We’re all in these difficult times together and If Little Avondale and Cambridge Stud can offer breeders significant advantages by using their stallions, I can follow their example by offering free mating advice for the coming season.
Little Avondale have trimmed Time Test’s fee from $10,000 to $6000 and I’ve been unable to resist this inducement. I can well remember when Rich Hill reduced Pentire’s fee to the same amount – and the angst when the mare concerned failed to get in foal, especially when the son of Be My Guest left SWs all over the place in subsequent years.
I really rate Time Test and he should cross well with many of our leading bloodlines. Inbreeding to Sadler’s Wells clearly works well and if you’re going to inbreed to Danehill, something most of us approach with caution, Time Test’s Dansili line is one that should be relatively risk-free. The mare I’m sending is bred on a Rip Van Winkle – Dansili cross, so I’m going for broke.
If you’re thinking of using Time Test, then have a look at the photos of last year’s foals on the LA website. It’s something of a challenge to tell them apart.
Cambridge Stud’s 2020 strategy is to offer a payment on live foal deal – an arrangement which will appeal to breeders whose cash flow isn’t what it used to be. They offer two stunning physical types in Almanzor and Embellish and deserve to be rewarded for their initiative.
To date, other studs’ announcements of their 2020 fees have been notable for their adherence to 2019 figures. Let’s hope they think again. Wouldn’t six weeks’ free agistment be a powerful inducement?
In recent years I’ve often published a review of fees based on what I’ve considered to be the extent to which they’ve represented value for money. I plan on doing this again in a coupe of weeks, but one stallion I’d like to mention at this stage is Derryn.
His offspring on Gavelhouse have been nice types and my experience with breeding a mare to him has been more than satisfactory. Tuscany Rose is a mare that has yet to leave two foals alike, even when bred twice to the same stallion but her Derryn filly we’re currently weaning is an absolute cracker. She appears to have a fair amount of Lonhro in her, which is certainly encouraging.
