The year's first panel for the 2026 Thoroughbred OwnerView Conference Series March 17 covered the pros and cons of breeding to race, with an overall message calling for patience with this approach.
Moderated by Gary Falter, the panelists included Len Green of D.J. Stables, Walker Hancock of Claiborne Farm, Kate Galvin of Darley, and Carrie Brogden of Machmer Hall Farm.
Panelists noted that one of the strengths of this approach is the ability to have complete control over the horse's preparation.
"Let's breed the speed of the mare to the stoutness of the stallion," Green shared, "and then let the foal go at it's own pace (toward the races). We're not pushing the horse to be ready for a (2-year-olds in training) sale because an awful lot of the sale people are buying based on whether you hit 9 seconds or 10 seconds."
The panel also expressed the importance of developing bloodlines. Brogden shared that her farm has generations of fillies, which is a great way to develop families in racing. Hancock agreed, adding that Claiborne has families that go back as far as 10 generations. He noted that when you breed to race, you can handpick your stallion.
"Maybe next year you're gonna add a little distance, see what that looks like, or maybe add a little stronger hind leg or whatever," Hancock said. "You can really kind of critique your own horses and make your own horses."
Breeding to race comes with many strategies. Galvin said that Darley, which used to be a big buyer at sales, has turned into a primarily homebred operation. She described the maturity of the farm, along with broodmares who put stallions in the barn, and the importance of giving the broodmares the best chance of success by matching them with the right stallion.
By breeding to race, it's not as important to select the hot first- or second-year stallion over more established sires. While the first approach can prove productive for selling yearlings, when breeding to race, it is more important to match up a mare with the best stallion for her rather than having a hot young sire.
"If you're breeding to race, I would not go to a freshman sire." Hancock said. "It puts more risk on the table than you already have. Personally, if I was starting up a program, I would solely breed to those sires who are proven."
Patience is again required after the foal is born because a lot goes into getting them to the track. There is about a year-and-a-half gap from birth to when a foal begins training, making it about a three-year process from planning a mating to when the resulting foal goes into training. While it can be a long process, the panel noted that for many, the good feelings produced in breeding a horse and getting it to the track are priceless.
