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Hi Love of Courage
As of last week there still had not been pen to paper for the deal, so i was told by a gentleman who was speaken to some Americans about other stallions. But i like you have my fingers crossed that he comes out and i hope Mightymo is on the mark with his service fee $12.5k and no more.
I'm hoping Shark Gesture comes down here..... but given the connections of the horse I'll not be holding my breath, they're not the easiest crew to get along with. I reckon coming to a reasonable arrangement with Norman Smiley to stand the horse down here would be up there with brokering a complete cessation of hostilities deal between Israel and Hamas.:p
Hey Triple
You would think people would want to do a deal for there stallion to come down for 2 reasons. First they make more money and second more foals on the ground know matter where they are can only be good to get the stallion up and running with winners on the board. The problem would also be there asking price as it seems they wan't top $$$$ for all of them to come out here and with so many stallions out here already it's going to be hard to get your outlay back in a hurry unless they are priced right. If he was to come to Aus what price do you think he should be at to attract good books of mare's.
Shark Gesture served around 44 mares with 18 foals at around the $5,000 mark from memory with no real hoopla now with his FFA record after returning to the track will makes him get more than just the one pass over by breeders, price for mine $3,000 to many good horses around $5,000. Did he have fertility issues when first at stud in the US? boy Cam's Card Sharks top 10 list is impressive so there is no reason Shark Gesture wouldn't cross well down here and be viable.
He was a shy breeder Nat, at least he was when he came down here the first time. Low libido, he would rather eat grass than jump a mare. Maybe things have changed since then and the crew at Kentuckiana would know of course but I doubt they're telling. I hope that has changed and that he comes down again because he is without doubt THE TOUGHEST HORSE that I have seen in a long, long time. Serious hard arse with all the trimmings.
If you get a chance watch You Tube footage of George Brennan and Tim Tetrick stoking him up and putting him on the front end. Talk about never say die. I'd not think twice about supporting the horse, especially so with the aim of the resultant progeny racing at Menangle. That is exactly what you need. We've got a current 2yo filly by him that unfortunately will not race because of a bad knee but she shows her old man's influence in spades. She's as tough as a well done Elephant Rump Steak.
I liked him when he came out but dint have the mare or cash to go to him at the time and when he started racing again and emerged as a force in the FFA ranks my heat sunk he has always been a handy horse no flash in the pan nice blood good record, they just need to put the right price on him and he could breed 100+ if he's up to it.
Hi Nat
For Shark Gesture to get 100+ mare's they would have to price him right for sure and i still think he would struggle as people know he has already been out here and struggled to get mare's in foal.
He didn't struggle to get mares in foal per se Mango, there wasn't anything wrong with him fertility wise, rather it was just didn't give a whole lot semen volume wise.
Quite a few sires in this part of the world, and notably 2 or 3 of the higher profile ones, are permanently or have periodically been that way inclined.
Thanks for that info Triple, it does put a question mark on him comming out again if that is the case.
To be fair, that issue was back when he was a straight off the track 4yo & it could just as easily have gone away by now Mango. I guess it will be a few more months before the current season's mares served data from the US/CAN becomes available and that'll tell the story one way or the other. As I alluded to earlier, I think the biggest stumbling block to his return to Oz or perhaps to NZ for the first time is much more likely to be Old Mate in Boca Raton, FL. I seriously doubt a particularly in-depth understanding and appreciation of the Southern Hemisphere breeding industry landscape is present & as such I'd bet my Cojones that telephone numbers are wanted.