Switch then if you can to Rip Van Winkle......

Can't see much of a problem switching providing its another Coolmore sire,maybe Alfred Nobel as you like 1st season.I'm sure they can be understanding to your plight given the scenario.

Bad news, the miler to sprinter thing is a great angle and something I'd love to see a bit more of, on the subject of such, Delegator, back from the wilderness tomorrow and as predicted by some on here, no hype, out of sight and out of mind.

At what point to you call it a day knowing that the later you keep going the less commercial the offspring becomes.  I know it's slightly different for owner breeders or if you've got black type / very well related mares (in today's Dante I see Yaseer was a late 26 May foal) but for those looking to sell what's your cutoff point?

My mare was covered on 25 April and I'm thinking of giving it one last go if she's not in foal come Monday.  Am I right? or should I give up then or even give it yet another cycle?

Appreciate all your views.

P P I'm never one for a definitive answer, Prima Donna thinks that's an English trait, he might be right!

It's a very interesting point you raise and I don't think it's a particularly easy decision. Some people have a date for their final coverings and that's it. Probably very wise.

I daresay you're giving the knock on effect for next season a great deal of thought and ofcourse it's a total pain signing yourself away for 3 covers with a February foaler and then the mare shuts down and you find you've run out of time and the stallion stud get shirty because you don't want to be held to the 3 jumps.

I guess that's not a problem for the 'players' but us little guys are quite easily bullied at such times.

I tend to judge the issue case by case. If you've a mare that's likely to foal a slightly backward type and that's not the market the mating is designed for then be very ware. If your mating will produce a brick s==thouse regardless of when it's born then you can obviously leave it a bit later. If there are powerful reasons for needing a foal from the mating and you are a yearling vendor then I imagine some people would be happy to breed with the December sales in mind - it can be a very strong market.

On balance maybe a cover at the end of next week would be a goer, but it does mean next year is problematical. Do you love this years mating more than a hypothetical match for Feb 2012?

Apologies P P, I should have remembered the Dandy Man cover, but I am always in awe of some of the 'memories' on here.

On the face of it you have nothing to lose as it's the last throw. However if it goes wrong you've got "19yo mare" for them to throw at you aswell! Hope you make the right call - or get ready to race the foal!!

Bit of a result, mare scanned in foal, that one and only covering at the end of April has stuck! That quiet word I had in her ear must have worked.

Wd, i've huge time for this fella, everything he did up here was with a rushed prep and I'm sure he is even better than he managed to show on these shores.

Cheers gents, no I didn't insist on a colt in our quiet little chat, she has given me one colt, insisting on another would just be greedy, just glad she's in foal and I bet she is too.