The Tracksider Daily News Page for DigitalDowns.us

Due to the abundance of stock available on the breeder's page, I chose to pick a few from said page and give you my five, ten, twenty cents on their breeding potential. First, I set some guidelines as to make this a random sample of different barns:

1) I'd go by date, starting with the horse luckiest (or not) to be listed first.
2) From there, I'd count fifteen horses and that one would be next until the list is exhausted.
3) I would give opinions on my observations on what I've experienced here and offer them to anyone that wanted to read it.

Here goes:

1) Smoking Aces (Crash Course x Eruption) owned by Racing Downs, breeding fee 0 Lifetime Record 19 6 5 3 115690

By 5 time stake winner Crash Course out of 150k plus earner Eruption, Smoking Aces has had 6 foals so far, with only one hitting the track. That fact seems to have scared some stables off with regards to breeding to him. Smoking Aces himself was a high level claimer and Open Allowance winner who also carried 124 lbs. to victory in his second to last race of his career. The problem I see with Smoking Aces is there is not a whole lot of class on the dam's side of the pedigree. Eruption won 150k, but was beaten in a 30k claimer as well. She also won a 100k claimer, but the fact that she was beaten in a 30k race shows her to have class limitations. Smoking Aces won 6 races lifetime, and the other 9 foals to race by Eruption won a total of 8 races combined. Again, not a whole lot of class here in the pedigree on the female side. Taking that point further, Eruption's dam, Swirlie was beaten every time she stepped up in class to the upper tier of horses when she was racing.

In my opinion, Smoking Aces will get mid level claimers and will be a source of stamina. If you're playing the breeding game, you'll have to breed a couple of generations to get the class back into this line, but if it's right now, look for him to supply the claiming game with his progeny. At the price of 0 on the board, Smoking Aces will supply a few winners, making his price well worth it.

2) Jake (Explosive x ELASTICITY) Finca Vigia Studs 55 10 10 10 386005

By multiple stakes winner Explosive out of the high level claimer ELASTICITY, this one was bred to be a runner, and didn't disappoint, winning a stake and terrorizing the Open Allowance level and high level claimers. The thing about Jake that I love is the fact that when racing in lower level claiming races at the beginning of his career, he won like he should have. He also won with 124lbs. later on showing that his numbers weren’t put up because he got in light in a race or two. Class-wise, ELASTICITY comes from the same dam as DUEL, PLASTERED, STRETCH, STRAPPED UP..ELASTICITY herself is a half sister to Bad Boy, a multiple stakes winner. Class is oozing from the female line. His sire Explosive is out of the mare Mystical Blue Eyes, who was a producer of horses who averaged nearly $4400 per race. Look for Jake to supply Digital Downs with runners for seasons to come who can race at the highest class DD can put out, and here’s the catch, WHEN BRED TO A HIGH CLASS MARE. Put it this way, if a Jake offspring does not produce a runner, don’t blame him. At $2500, this is akin to a free meal at Wolfgang Puck’s restaurant.

3) Whiskey Bent (FU MAN CHOO x Sold Out Shea) Socal Racing 22 3 4 5 62238

By the speedy FU MAN CHOO and out of the mid level claimer Sold Out Shea, Whiskey Bent is on the breeding page for $500. FU MAN CHOO, was a speedball of the Nth dimension, and never stretched out with much success. A mid/high level claimer, FU MAN CHOO figured to pass those traits on to his offspring and here is Whiskey Bent. Breed a mid/high level claiming speedball to a mid level claiming speedball, and what happens? You guessed it..Whiskey Bent. He should keep producing what this line has been producing. Sprinters that sprint at levels they have sprinted at in the past. I’m not seeing the next major stakes winner coming from Whiskey Bent, but if you want one that can sprint, you could do a lot worse. Problem is, late in races, this one may produce progeny that back up in the stretch if a classier horse looks him in the eye. At $500, this one is fairly priced.

4) MEGANS VO VO (Created) Golden State Bloodstock 66 13 8 13 87203

The created MEGANS VO VO is up for 0 on the breeding page. Megans was a low level claimer, with a nose for the finish line, winning 13 lifetime starts. He has passed the will to win onto his get, with his runners winning at a 16% clip. That said, Megans has been getting horses that do what he did, and that’s struggle at the higher levels. Only one horse, Camel Clutch has won vs. high level competition. Not much to go on pedigree-wise since Megans is created, so in my opinion, Megans will still produce sprinters that have a nose for the line, albeit vs. low level competition.

5) Vasectomy (Hunting With Blanks x Lovers Lane) Socratic Racing 34 6 3 5 85210

By the legendary Hunting With Blanks out of the honest mare Lovers Lane, Vasectomy is up on the breeding page for $800. Vasectomy never really reached his potential on the track, even getting beat at the $10k claiming level. His only win other than at 5f was at 6f, so there’s some distance limitations here at work. This is offset however with a 15% win rate in his progeny lines, so the fact that Vasectomy is well bred for the most part is showing up in his runners with a higher than normal win percentage. Horses normally average around 12%, so this one is exceeding that number easily. I would look for Vasectomy to continue to have runners that win at sprint distances, and wouldn’t be surprised to see one step up to high level competition once in awhile due to the fact that this one is bred very well. You could do a lot worse for $800.

That’s my first five, and again, it’s my opinion, so we’ll see how it turns out. I’ll update more when I get around to it or if this turns out to be useful for others. Drop a line on the message board if this seems helpful to you.