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" ' What does it. cost? ' ' Dang what it costs? I’ m as good as Mr. Jones.’ " High prices place an inordinate pressure upon the syndicated stallion to succeed at stud, in Mr. B’ s view.
' At that price his foals have got to win. They can’ t afford to lose.
' Well, maybe some men can pick stallions, but 1 can’ t. The law of averages is going to make some of them fail.
' You only get 65 ". live foals, anyway,’ he adds.
" When a mare turns up barren, the breeder is out her keep and depreciation for that year with nothing to show for those expenses, regardless of whether she was bred to a syndicated or a privately owned stallion.
" If she were bred to a privately owned stallion, though, the owner at least gets the stud fee back if the horse stands on a live-foal basis: or receives a free breeding privilege for the next season, if he stands under return conditions. Thus the breeder breaks even on the stallion side of the investment, even though the mare be barren.
" However, in the case of a syndicated horse in which he owns a share, the breeder also has nothing to show ' for his portion of the expense of maintaining the stallion for that year, and for the seasonal depreciation of his investment in the original purchase.
" As is Mr. B., Mr. A. is concerned about the virtual necessity for syndicated stallions to succeed, but for a different reason. He feels that syndication limits the stud opportunities received by horses of modest credentials. " ' The present syndication system is not developing our future replacements,’ he declares.
What good stud horses have been developed by syndication? Name me one.
" ' Go down the list of top sires. Every one of them now syndicated started out privately at some low fee- S250, S300, S500, rarely S 1,000. You can hardly syndicate that kind of horse today. Few small breeders will get out and hustle for them, either. They’ re all in these syndicates. " ' So where are our future stallions coming from?’ " In answer to the challenge to name one good stud horse developed under syndication, two might be mentioned: SHANNON II and NIRGAL: both were among the twenty leading sires last season( 1960), and both spent their entire stud careers in the syndicate ranks. " Moreover, syndication of horses off the race track, as contrasted with that of already established stallions, has been an important factor in the breeding picture for only a few ' years, and many such sires and prospective sires are still much too young for any judgment to be made concerning their degree of stud success.
" Most of the accepted factors in attaining that success, though, seem to be in favor of the syndicated horse, as Mr. Ebelhardt points out: ' A syndicated horse represents a concensus of opinion as to his quality, is usually under top management, and is owned generally by leading breeders who are likely to be careful of the type of mares sent to him. So many prominent breeders are represented as syndicate shareholders, that it obviously is the opinion of many that syndication is " the thing."’
" Mr. B., however, believes that whether syndication helps’ or hinders a horse depends upon the price
level of the syndicate, its membership and its management. ' Probably in the highest price group syndication will help a horse,’ he says. ' When I send a mare to a leading stallion, I mean for that mare to get in foal: and I’ m going to make pretty darn sure
she’ s one that will get in foal.
" ' But when I’ ve got a mare that may not get in foal. I’ ll look around for some nice, cheap horse; or one’ I can con a friend into letting me to. That’ s only
human nature.
" ' Some horses, though, may be hurt by syndication, if the manager is not hustling and ambitious, and not on commission for the seasons he sells.
" ' Of course, there are a few horses that don’ t care what mare is bred to them. They’ ll breed well to anything. But the average horse takes mare selection.’
" However, Ivor Balding, manager of C. V. Whitney’ s farm, Lexington, Ky., takes the opposite stand, believing that mare selection gives a slight edge to the privately owned stallion.
"' If they’ re syndicated,’ he points out, ' they get only syndicate mares, whereas if they’ re not syndicated, someone may send a mare they think is particularly suitable.’
" But Mr. Doherty dislikes the idea of requiring mares to be approved. ' No one man is in a position to judge what kind of mares a horse should get,’ he avers. ' We’ re not God, we’ re only human. Any one man approving mares makes it hard on his horse.
" ' With a syndicate horse you get a concensus of opinion of horsemen and breeders as to what suits the horse. There is no control over a syndicate book, except for matters of health. The guy who owns a share can darn well breed what he likes. This wide choice of mares gives the horse a chance to show what he likes in the various types and bloodlines.’
" Mr. Doherty also thinks that syndication is more of an advantage to the horse of medium merits than to the top sire prospect. ' The moderate horse of doubtful parentage’- he means ' doubtful’ in the sense of being of questionable popularity- ' and reasonable attractiveness has a chance under syndication to keep his book full, at least until his first crops have shown. If he turns out to be a lemon then, the owners will either give their shares away or not use them.’ " Mr. Hancock likewise believes an assured full book to be an important advantage to the syndicated stallion, particularly a young horse. ' If you syndicate a young horse,’ he explains, ' it assures him of getting mares for several seasons.’
" Mr. Combs, though, thinks that the advantage of a full book extends beyond the first few stud seasons for a syndicated stallion. ' The people own shares in him,’ he elucidates. ' Even if he has a bad season, they have to breed to him, whereas if they were paying a fee they probably wouldn’ t.’
" On the other hand, Mr. A. contends that the syndicate pressure for success creates a harmful degree of impatience on the part of their members. ' Syndicates concentrate on too few horses, and give up on them too soon. Stallions have been known to fail under one management, then be sold and succeed under another. That never happens with syndicated horses- practically never. They tend to stand where they are until they die a natural death.’
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