Keeneland Sale: 'Hip Watch' and running observations..

[freddymo]

Originally Posted by Kasept

A sidebar to the Dixie Union discussion the other day... Subject of Ray Paulick piece today:

But right in the middle of those five sires–which had 2009 stud fees ranging from a high of $250,000 for A.P. Indy, $125,000 each for Giant’s Causeway and Unbridled’s Song and $80,000 for Pulpit—is a stallion who is priced much more affordably and is quietly having his best year at stud, as represented by his offspring on the track and the sale ring. That stallion is Dixie Union, a multiple-American Graded Stakes-winning son of Dixieland Band who stands at Lane’s End Farm in Versailles, Ky. Dixie Union has been represented by six AGS winners of 2009 that have won eight AGS races.

http://www.paulickreport.com/blog/am...istling-dixie/

Naturally and since many have been doing so well this year people changed their value of him as a potential BIG horse stallion. Doesn't the opposite happen as well. Don't we see stallions get demoted all the time because they fail to produce desired results? But apparently the yearling that Chuck bid on would have sold for 500 regardless if DU was an icecube this year. Sometimes they are just so flawless as yearlings that people just have to have them.

Remember before last weekend the best Dixie Unions were Chattter, Grasshopper, and High Cotton.. I guess the buzz(because of Gone Astray and Whistle Dixie) is they he will be another Smart Strike type. Who tossed some ok runners the first 3,4 years and then exploded and hasn't looked back.

My one point to Chuck which he discounted (as usual) was that without the last weekend nobody would be putting to much stock on just a yearlings flawless looks.