There has been a lot of talk on social media over the past few years about the weakening of the breed, how breeders are breeding for brilliance over durability, and how the emphasis on speed has led to a deterioration in stamina. While this conversation is as old as the Thoroughbred itself, social media makes it a lot easier for these ideas to be disseminated to those interested in the discourse, and thus easier for folks on all sides of the industry to give their thoughts on the matter.
The recent launch by Mike Repole of the National Thoroughbred Alliance has brought many concerns about the sport to the forefront, and I'd like to go ahead and throw my hat into the ring of public debate, as a longtime racing fan and student of the game whose livelihood as a bloodstock advisor depends on the continuation of the breed.
It's easy to say things like “X stallion shouldn't be breeding because he had soundness issues/only raced Y times/etc,” and “his owners should just geld him rather than letting him have hundreds of foals with these same issues.” It's easy to be frustrated that “the only thing that matters is getting a sales horse,” and complain that a one furlong breeze in March or April of a horse's 2-year-old season shouldn't be the most important eighth of a mile in their entire career. And there are very valid concerns behind these sentiments, but I don't find them to be particularly productive comments on their own. Telling people “don't do that” doesn't generally lead to a change in behavior: an alternative needs to be presented, and there needs to be a short-term reason for that alternative to be considered. Unfortunately, the long-term betterment of the breed doesn't pay this year's bills.
I and many others have long bemoaned the fact that the commercial market plays a huge role in breeding decisions. Unfortunately, as with most issues in the sport, the trend of breeding to sell isn't something that is readily changed. With foal crops steadily declining, the last thing the sport needs is to discourage breeders from breeding horses, and for many breeders, being able to sell their young stock is the only way to ensure their operation is sustainable. Whether we like it or not, the commercial market is going to continue to drive a large percentage of breeding decisions, especially at the highest levels of the sport. So, is there a way to encourage buyers to factor durability more heavily into their considerations? I believe there is.
The commercial market relies heavily on nick ratings such as TrueNicks to determine the appeal of a particular mating. What if there were a similarly easy-to-digest rating for soundness, something akin to a durability index? Even better, what if horses above a certain durability index rating were eligible for purse bonuses? What if, similar to programs such as the Virginia-Certified program, there was a set amount of money to be dispersed to horses who were certified by this durability index to be bred to a certain “breed improvement” standard that factored in things like the class, number of lifetime starts by the sire and dam, and the performance of their offspring by metrics such as percentage of starters and number of starts?
In my vision of this hypothetical program, the breeder pays a small fee to certify the horse, which is then given a letter grade (or perhaps a simple pass/fail rating) based on a standard that remains dynamic and is reviewed on a regular basis. This certification could be printed on a catalog page alongside other incentive programs the horse is eligible for, and horses could earn a small bonus on purses throughout their career, likely a percentage of an allocated yearly budget. In theory, this would help incentivize breeding horses with a focus on durability and soundness, as potential buyers could tell at a glance how certain horses compare to one another on common metrics such as those used by the Grayson-Jockey Club's yearly durability and soundness ratings.
This is an idea that I've been tossing around in my head for a few years, and I'd love to kickstart a conversation around the subject of how to make durability a commercial factor. “Breed sounder horses” is a noble but ultimately vague goal; without quantifiable measures of what that means, evidence of how to do so without sacrificing quality, and incentives for the commercial breeder, it's a hollow call to action.
— Jessica Tugwell
Based in San Antonio, Texas, Jessica Tugwell is a longtime horse racing fan who works as a pedigree consultant under the business name Hawkstone Bloodstock. This is a truncated version of a recent post at hawkstonebloodstock.substack.
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