Authentic: Selecting Mares

Watch as Ned Toffey shares his thoughts on what type of mares Spendthrift desires to be bred to Authentic. As he explains, first and foremost, a consideration for the performance record and sales’ history of the mare’s produce is paramount, particularly for older mares.
For younger broodmares, Ned describes how pedigree and performance are benchmarks in discerning which ones will be accepted into Authentic’s “book” --the list of mares that will be bred to the stallion.
In the case of Authentic, not surprisingly, there are more submissions than spots available in his book, so a process is used to determine who will visit him in the breeding shed.
Older mares with great pedigrees, but poor produce records, are less likely to be accepted, than well-bred, physically striking young mares who have yet to reproduce.
Another important factor is looking at the “cross” -- how the mare’s pedigree has historically meshed with the stallion’s pedigree. Certain crosses are more productive, resulting in a higher rate of stakes performers, than others.
Ned also touches on the compensatory method used by some breeders who prefer to match a mare to a stallion by looking at their individual physical strengths and weaknesses and then breeding to compensate in the areas lacking (i.e. weak hocks or long pasterns). Other breeders will focus on like-to-like breeding, where they build upon the strengths of the mare and stallion in hopes of capitalizing on those attractive qualities.
#myracehorse

[@georgehegyes5797]

These videos are excellent, thank you

[@MyRacehorse]

Glad you like them!

[@annbrookscarroll5861]

Very interesting and informative, what a complex affair. I was very interested on how they would choose mares for Authentic. Can't wait to see the results next year. And MyRaceHorse, you do a wonderful job of keeping all of us informed!! Love it.

[@scrambles0063]

Now this was a really well put together and interesting video about the way Spendthrift is selecting the mares for my boy, Authentic! Very informative and it will be interesting to see what mares were actually bred. Authentic is quite different in appearance than his sire, and he accomplished quite a bit more on the racetrack. Of course that doesn’t mean that Authentic’s success will transfer to the breeding shed, but that’s what we’re all hoping for! Thanks Ned!

[@saltyrose5079]

I was definitely wondering how farms whittle down the list of mares for really popular stallions when money was not a factor. Ned hit on many points here. Great video, thank you.

[@junedawes7923]

Great video thank you

[@MyRacehorse]

Glad you enjoyed it, thanks for watching

[@danyelbaker4281]

Great video! Mr. Toffey mentions different factors they will consider during the mare selection process, my question as a novice here in the Thoroughbred race breeding is, would there be consideration to breeding mares from all these different catagories Mr. Toffey mentions to see what will be produced that works?

[@williamhomann4894]

Best to the Best.....Authentic to Zenyatta.....Authentic to Monomoy Girl

[@junedawes7923]

Anything from Monomoy Girl, will be legendary!

[@emmaleahconnely5367]

Zenyatta has not had a single foal do anything on the track. She also has a hard time holding onto foals. Monomoy girl was purchased to pad either Into Mischief or Authentic’s book. Only reason she’s racing this year, is that both stallions have full books.

[@thehooksetstudio8341]

@@emmaleahconnely5367 couldn't agree more, Zenyatta like Rachel has had problems keeping her pregnancies. Poor thing, some mares just don't produce and were better on the track.

[@danyelbaker4281]

@@thehooksetstudio8341 When a horse has trouble holding onto her foals, why not consider flushing eggs and putting into a surrogate? I understand there is a significant price difference, but with a good track record, wouldn't it be worth a try?

[@goosewine7663]

When a great race horse goes to stud, you would like that stallion to reproduce himself. In such a case, one would like the mare to act as a sack or a carrier, with the stallion’s genes dominating over the mare’s genes. Wouldn’t it have been wonderful if Secretariat or Man 0’ War sired a son or daughter which exhibited the exact race track abilities as they themselves did? The reverse is also true. When a great race mare goes to the breeding shed, one would like her to reproduce herself. But great race mares are usually bred to prepotent and dominant stallions. which may create somewhat of a genetic conflict. This could be one reason why many great race mares do not become great producers, It might also be true that being a great race mare and being a great broodrnare result from different qualities of aptitudes in a mare. Great broodmares are those who produce many superior runners. Maybe what makes a great broodmare, in some cases, are those who allow the stallions to dominate the gene pool.

[@chrisgrabowski2678]

Ned, I hope you see this question. If a mare is submitted and she's foaled 9, 10 or 11 times, do you take that into consideration? Would it matter how many of those were winners? How many were stake winners? Do you prefer mares to have only foaled 3, 4 or 5 times? If you are breeding for Spendthrift, do you consider the resulting bloodlines for future breeding if she foals a filly? Thank you for your time and answers if I hear back.

[@suzanneyoung8011]

He basically answered your questions already. He didn't talk about the number of foals they've had but spoke in general terms as to the age of a mare, which predisposes she is going to have more foals as she ages. First and foremost he looks at the mare's produce record to determine if she has the ability to conceive and carry a foal to term. Then he talked about looking at the sales record of what the mare's offspring have brought at auction (if no race record yet) and then he mentioned for older mares looking at the performance record of their produce. In other words, if the mare is older and has produced many foals - did they race? Did they win? And especially did they win or place in stakes races or graded stakes races? That's the black type on the pedigree page that he spoke about. It's not so much the number of foals she's had, but what the black type racing and breeding results are of those foals which is important. As to your last question, I can't answer for Spendthrift, but in general for most breeders who have a very good producing mare, they are going to want to retain at least one or more fillies from the mare to race and put back into their broodmare band in order to continue an exceptional female family line. That doesn't particularly matter who the stallion is because a mare of that quality is going to be bred to great stallions as she matures. It depends upon how many mares they may already have from that female line. If a really good older mare has produced all or mainly colts, they may be hoping she foals a filly that they will keep instead of sell. Those are just some of the things a breeder would consider.

[@watchgoose]

@@suzanneyoung8011 If they ultrasound soon enough as they should, and twins are detected, this number can be reduced so as not to become problematic. As a mare ages, her ova are also aging.

[@suzanneyoung8011]

@@watchgoose yes I'm aware of that. I'm not talking about a multiple foal birth as in twins. I'm referring to the number of foals a mare has over her lifetime. My reply was in response to his question about a mare who has had many foals. I'll edit my answer if it is really unclear.

[@richardcoreno]

It's the tale of shed: breed the best to the est and hope for the best.

[@emmaleahconnely5367]

Will owners of Authentic ever be told who is in his book?