Every bloodstock agent has his wheelhouse and the study of Thoroughbred pedigree has been mine since my earliest involvement in the sport. Star of the North Bloodstock was created when I was asked by a number of clients to help improve their breeding operations by recommending stallion matings utilizing my knowledge of Thoroughbred pedigree. Those early experiences proved very successful and provided the momentum that continues to drive Star of the North Bloodstock's progress.
There appears to be an almost directly inverse relationship between what is written about pedigree and the methods used by those who achieve lasting results in Thoroughbred racing. The weekly and year-end stakes results identify the breeders who have mastered an understanding of Thoroughbred pedigree. When pressed for explanations about their methods by newcomers to the world of Thoroughbred breeding who are not valued clients, they offer platitudes about “Breeding the best to the best and hoping for the best” and the like. In such a competitive business that reticence to freely share such important knowledge is understandable.
While some folks might be led to believe Thoroughbred breeding is a game of cosmic chance or that they can be proficient with the application of some type of "system," investors who will survive the gauntlet of Thoroughbred ownership are those who seek out and follow the advice of experienced, knowledgeable advisors.
No matter how long one studies Thoroughbred pedigree, it is a subject that is never really mastered, but its continued study will yield superior perspective and in turn, superior runners. The only true measure of successfully applied theories are demonstrable results..
Star of the North Bloodstock has produced meaningful results for clients in acquiring stock or recommending matings that helped produce twelve black type stakes winners and an additional ten stakes-placed runners. Six of those stakes winners were produced in 2007.
In making purchase and matings recommendations, Star of the North Bloodstock offers to its clients critical observations gleaned from its own database that has been constructed and adjusted for over a dozen years. Some examples of the agency’s successful recommendations made for clients based on this research are depicted below.
Engaged as a matings advisor by client Camelia J. Casby in 1999, Star of the North Bloodstock suggested Ms. Casby retain her claiming mare Feathers of Hope for her broodmare band. A daughter of Dynaformer produced from the immediate family of the important matriarch Grass Shack, Feathers of Hope produced three stakes winners from her first three foals, including Key Issues, a son of Victory Speech pictured here after winning the Minnesota Derby.
Star of the North Bloodstock also provides pedigree analysis for clients who are seeking assistance in planning commercial matings. Acting as an advisor to Bonnie Baskin of the Sy-Bon racing stable in the fall of 2004, it was Star of the North Bloodstock’s recommendation to secure a season to Indian Charlie for Ms. Baskin’s Crafty Prospector mare Rising Tide when that stallion’s service was available for $15,000. Pictured here as a yearling at the 2007 Fasig-Tipton July sale, this colt was sold as a pinhook prospect for $165,000. He was sold again to West Point Thoroughbreds at the OBS Select Two Year-Olds In Training Sale in February 2008 for $360,000 after working an eighth of a mile in 10.1 seconds.
Star of the North Bloodstock includes matings recommendations as part of its service for clients who retain the agency to purchase breeding stock, either at auction or through private sales. Acting as agent for Winchester Place Farm, Star of the North Bloodstock purchased My Wanita, a full sister to two time millionaire and Grade I winner Balto Star at the Keeneland November Sale in 2006. My Wanita’s Songandaprayer yearling is expected to sell at Keeneland September 2008 and the mare is currently in foal to Include, Star of the North’s top mating recommendation made in November 2006.
Star of the North looks forward to the racing seasons ahead as the agency’s pedigree research will be represented by a number of runners that are currently “In the pipeline.” I invite your inquiry in the event you are seeking expert pedigree analysis in your quest to breed or buy stakes class runners for your operation.
DMM
