2004, actually it was a 109 then.

I think that was Azeri. She got a 109? Really? Wow.

Lifetime she had a 112, a 111, two 110s, and four 109s. Now we get excited when a mare runs a 105.

Oh, I wasn't surprised she ran a 109, I was surprised she ran a 109 in the BC Calssic.

Yes he was. Gentleman was lame in the test barn afterwards. I think Siphon was in there too? Skip Away didnt look too good in the paddock before the race either.

Northern Afleet should not be included with IC, VE, or SG. Outside of Afleet Alex he has no top class runners. He ranked in the 60's on last years sire list. he is fair at best as a sire

well, yeah, that's true...

Actually, it was the other way around. Gentlemen, who gave Skip Away a brief scare in the Woodward, finally put that one away in early stretch of the JCGC, only to get run down by Wagon Limit.

Gentlemen was still 5 lengths in front of Skip Away at the wire.

Actually, Ann, it was Saint Ballado-- the Captain's SIRE that died young ....

The Captain is alive and kicking.

You missed the point. I was comparing Skip Away, Behrens, Silver Charm and company to other horses that began their stud careers in 1998 and 1999. Considering the relatively low quality mares that Northern Afleet saw in Florida when he first started (I believe he was standing for as low as $5,000), he has been an "overachiever" as a sire. He has consistently "moved up" his mares (AEI of 1.63 v. CI of 1.43), so it will be interesting to see what he does with the better opportunities afforded him recently; his first KY-conceived crop of horses (on a $12,500 stud fee) hit the ground this year.

I believe it was Formal Gold and Will's Way who battled down the stretch in the Whitney? That was the summer of great finishes at Saratoga.

He is a weak sire. His number of stakes winners for a 15 year old stallion with 7 crops of racing age is 16 which is not good. He has had one horse of note in 7 crops. His 1st and 3rd leading money winners are out of the same mare(who needs to get a lot of the credit). His AEI and CI's are skewed by the fact he stood in FL where many mares havent earned a lot of money, especially in relation to slot fueled purses elsewhere, but are still solid producers. I dont think he got much for mares in KY except the older or cheaper ones. Unfortunately for me I have 3 coming next year for a client unless a miracle happens and he can sell them. I guess I may be biased but after 7 crops I would like to see a whole lot more. It wasnt like he was standing in Wyoming.

I know Skip Away probably had better mares to start out but his numbers are better than NA, and personally I think SC is a better sire also. Beherns, notsomuch

A colt who actually went thru his conditions how novel a thought

Chuck go look at the book NA was bred to like 6 years ago..I swear some of them weren't TB's.. I reviewed his entire book once Afleet Alex started to emerge and I didn't see a single quality mare out of the 40 to 50 he had been bred to.. I think you have to wait and see what happens now that he has some sponsorship.

I guess we can agree to disagree on Northern Afleet as a sire. To my way of thinking, if he's on the top 100 sire list given the opportunities that he's had, I have a hard time calling him "weak."

As for Skip Away, he's never had a horse of significance, his AEI (1.32) is below his CI (1.43), and his yearlings and 2YOs sell for next to nothing, so I fail to see how "his numbers are better than" Northern Afleet.

take away AA and what do you have? He is a one horse wonder. 571 foals and 16 stakes winners and 13 stakes place horses. that is a miserable number. This is after 7 crops. That is very weak. We arent talking graded stakes horses, just stakes horses. Including all those bs calder stakes. If not for the mother of AA and UM he would have virtually no top flight horses. He is not a Bad sire but he is not very good yet and projecting success based on getting better mares is dangerous.

SA has had more graded stakes winners, stakes winners and stakes placed horses than NA and the last few years he has had foal crops of 50 or less. he aint good but it is hard to make a case that NA is better.

Maybe I am being elitist but to my thinking you could breed to billy goats and be on the top 100 sire list

16 stakes winners out of 571 foals is really weak. He should be a $4000 regional sire.

Where are we getting this 571 foal number? According to the Stallion Register, Northern Afleet has sired 348 horses of racing age, 244 runners, 70 percent winners, and 14 stakes winners. Skip Away's numbers are pretty similar. Considering - again - the mares one probably got versus the other, I'd suggest Northern Afleet has done pretty darn well for himself.

This is a great discussion though as both are sixth-crop sires and it makes for a really good comparison.