Inspired by the TDN Europe’s recent “From the Experts” series, where breeders and agents are asked to identify recently-announced stud fees that offer value in a trio of different contexts, here are our own such assessments for this coming season’s Kentucky stud fees

Reading the piece by Joe Nevills in the Paulick Report last week about the stallions with increases in mares bred this spring, one number stood out big time: 2. As in, Bucchero picked up 31 more mares in his 2nd book than his first. That just doesn’t happen, and it makes Bucchero a big value for breeders heading into 2021.

We highlighted Jimmy Creed as a value sire last year, and with a decreased fee for 2021 with his big, better-bred crops closer to the races, we like him even more this year!

Goldencents has proven to be the leading young stallion of his generation, and he’ll give a big shot to a well-related young mare early in her breeding career.

Brody’s Cause has excellent results with his first crop so far, and they should only get better next year. At his $5,000 fee, he offers excellent value with a lot of upside.

**The following narrative was authored by Lauren Floyd, the Bloodstock Intern for Wasabi Ventures Stables, to explain why Dominus was chosen as a mate for Almyra.  You can find out more about Lauren here.** Maiden special weight winner, Almyra, who raced for Wasabi Ventures Stables in her 4yo year, has been retired and will be… [Read More]

**The following narrative was authored by Lauren Floyd, the Bloodstock Intern for Wasabi Ventures Stables, to explain why Demarchelier was chosen as a mate for Settle It.  You can find out more about Lauren here.** Settle It, a full-sister to a stakes winner and another still-active stakes-placed winner, who raced for Wasabi Ventures Stables in… [Read More]

Magical Point, a daughter of Horse of the Year Point Given and from the fantastic Maryland female family of our favorite veteran sire Include, was the first mare to check in-foal this spring to new Maryland stallion Force the Pass, in a Housatonic Recommended Mating. The cross of Gone West-line stallions with Thunder Gulch-line mares… [Read More]

The versatile and hard-knocking 11-time winner Littlemissperfect has produced a pair of fillies by the Storm Cat-line stallion Imagining to kick off her broodmare career, but will be switching it up in 2020 when she visits Maryland’s newest Grade 1-winning millionaire Force the Pass in the latest Housatonic Recommended Mating. The Speightstown/Street Cry cross looks… [Read More]

This Housatonic Recommended Mating features the first match for the hard-knocking young mare Mission Good Karma, for whom we have chosen the precocious, versatile and well-bred newcomer Flameaway — and she is actually already pregnant to Darby Dan’s son of Scat Daddy on a February cover.  We are fans of Flameaway because he was extremely… [Read More]

Above is a link to the lovely TDN piece telling the story of Force the Pass, Wasabi and Anchor & Hope. Having helped Wasabi get Force the Pass is one of my proudest accomplishments, and I’m so thankful for the opportunity afforded me by TK Kuegler and Wasabi, and very happy to get to work with great… [Read More]

A hard-knocking, versatile racemare who won 8 races and earned $191,027, Justgimmeakiss will meet a similarly tough, “blue collar” type in the breeding shed this spring, as we have chosen the Pennsylvania stalwart Weigelia as her first Housatonic Recommended Mating. Whereas Justgimmeakiss finished in the top three in 29 of her 70 starts from 2YO… [Read More]

The latest Housatonic Recommended Mating of the Not For Love mare No More Excuses to Imagining features 3×2 inbreeding to full-siblings out of the “Blue Hen” Phipps mare Dance Number, with a cross that has already produced a stakes winner and another winner from Imagining’s first crop of 2YOs in 2019. When we prepared Mating… [Read More]

This past year has been a big one for Housatonic Bloodstock, and we want to thank all of the amazing clients who made that happen! Among the highlights of our 2019: We helped our friends at Wasabi Ventures Stables acquire their first stallion, the Grade 1-winning millionaire Force the Pass, and are helping manage his… [Read More]

The latest Housatonic Recommended Mating features the recently-acquired Two Punch mare Miss Charlotte, who will visit the brilliant Met Mile-G1 winner Mor Spirit at Spendthrift Farm in 2020. An $85,000 yearling-turned $650,000 2-year-old in-training purchase, Mor Spirit broke his maiden in his second start at 2 for Bob Baffert.  He then shipped to Kentucky where… [Read More]

We have stated repeatedly our agreement with the notion that proven stallions make the best choice for maiden mares in the breeding shed, and as such we are excited that the stakes-placed, quarter-million dollar-earner Ritzy Lass will have Midshipman as her first mate (pun intended!) in a Housatonic Recommended Mating. Ritzy Lass won 13 of… [Read More]

Regular readers of these write-ups will remember that we have been big fans of Airdrie’s veteran stallion Include for some time, and we are excited to have been able to recommend that I’m Engaged visit him in 2020. Include’s appeal as a mate for I’m Engaged is, firstly, that at his advertised fee of $7,500,… [Read More]

Last year for her first breeding shed match-up, Super Mama was sent to the highly-proven veteran turf sire Mizzen Mast.  In 2020, she will be a member of the first book to visit the brilliant young prospect Demarchelier at historic Claiborne Farm in Kentucky. As we mentioned last year, Super Mama’s female family has a… [Read More]

After two foals by Imagining to start her breeding career, Littlemissperfect will visit another representative of the Storm Cat sire-line in 2020 as she is booked to Darby Dan’s versatile new son of Scat Daddy, the multiple Graded stakes winner Flameaway. As we’ve laid out here before, Littlemissperfect’s dam, Admirer, is a Phipps-bred full-sister to… [Read More]