Zebedee Retired To Stud

Becoming an all too frequent occurence across the pond Simon and likely to happen here too - Dark Angel was retired to stud a few years ago as a 2yo, Fasliyev did too (result of an injury mind IIRC) and given Kingsgate Native's exploits as a 2yo we were rather lucky that he stayed in training also.
 
Not sure it is going to happen more frequently here to be honest IS - there is a definite trend right now towards horses that are pretty aggressively campaigned through their 3 and even 4 year old campaign. There will always be the odd exception.
 
There's an interesting quote in there regarding the top 2yo sprinters racing at 3. It's very hard for the 3yo sprinters racing against their elders and as far as I know there are no 3yo only group sprints in Europe (there's a few listed races in the UK and I presume a few in Ireland/France etc) but it's a totally different situation to the Milers and 10/12f horses who can race against their own age group in group races until September or October.

I think that if you're made a decent offer to stand a 2yo sprinter at stud then there's not point in taking the risk of racing against your elders at 3 and unlike in the miling or classic distance divisions you're likely to be taking on the best from around the world too.
 
Irish Stamp said:
as far as I know there are no 3yo only group sprints in Europe (there's a few listed races in the UK and I presume a few in Ireland/France etc)

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I don't think that there are any listed races in Ireland at five or six furlongs for three year olds only. There are a couple of early season condition races at Limerick and Tipperary but that is it as far as I can remember.
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I just don't understand what Zebedee offers as a stallion. He's a fast, multi-winner who won a decent group 2. Surely they'd have been better running him in the Abbaye at least. If he lost they don't lose anything but if he wins it they gain a great deal and he could then retire as a reasonable stallion prospect.
 
A deplorable decision by his greedy and unsporting owner, someone who can hardly claim that she needs the money.

How on earth is flat racing meant to be taken seriously as a sport when this sort of thing goes on?
 
Sheikh, he's not quite fulfilled his potential when he is let go that young, not due to an injury. ICEMAN would be a similar story, very, very promising and talented, but banged up too badly in a race to continue racing as a 3 y.o. Now here's a juvenile who's done very well in G3 and G2, but has only won £130,000 - hardly a king's ransom by the standards of most who are recently available for stud duties. There's nothing wrong with him, and size isn't always an issue with sturdy little sprinters, anyway. Don't know if Hannon urged Wood to take the offer, but you'd have thought it was worth at least keeping him on to next year, with good 3 y.o. prizes on offer.

I think it's ridiculous that an apparently perfectly fit 2 y.o. goes off to stud. I can't say anything about the owner's motives because I don't know her, but on the face of it, it's regrettable to see such a very young animal retired with so much potential yet untapped.
 
If the horse had untapped potential they wouldn't have retired it.

The owner has 26 raced horses in training in 2010. This doesn't account for the unraced horses in training they have, the bangers they bought and the yearlings they are buying. Unsporting and greedy ! If someone has the inside line on their finances I'm a nosie bugger and would love to hear it.
 
If we had a proper program for 3yo sprinters in Europe then i'm sure they'd be far less inclined to retire him this early.

Where would you run the horse next year and is he likely to win?

As far as I can see the options are the two 3yo listed races (Newbury, Ascot) and then taking on the likes of Astrophysical Jet, Lady of the Desert, Kingsgate Native, Total Gallery, Triple Aspect etc. in open age sprints from the end of May onwards - I personally don't think that he'll have much success taking on the latter at such an early age.
 
krizon said:
Sheikh, he's not quite fulfilled his potential when he is let go that young, not due to an injury. ICEMAN would be a similar story, very, very promising and talented, but banged up too badly in a race to continue racing as a 3 y.o.
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Iceman raced as a 3 and 4 year old.
 
It does strike one as odd at first glance but as IS points out life is very hard for 3 year old sprinters . The Dayjurs and Oasis Dreams are the exceptions rather than the rule . Some of course come back at 4 and reassert themselves like Royal Applause but many do not train on .

This does seem to be something the pattern should address
 
When I posted the thread I wasn't so concerned about whether he'd race at 3 or not. That's not my problem, after-all Holy Roman Emperor has gone on to a decent level of success after just his juvenile season. My problem is the horse hasn't won anything. Okay, he's won 6 races, including a Group 2 and a Sales race, but surely he should've scored at at least Group 1 level, if not multiple times, to be considered a decent stallion prospect? If they'd have had a crack at the Nunthorpe with him and won, or had a go at the Abbaye and won that, then retired him he'd make much more of a stallion, but with the current amount of stallions I don't see where he'll fit in. He'll command a very low price I'd imagine. What did they have to lose by going for the Abbaye? Nothing in defeat, a great deal to gain in victory. Just why a horse like this is going on to become a stallion is beyond me - but that's probably why I'm not John Magnier.
 
I imagine he will be cheap and be seen as an influence for speed - he will probably therefore do ok .
 
Hamm - quite right (re ICEMAN). Who was I thinking of? I know about ICEMAN, as Songsheet and I used him for BARRANTES, so the old brainbox has gone nuts again.
 
Maybe it was the break after the Guineas. Lovely horse, and one of my favourite two year olds (although obviously not one of the very best).
 
It might've been, although sometimes I find myself, like Tony Blair, misremembering! (Although even there I might be misremembering who said they misremembered.)

No, not one of the very best, but we chose him largely to put some good looks into BARRANTES' very plain ones, and liked his conformation - neat, compact, nice roundy shape. And at a reasomable price, of course! I went to see him at Cheveley Park with jinny/j and another friend and he was really - as you say - lovely. Too sad he died of the results of colic just before the foal sales. Not sure he's going to produce anything other than modest animals, unfortunately, but he has produced some nice-looking ones!
 
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