Zebra Bloodstock

Thoroughbred racing and breeding is a very complex industry. From the first ownership to establishing yourself as a breeder, it's a long journey of building an operation and learning along the way. But it doesn't have to be learning through mistakes.

With almost 30 years of analytical and publishing experience, our mission is to support breeders with comprehensive non-commercial knowledge: global data, evaluation expertise, and historical wisdom.

Can consulting really help...?

As in any other field, the level of knowledge ranges from racing fans to business professionals, and then to deeply focused experts. Pedigree science covers centuries, continents, and all current trends - and unless you're familiar with all of them yourself, expert help can make a real difference.

However, there's something personal we'd like to share. Our job is not quite about "making big money" for our clients. Many times, it's up to us to simply say "Wait. This has little chance to work." And we consider this role vital because it saves years of work for people who genuinely tried but simply took the wrong path.

We know that nobody does it on purpose. People often fall victim to "I don't know what I don't know". Whether you're missing pedigree expertise, breeding wisdom, or both, you can easily make bad decisions.

With equine genetics and the cellular biology of reproduction, nobody can guarantee you any result. Neither can we. But we're able to analyse the full spectrum of your options, expose the ones you may not see, and red-flag those that could go wrong.

Can this be called "help?" We absolutely think so.

Why choose us?

The heart of our consulting service comes from a place you may not expect: historical research and writing. We learned to extract data and interpret trends for the racing public long before any of us thought about consulting.

And it's exactly what we offer today. We can work with earnings and indexes, but our hallmark is research and pedigree science - in unusual depth and breadth:

We're data geeks.

If you understand how bloodlines worked in the past, you also want to know exactly where you stand. We've been using our own system for analysing pedigrees for 10 years now; we process thousands of them yearly and currently have over 600 bloodlines on our radar.

We know that you'll never need this amount of data. But what we learn from it is what matters:

We're interpreters.

Data and experience combined often lead us to surprising realisations. Did you know that Galileo wasn't necessarily the greatest of all time? Or that we can't effectively manage inbreeding in populations? Or that multiple things in breeding can be true at the same time - like when the best stallion in the country is not from the most prolific sireline?

For our clients, we take the same approach: use the fullest available data and our expertise in bloodline development and dynamics, and find as many viable options as possible.

And the best part? We take all these complicated insights and turn them into readable reports. Let us do the crazy paperwork; you focus on raising the best horses.

And most of all: we're global.

We're based in Europe, but we run our data analyses for all Thoroughbred breeding regions as a natural extension of our historical research. Wherever your horse comes from - Japan, Germany, or Argentina - we're familiar with its bloodlines and value. And even when we encounter a bloodline that's new to us, we know exactly where to look for more information. Understanding foreign bloodlines is one of the services we're particularly happy to offer.

What can we offer?

Thoroughbred consulting can cover a lot of ground. Here are some of the things we commonly help clients with:

Most of our work involves broodmare value analyses & mating plans. Tailored to our clients' needs, they can range from enhanced nicking reports to extensive genetic analyses and data-derived forecasts.

Some clients prefer to analyse patterns themselves and we're happy to support them with customised data on individual stallions or whole rosters, as well as deeper insights into breeding and market trends.

Drawing on complex international data, we can also help develop bloodstock & business strategies or identify and assess benefits and risks of particular breeding programmes.

And if this short list doesn't cover what you had in mind? Get in touch with us anyway. We're fans and enthusiasts first, and we'll be happy to help you work things out!

Should I worry about the cost...?

We want our service to remain accessible to breeders and owners, with pricing that reflects the scope and depth of the work. The easiest way is to get in touch, and we'll discuss the details of the assignment, the time it is likely to take, and the cost. Our rates vary according to the work required, but as a general guide, you can expect an hourly rate of $50–80.

By the way - "Do you use AI?"

We do, but only for final language checks on our reports. Since our work is so heavily based on our own knowledge and experience, we didn't even think about using AI for a long time. But technology is moving fast, and we naturally wondered whether it could make some of our work more efficient - so we tried.

When asked to fill the gaps in one of our databases, it gave us 7 correct entries out of 20. And, like many breeders, we were curious about its capabilities in pedigree analysis. We obtained exactly what we often see on social media: impressive reports with numerous clear errors, such as building an analysis around a fourth-generation stallion, or citing popular beliefs irrelevant to a particular pedigree.

While we don't doubt AI's efficiency in many areas, current models don't have access to the structured Thoroughbred data and breeding know-how. And our work depends on both.

When working with us, you're always paying actual human brains and hands.