Or even if they become broodmares? I know we can’t always expect the offspring to be just like its sire and dam but i still would like to see what the colt/filly would be like
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This is what I found out.
Stonestreet Stables, majority owner of two-time Horse of the Year, Curlin—and Harold T. McCormick of Birmingham, Alabama together with Dolphus Morrison and Mike Lauffer of L and M Partners, LLC and owner of Rachel Alexandra, the three-year-old filly who is undefeated in 2009. Rachel Alexandra is one of the best horses in racing today. She is fast, strong and durable. Jess Jackson states she has the traits we should all be breeding into all future generations of race horses. Her beauty and athleticism thrills thousands of fans.
Jess Jackson’s Stonestreet Stables has areputation for integrity, putting the best interest of the horses above all else, and just doing things right will ensure this incredible thoroughbreds’ future and the industry at large. RA will retire after her racing career to Stonestreet Stables.
Rachel Alexandra Foaled in 2006, Rachel Alexandra was out of Lotta Kim, a daughter of Claiborne Farm’s multiple stakes winner, Roar. Rachel Alexandra was sired by Medaglia d’Oro, a multiple Grade I winner who retired with career earnings in excess of $5.7 million.
Jackson indicated that when Rachel Alexandra’s racing career concludes, he will breed her to Curlin, whose speed, strength and durability are the key qualities in his “New Horse.”
The resilient Curlin, winner of 11 of 16 races in two consecutive campaigns—including the 2008 Dubai World Cup, the 2007 Preakness, and the 2007 Breeders’ Cup Classic—is known as an “iron horse” for never missing a race or a workout and retiring in perfect form and health. Rachel Alexandra has many of these same traits.
They are excited by the prospect of one day seeing the offspring of Curlin and Rachel Alexandra. As for Zenyatta, I haven’t heard anything on that yet.
I would have some real reservations about breeding Zenyatta to Curlin.
Breeding horses is not just an exercise in matching pedigrees. You have to consider the physical characteristics of the horses involved. And the first physical characteristic of Zenyatta that strikes you when you see her is her SIZE. She’s just huge, 17 hands and maybe a bit more.
The larger a Thoroughbred is, once you get past about 16 hands, the more difficult it becomes to keep it sound. For this reason, if I were selecting a mate for Zenyatta, I wouldn’t want to mate her to any stallion more than 16 hands in height. According to his page on the Lane’s End website, Curlin is 16.2. If you look at pictures of him, he’s built like a bull: he’s a big-boned horse, quite substantial.
I don’t think this is the kind of mate for Zenyatta, from a physical standpoint, that would produce a foal that would be sound enough to race successfully.
Another issue: neither Curlin nor Zenyatta was precocious enough to race at 2. I would want to find a mate for Zenyatta that had that precocity, and I would prefer to find a mate for her that had quality speed, miler speed.
I’m not sure who I would select as a mate for Zenyatta, but I would rule Curlin out. Physically they just aren’t a good match.
Curlin with Rachel Alexandra would be a possibility, but my personal choice for her would be Tiznow, not Curlin. I believe that Tiznow would be a better match for her, and I don’t really like the idea of breeding a mare to an unproven stallion for her first foal. Curlin was a dynamite racehorse but he’s not a proven stallion. With a mare as good as Rachel Alexandra, every single foal she produces is going to be precious, so I would want to breed her to a stallion I knew was successful. Tiznow has proven himself and I think the bloodlines would work well together.
The answer about the physical match with Zenyatta and Curlin is true. Zenyatta is a big, dainty(not by full meaning of the word, because she’s a killer racehorse).. girl. Her lines are full of larger horses, such as Native Dancer, who stood at 16.2 i believe it was… Both Curlin and Zenyatta share lines of Native Dancer and Mr. Prospector. Each of those horses showed height, making the height an issue. Though, I would like to see a filly crossed with Zenyatta and California Flag or Well Armed. Both have showed some speed that I would match up with Zenyatta to make her daughter a powerhorse, especially Well Armed determination and competitive drive, it would seem to be impossible for her to match up with Curlin… no matter how much we all would want a foal of theirs.
As for RA, she is a bit smaller, and is also dainty, who seems to go the distance with the big boys. With Curlin’s huge tankish body and speed, and Rachel’s stamina, that foal would be born to run, and would be one of the most amazing horses of it’s time.. I believe at least.
The plan is to breed RA to Curlin once her racing days are over with. Zenyatta and Curlin would not be a good match because they both carry the bloodline of Native Dancer, which is notorious for producing horses which have leg and soundness problems, among other things. Don’t forget- Ruffian was a maternal granddaughter of Native Dancer, and her sire, Reviewer, was a horse who suffered no less than 4 seperate leg fractures before he was finally retired. These facts alone pretty well rule out a matchup between Curlin and Zenyatta, unless you want to see history repeat itself when one of their offspring breaks down tragically on the track. It’s sheer folly to think that this wouldn’t happen at some point, if these two horses were bred together.
As for RA, I think that’s a decent enough match.