Why is breeding so important when evaluating a race horse?

Question

I read all about how this horse's father won 5 sprints, but not the "classic" distance, or this horse is a half brother to XYZ horse, who LOVED going 1.5 miles. IF a horse can run, it can run. Skip Away was one of my all time favorite horses, but what has he done as a sire???

Someone please help me out.

Answer 1

breeding is very important because likely they have the bigger chances of winning. if the one of the parents of a certain horse was or is a champion, then most likely the newborn horse has the chance to have speed of the parents...  its in thier genes...

for example if two couples were 6`5" tall then most probably there children will be like so or taller than them...

Answer 2

THE GREAT TRAINER"CHARLIE WHITTINGHAM" SAID "YOU BRED THE BEST WITH THE BEST AND HOPE FOR THE BEST. THERE WAS A HORSE NAME SEATTLE DANCER AND HE COST $23,000000 BACK IN THE DAY, AND NEVER BROKE HIS MAIDEN.

IT'S A c**p SHOOT. I KNEW IF RAGSTORICHES WAS WITHIN A LENGHT OF THE LEAD AT THE TOP OF THE STRETCH, THEY WOULD HAVE TO RUN LIGHTS OUT TO BEAT HER, I BET WIN CURLIN GOT BACK TO THE BARN, HE COULD NOT EVEN EAT HAY UNTIL THE NEXT DAY, THAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU RUN UP AGAINST A MONSTER.

Answer 3

It's all in the genes! A horse, like any creature, has weak

points and strong points. Breeders that breed for a specific sport, or( look for that matter), choose a mare or sire  which has the conformation to perform that specific task. This is how breeds are formed.

A thoroughbred is typically tall and slender, giving it the advantage over a short stocky breed like a Fjiord.However a Fjiord could carry you up the side of a mountian easier than a Thoroughbred.

A horse that is famous for winning in a type of race, will have what it takes in it's conformation, to make him better.  Stallions that don't win, may also have it in their genes, but not showing in themself. So do you take a chance? no, you go with the one that is proven to produce. There is no guarentee, but your chances of getting a winner are better.

This also strenthens the breed in general. Most colts that don't have that special something, are gelded earlier on.

A mare can still be bred, because, again, she could produce a winning foal if bread to a winning stallion.

This is why so much effort was given to help Barbero survive. Even if he could never run again, his sperm was ( and still is through crhio preservation)worth millions!

I hope this answers your question. Good luck at the track!

Answer 4

Breeding is important because if the horse's past fathers were known for speed and runs in the genes they want to make sure that they don't alter it so they get the desired speed . That's why sometimes they'd take a gene from the past horse and use it on the newborn .

Answer 5

Horses like humans get their genes from their parents. It is an indicator in picking a horse, along with the horses recent history . For example it the horses parents were both sprinters and not good in the longer races , very likely it will be the same for their child. I would not bet on this horse to win a long race. However don/t forget there are a lot of factors to consider in handicapping a horse for the next race. This is only one indicator.

Answer 6

I love the Charlie Whittingham quote! And it is true, you breed what you desire. In my opinion it's hurt our industry, for the longest time all anyone wanted was "Speed, Speed, Speed"; in the end it has bred a lot of the STAMINA out of the pedigrees. And unfortunately when you breed out stamina you also breed out soundness.

It's also true than there is no guarantee in what the results will be! Secretariat never had a champion like himself. Look at the 16 Million dollar purchase of The Green Monkey... impeccable pedigree but at the age of 3 has yet to hit the track.

The sires that are most desirable are also the most expensive to breed to. Look at AP Indy, Dynaformer, Cee's Tizzy, and now Smart Strike... these were Classic winners and are throwing Classic winners. But it also depends on the Broodmare, you can bet the owner of BETTER THAN HONOUR will get more offers for her than he will know what to do with. She is the Dam of both Jazil and Rags To Riches, last year's winner of the Belmont and of course this years winner.

Answer 7

Do you think Albert Einstein's off spring would more likely be better at math, or would they be fast runners?

No one knows or can tell if a horse is going to be fast, fast enough to be a champion.

But if that is what you are looking for in a RACE horse blood lines are really the only thing you have to go on.  

Man of War one of the greatest horses to ever live, sired a lot of sons and daughters, but not all of them became great, like Son of Man of War.

There is something that no one can tell about a horse, until it is in it's prime.   Really great horses have no desire to look at the tail end of other horses....they have to be up front and will burst their lungs to be there.

Chances are if you breed speed with speed you get speed...but no one can predict temperament.  A horse, no matter who his parents were, has to be willing to run.  The breeders call it heart. If not he's just another horse.

Answer 8

The basic theory is that if you breed the best mare to the best stallion you will get the best foal.  This is not always the case and quite often the opposite happens!

We use the record of the sire and the dam when we look at a horses pedigree because it can provide helpful clues.  For example a horse by a sprinter like Green Desert out of a sprinting mare would not be expected to stay a mile and a half, but this may prove to be wrong.  Equally a horse by a middle distance stallion like Montjeu would not be expected to make a good sprinter.

More often than not the very good racehorses rarely produce a horse as good as or better than themselves.  The best stallions tend to be those that were slightly better than average, but not world beaters.

Answer 9

I am a huge horse freak so I can answer anything you have to ask about horses. Breeding is important because some horses can not run as fast in a race as others can. Purebreds run faster then x-breds. Example: My racehorse that is a purebred can run much faster in a race than my racehorse that is thouroughbred x arabian.

Answer 10

It isn't entirely true that all a horse needs to do is run.  Some horses run very fast for short distances of ground.  Some won't run a l**k on dirt but are world-beaters on the grass.  Some don't get rolling until they've already raced a mile and turn for home with 1-2-4-8 furlongs left to go.  Very often the propensity for doing these things is directly related to the physical characteristics of a horse.  Sprinters need a lot of big bulky fast twitch muscles.  Routers tend to have long, lean bodies and lots of slow twitch muscles.  Grass horses often have large, dish shaped hooves.

Discussing pedigree is any easy way to discuss physical type.  You rarely hear someone say "I bred to Mr. Greeley to get a foal with fast twitch muscles" or "I bred to Royal Academy to get a foal with big ol' hooves".  Of course a stallion is only half of the genetic equation.  A foal may inherit more characteristics from its dam - or even grand dam than  a person would expect.  Very often horses who do something unexpected from looking at their pedigree are simply doing what their physical type suggests they do.