Breeding With Dosage

The most popular use of dosage among breeders is in determining a good stallion match for a particular mare. After all other considerations have been made, such as location, stud fee, desired crosses, etc., dosage can be employed to narrow the possibilities further.

As an example, let us assume that you own the American champion juvenile filly Countess Diana and the time has come to breed her. For fun - let us say that stud fee is no object, so you have narrowed your target stallions down to these five Kentucky stallions: Seattle Slew, Glitterman, Unbridled, Go For Gin, and Gone West.

By calculating the dosage figures of the hypothetical offspring, one can "preview" the result. Here are the figures for each hypothetical mating:


Proposed MatingDosage ProfileDICD
Countess Diana + Seattle Slew10-5-15-2-02.370.72
Countess Diana + Glitterman8-7-7-0-05.291.05
Countess Diana + Unbridled6-10-12-0-61.830.29
Countess Diana + Go For Gin4-5-12-2-31.360.19
Countess Diana + Gone West10-9-13-0-03.920.91


Remember that these figures are for the resulting offspring, not for the stallions themselves. At this point, the breeder should already know what the goal of the mating is to be. Is a sprinter desired? Is a classic- distance runner desired? Perhaps a decent turf miler?

If the goal is to breed a sprinter, then Glitterman might be considered. The profile of his foal is definitely speed-biased, and the DI and CD figures are the highest of these options.

If a distance runner is the goal, then Unbridled and Go For Gin might be considered since the resulting DI and CD are both quite low. Both also possess far more Solid and/or Professional points than the average American runner, and therefore have the potential of being superior runners over a distance of ground.

Seattle Slew and Gone West result in similar profiles, both with large Brilliant and Classic scores. A large Brilliant score is very commercial. Juvenile runners tend not to be physically mature enough to tackle the long distances they have been bred for. They tend to tap into the Brilliant and Intermediate wells first, then later mature into the stamina wing of the profile. And since American two-year-olds are never asked to run a distance anyway, the large Brilliant figure may indicate those which can excel in the juvenile year.

The large Classic score of these two stallions indicate that the potential for "maturing into distance" is present. Buyers are sure to be especially attracted to well-conformed and attractive foals which have been bred for this type of versatility. You can see how dosage would be a helpful tool in planning a breeding.