatherbys stallion book to the annual bloodstock reviews. There is so much information in regard to pedigree nicks and this can also be of help. But finding a balance in all this information, and not become consumed by it, is key. At the end of the day we are trying to sell an athletic, correct racehorse that will be acceptable to the market.

NUMBERS AND QUALITY

How many mares will your chosen stallion cover or how many has he covered in previous seasons? By looking at the Return Of Mares publication this will give you an indication of the numbers but also the quality of mares covered by him. Will your mare’s pedigree be high up in the rankings in what the stallion has covered in previous years? Also if the stallion covered some quality books of mares in the previous couple of years this would hopefully assist you and the stallion when you are selling the progeny.

FERTILITY

If your mare goes in foal quite easily is this assisted by mating to fertile stallions? Again the Return Of Mares book will be able to shed some light on the stallion’s capabilities.

These are some of the questions I ask myself when selecting a stallion and no doubt there are plenty more but when all is said and done the final key ingredient is LUCK!!

Dermot Dwan of Kellsgrange Stud in Co Kilkenny and part of the management team at Irish Thoroughbred Capital