True believer

I must be a true believer because I am broke and still living the dream of breeding the big horse.
Although my operation is small - one stallion - 5 broodmares (did have only 3 but have retired 2). My Thoroughbred holding are small - stallion - 5 broodmares - 2 yearlings and a 5 yr old gelding. I lost this years soon to be weanling crop due to bad feed..Have had to get a real job to play.. My feelings are still that a racehorse is still a huge commodity - not as many horses being bred..Lazzeri was a runner, being a $150k yearling and winning 3 of 10 at Santa Anita. My mares may be suspect, but if you are interested I will inform you of their breeding but they could run and 1 mare and her daughter which I bred (she had a little talent) re direct descendants of La Troinne.. I guess that and A $1. will get u a cup of java..But I am a believer..
I will bred a very good horse..I am a decent trainer when I train and not have to worry of paying my feed bill, but for the time being there is not enough do ray me.. I have been in the breeding game off and on for some 30 yrs (big breaks in between) but my theories and my beliefs are still strong.. I AM A BELIEVER...............

Red Barn Farm Mares

Mares bred by Red Barn Farm were tough hickory mares, also at this time you did not have many ,if any, filly and mare races. The races were: for 3 yr olds and upwards. They raced against colts and geldings most of their life. Some of these mares raced 50, 60 or more times in their life then returned home to be bred and raise more runners for the farm. One mare named Mardee's Chic was a stakes winner produced a stakes winner plus other good winners and 3 of her daughters were in the broodmare band. Having the grandchildren and great grandchildren of horses that you raced, one can see similarities of traits thru the generations and tendencies.
This was the same vein as Hirsch Jacobs - breed hickory tough mares to tough stallions = runners/winners..

Horses bred by Red Barn Farms.

At Red Barn Farms, they were successful in breeding to race as they had decent stallions and decent mares. The last stallion at Red Barn was Rolling Sea-- B.H. 1960 by Sailor out of De Hostess by Your Host. He won six races on the NYRA circuit - a 1 mile event in 1:34.4 was 3rd in the Occupy Hdcp at 1 mile to Never Bend after forcing the pace to the 1/16th pole.This is the family of Smart Deb -champion 2 yr. old filly of 1962. Other stallions to stand at Red Barn were Chicle II, The Warrior,Lollemmi(?) and several others. They all competed and won races in NY.
Walt Rydesky, former asst trainer for Tennessee Wright- a national leading trainer in the nation at one time- was the trainer for 37 years and his brother Ted was the farm manager. Breeding mares returned/retired from racing, Red Barn was able to stay in the black. Leaving Texas every year for the start of Keeneland Racecourse in April then onto Churchill Downs then where ever the stock told Walt they needed to be. Sometimes at Hazel Park, Detroit, Arlington or the New England racetracks or Waterford Park. Mares not producing runners were sold. Fillies by producing mares were retained for future broodmares whenever possible. Horse injured at the races were sent home to recover then when the string came home in November, they were put back in training along with the breaking of yrlgs, then back to the races in April. Sometimes as many as 36 horses left in April then only 9 came home in November, sometimes even less came home. As they became known for raising runners, Red Barn was able to sell/have claimed many of its horses adding money to the bottom line.

Heading to Turf Paradise

I am loading in the am and heading for Turf Paradise to race my mare Sally Gal. She has had 3 lifetime starts all at Emerald Downs for antoher trainer. Now I am back in the saddle so to speak. See if I still can train. Tis been a while. keep you posted

Who would you breed to?

Looking back at farms in Texas that bred to race some 30 years ago. The farms that had the most success's were farms that had stallions that raced in New York or back east. The horses were multiple winners 5 or more wins and from good female family's. I know of one stallion that was actually siring better than the NAME stallion and they virtually quit breeding him and used mainly as a teaser. They also had mares that were multiplte winners also, with a few exceptions. I know at Red Barn Farm that they raced along the Midwest and back east. A typical year for them was leave the farm and go to Keeneland then Churchill Downs after Churchill they knew what kind of stock they had then go to Detroit or Rockingham or to Waterford Park. Then back home in late October to rest the string, break and get ready the lay ups and 2 yr. olds. Also most of the old stallions I knew had lifetime starts of 59,56,36,60,30,64,72. They sired tough racehorse who raced thru starts of 152-29 wins, 78/21 wins,98/18,84/29,198/25,97/11,194/19,96/10,54/9. These horses were hickory tough, trained tough and ran tough. Nowadays you can be a world champion in 5 starts. Used to be a horse was a good 2 year old , better at 3 and better yet at 4 and maintained his form at 5 if he raced on. Bull Hancock said never breed to a stallion with less than 25 starts. In this day and age who would you breed to????

Poor Boy Stallions

Every year The Blood-Horse publishes a book Stallions of (whatever year). This lists all stallions standing on this continent. I look for stallions that get runners for stud fees below $5,000.
This being horses that get over 60% runners /winners to foals. My all time favorites were Baederwood, a Maryland stallion who got very high numbers for a modest $2,500 and Maudlin
who got numbers in the high 80's. Affirmed when he got to the ten grand area was a good bargain for that high a fee to me. I look at the number of foals they get, check the stud books for the name of the mares. Then I used my Brisnet CD's of the American Produce Records and check out the mares, checking for affinity for a certain mare if the stallion gets a small book.
I check to see if he moves up his mares and other things, such as his race record, hopefully he ran several years with more than a few starts. I prefer stallions that are milers as opposed to just sprinters but that does not keep me from breeding to them. There are a lot of stallions out there that get very good numbers and produce runners. They may not be "fashionable" but they run. Which when you are on a limited budget, your foals need to be able to get to the racetrack. If they can get to the racetrack they have a chance to win. Which is what this game is all about. Winning races. If they cannot get to the racetrack-they cannot win.

P. G. Johnson

P. G. never paid a lot of money for mares but got runners the best being Volponi, Breeders Cup Champion. P.G. bred numerous New York winners .An ardent student of pedigrees and an avid reader of Thoroughbred literature, over the years produced a string of capable runners by breeding his mmodest band of broodmares to stallions with reputations of siring sound and hickory tough runners. For $5,000. he purchased Grey Table who produced Quiet Little Table and the mare Gray Matter who got Water Malone by Naskra, a former Johnson trainee. For $3,000 he got the mare College Bold who produced the stakes horses Nasty and Bold, Told and Boldara. In the mid 1970's he established a family owned operation, Amherst Stable, to provide runners for his stable because of the uncertanity of owners. He was quoted in a Blood-Horse article as saying "he admired Hirsch Jacobs and Frederico Tesio, saying they both chose sound
horses as the basis for their breeding programs." Take the mare Belle Nuit she produced full siblings Belle Cherie $426,861 and Be Mine Tonight $159,210 and he successful sold three other siblings for a total over $700,00. at Keeneland. He bred to stallions such as Mr Leader, Nodouble who were noted for getting sound durable runners just like the Johnson trained Naskra, to whom he bred a lot to.