IN the Information Age, decision makers swim in oceans of different types of data. Statistics to aid breeders in deciding on the best stallion for their mare are available via books, magazines, computer printouts, online services, the Internet, and now the Thoroughbred Times Interactive Stallion Directory.

For the practical breeder, however, the Thoroughbred Times Stallion Directory and the Interactive Stallion Directory at www.thoroughbredtimes.com are the best, most complete tools available to surf the waves of information that can confuse rather than elucidate.

The Directory is a compendium of information on more than 5,500 stallions, with more than 535 represented by full statistical pages, and more than 350 of those by color photo pages. These include the majority of the commercially popular stallions-the stallions that most breeders want to consider in their breeding plans.

The wealth of information on these pages is explained in detail in reference to a sample statistical page on page 7. But explaining the statistical data does not fully explain how best to use it.

Of course, planning matings is a highly individual matter, and many of the Directory users already may have derived their own methods through years of diligent application. Even the experts go through some very different exercises in planning matings for themselves and their clients.

For those less familiar with the process, however, some general guidelines for the use of the Directory are in order.

Start with the stud fee

The indexes at the front of the Directory include the State and Stud Fee Index, which categorizes the more than 5,500 stallions reported to Thoroughbred Times for 2009 by state in which they stand and subdivides each state’s stallions according to stud fee. And that is really where most breeders should start in looking for the right stallion for their mare. Heo should first decide how much money he or she is willing to spend for a nomination, and then concentrate on the stallions in their area that fall into that price range. (Of course, some farms will make deals on particular stallions, but that is beyond the purview of the Directory.)

The next decision a breeder should make is whether to breed to a proven or unproven sire. As a general rule, sires who have proved themselves capable of siring good stakes winners are going to be more expensive.

First prerequisite for a stallion’s success is race record. While it is true that unraced or modest racehorses do occasionally make good stallions, the odds are heavily stacked against them. Experienced breeders are well aware that, as a rule, the best racehorses make the best stallions, and most of the best broodmares go to stallions that were high-class racehorses.

Race record is most important in evaluating a stallion early in his career, before his first foals race. Before a stallion’s progeny begin racing, the only pieces of information available to a breeder are race record, pedigree, and conformation. Naturally, stallions with the best combinations of those three elements are going to be the most expensive-and the most difficult for which to obtain a nomination.

If you choose an unproven sire, you must judge which is the best combination of race record, pedigree, and conformation for your mare. The basis for the first two elements involved in that judgment is presented in the tabulated race record, five-cross pedigree, sire-line, and female-line sections of the statistical page. Some indication of conformation can be obtained for the more than 350 stallions in the Directory with photo pages, and an even better idea from the walking videos on the Interactive Stallion Directory, but you or your representative should always inspect serious prospects in person.

The tabulated race record details a horse’s racing performances. The best indications of class are the “G” numbers included after stakes races in the year-by-year summary under the tabulated race record. Those Gs refer to the graded/group stakes system for classifying the most important races worldwide. G1s (Grade 1 or Group 1) are higher-class races than G2s, and all group/graded races are considered better than ungraded listed stakes. Again, very few horses make successful stallions who have not won group/graded stakes, but some do, especially on a regional level.

The five-cross pedigree gives you the skeleton of the horse’s genetic makeup. Numbers under the names in the first three generations give a good indication of the general class of the pedigree. The five-cross will also allow you to choose either an inbred or outcrossed horse for your mare, depending on your preference, since inbreedings are highlighted in boldface type. Place a copy of a five-cross pedigree of your mare directly beneath the five-cross of the stallion and that will give you the pedigree of your prospective foal, and allow you to note any inbreeding. Most breeders will discard potential matings that produce inbreedings within the first two generations. (That does not mean it is wrong or ineffective; it is just rarely done.)

Sire-line information will tell you how successful the sire of the stallion and some of his paternal half siblings have been.

Information on other sons of the sire of each stallion is detailed in the Active Sons Index beginning on page 195.

It is true that some stallions are better sires of successful sires than others, but each stallion is an individual case. In general, sticking with stallions from successful lines is safest, but those who follow that rule strictly would have missed the boat on such outstanding sires as Seattle Slew and Sharpen Up (GB), who established their own lines.

The female line gives you an indication of the general quality of that half of the pedigree. Successful sires are generally from better female families than unsuccessful ones. The Directory also lists information on active sires from the female family. Successful sires are more likely to come from families of other successful sires, just as they are more likely to come from established, successful lines.

For devotees of dosage, Roman dosage profiles and statistics are included. If you have the profile of your mare, you must delete fifth-generation sires from the hypothetical pedigree and add up the new dosage for each prospective foal. (For an explanation of dosage, see article on page 25.)

Established form

As any gambler will tell you, it is always safer to play established form than to bet on a horse to do something it has never done. The same is true in selecting stallions. Proven stallions are a better bet than unproven ones, no matter how good the racehorse or how good the pedigree. At the same time, commercial breeders in particular often find it very profitable to patronize first- and second-season sires.

Once a stallion has three or four crops to race, a breeder can determine from reading the Directory how successful a stallion has been, what type of runners he produces, and whether any nicking patterns are established. Experienced breeders pay special attention to data such as a sire’s percentage of stakes winners and sire index (SI). With more and more stallions serving dual hemisphere duty, our crop analysis separates Northern Hemisphere from Southern Hemisphere foals, though data may be incomplete for the latter.

For those interested in nicks, the sire’s list of leading runners includes the broodmare sire of each major stakes winner, as well as championships and most important wins. For stallions with photo pages, the most successful nicks are listed.

After digesting all this information, you are ready to pick up the phone and call the number at the bottom of the page of the farm where the stallion you have chosen stands. At that point, many horsemen are ready to make the biggest bet they will make all year.

And as any gambler will tell you, any bet is a matter of probabilities. So is choosing a stallion for your mare. Thoroughbred Times Stallion Directory and Interactive Stallion Directory are designed to help increase your probability of success.

-John P. Sparkman