Ghostzapper retired

[Justpat]

aaronbees posted this on the Belmont entries thread.

He has a hairline fracture of a sesamoid in the left front.

[two gun sid]

1. Just seen it on DRF....

damn. That's too bad. He's a nice horse.

[aaronbees]

2. It really is a shame...

that makes two potentially great horses (Zapper, Smarty - IMO) in less than a year retired before they could really show what they were made of.

Though I don't think Alex could've hooked him as a 3 yr. old, I was looking forward to a matchup come BC Classic time. Throw in a Roses in May, resurgent Bellamy Road, St. Liam, and it could've been a sweet matchup.

And though I love Frankel bashing, he probably was playing it pretty wise to get Zapper as far as he did.

Gotta wonder what's going on with the breeding industry days to kick out such unsound runners, though honestly I'm not as knowledgeable on that as I should be.

Coulda, woulda, shoulda ... once again.

[Awsi Dooger]

3. There goes my Breeders Cup future bet at 4/1

Always a risk when you make a wager like that. They give you a good number but you have to sweat out every possibility of something like this. Wow, my friend Wayne went down heavy on that bet. I'm lucky I got in late and they sliced the odds to 2/1 before I bet half the amount I intended.

Lousy for racing. Ghostzapper had put together the most impressive string of races via an older horse in some time.

[u4ic]

4. Crap

I really, really liked this horse. I hadn't gotten excited about a horse in a long time...but after that Vosburgh...that was it!

Old Broad...any thoughts on him as a sire?

[Justpat]

5. My husband thinks he'll make a good sire.

And out friend whom we consider to be a great pedigree guy says
he should be an excellent sire also.

He is heavily inbred way back in his pedigree to Domino who
this guy thinks is responsible for a high percentage of the great
horses in our time. He says that nine of the eleven triple crown
winners had this heavy inbreeding to Domino.

And just from my limited knowledge of pedigrees, I have to agree.
The dam of Ghostzapper is also the dam of City Zip. It's a good
family.

[two gun sid]

6. The Black Whirlwind....

only sired 20 foals in his stud career. It's pretty amazing his line still lives on today through his son Commando and his daughter Pink Domino. He really changed the breed.

The marker on his grave reads:
"Here lies the fleetest runner the American turf has ever known, and one of the gamest and most generous of horses."

[Justpat]

7. He was a remarkable horse.

He bowed in both fronts as a yearling. Then he went on and raced
with them and won stakes anyway. My friend who I consider to be
the best pedigree person in the business loves Domino and feels
that he must have passed on his incredible heart and class in
addition to his physical abilities. Most horses would refuse to
train with any tendon problem but Domino sucked it up and ran and
won good races. Not too many like that.
It seems that that quality to indefinable greatness can be passed
on genetically.

[two gun sid]

8. That is amazing...

I had never heard about Domino's bowed tendons before. I had heard about Colin, Domino's grandson by Commando, winning the Belmont with a bowed tendon. He beat Fair Play by a head. Those were truly iron horses.

If I remember correctly I think Broad Brush is a tail male descendant of Colin.


<Question on edit> I read a couple of books last year about the X-factor and genetics. I was interested for my own standardbred breeding operation. What I would like to know is if you believe the heart X-factor theory is good science? It seemed a little faddish to me. The books made conclusions I wouldn't have made. I would like to see more evidence to support the authors claim. I thought the conclusions were no better than breed the best to the best and hope for the best. Just my opinion and I would like to know how the TB community is using this X-factor theory. Thanks.

[Justpat]

9. Most of us who breed to race use it.

The theory is that big hearts, which are necessary for Grade 1
performance, are passed on from certain stallions through
their daughters. Secretariat for example had a heart the size of a
bucket and he passed this on through his daughters. It is why his
daughters were considered invaluable as broodmares. His colts weren't
worth a quarter. But his daughters, regardless of their racing success, were good broodmares.
It seems that the stallion that were capable of classic speed
pass it on. Alysheba, who was a dismal sire overall, seems to have
his daughters popping up in really high class pedigrees now.
Not to the extent Secretariat was, but he had not been at stud as
long either. The daughters of Seattle Slew and Mr. Prospector must
also have this physical trait as their daughters are invaluable as
broodmares.
A few years ago I bred my mare to Alysheba before they sent him
to Saudi Arabia. I figured if I got a filly it would be the only
way I could get a decent broodmare at a price I could afford. I got
lucky and have a Alysheba mare that I just bred to Whywhywhy to
get some speed in the pedigree of the foal. I hope it works out.

[two gun sid]

10. Thanks for your input....

I'm always looking for different ways to get an edge on my fellow SB competitors. I always look to you TB folks for ideas. Other than AI, you are lightyears ahead of us in the breeding shed.


Since all SB races are run at a mile (with a few exceptions), I'm not sure how to go about identifying an X-factor sire and dam. Speed is all I can rely on and as you know that is really not a perfect way to measure a horses ability.

Thanks again.

Sid

[Justpat]

11. Try this book.

There was a book written by a woman named Marianna Haun
titled: Understanding the Power of the X Factor.

I saw the book on www.exclusivelyequine.com
She did research on this with both TB and Standard bred mares.
It might be a help to you.