This week l had a strange request from a breeder who was so desperate for a colt from his best mare…
He asked, if l could find out any information about what he could do to increase the chances of his mare of having a colt hit the ground later this year out of his prize mare. He also sent me his list of stallions he was prepared to use and to see I could find any little advantage at all.
The first thing l did was to look at frozen v fresh to see if we had any edge there. While frozen looks like it has a small advantage in the quest for a colt, I’m not prepared to call it just yet as going through all that data would still take more time than I’ve got available this week. Also l was unable to contact my leading vet about this and to ask the question about serving fresh semen closer than normal to ovulation to see if that would help, however, again l can’t comment on that idea at this stage.
Another thought l had was to look at ways to make the mare have a more alkaline environment, however again until l can track down and speak to the right people, to see if this is a possibility, it to maybe just another wild thought.
So like most things in harness racing, my data base can give me the best clues and tips. The first step was to plug in all the stallions my mate
(the breeder ) was prepared to use, and look at every foal they have ever sired in NA, (as this data is faster to put into a report than ANZ ). Lets be really clear here, I don’t think his strategy is at all sound, as there is no way this mare suits 15 different stallions, however I just did what he wanted.
Now , I thought the range or variance would be really small and to be fair, I really did think l was wasting my time. However like all things the data can tell a different story and l was shocked to see a very clear advantage with a couple of the stallions he really liked.
In the below table you can see the findings of this very strange request. The % is for colts born by that sire, making McArdle and Rocknroll Hanover the stand outs. l must say it was fun to find out that this crazy breeder who wouldn’t leave any stone unturned, and may have just found a few ways to increase his chances of getting a colt on the ground.
I will keep your updated on the outcome later in the year
| McArdle | 56% |
| Rocknroll Hanover | 55% |
| Well Said | 53% |
| Million Dollar Cam | 51% |
| Roll With Joe | 51% |
| Somebeachsomewhere | 51% |
| Mach Three | 50% |
| Rock N Roll Heaven | 50% |
| Shadyshark Hanover | 50% |
| Bettors Delight | 49% |
| Western Terror | 49% |
| American Ideal | 48% |
| Grinfromeartoear | 48% |
| Art Major | 47% |
| Shadow Play | 46% |
| Sportswriter | 45% |
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
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