Are there a lot of up and coming Slick By Design stud colts?  Is it a good idea to keep a Slick By Design stud colt intact or with how many there are out in the world is it a good idea to geld?  Seems like Slick has bred a lot of mares so I'm curious what the market would be like for them.  Thanks!

I say geld - i know several girls who have bred right to SBD and I would do the same. :)  His fee isn't over the top IMO.

Completely depends on the bottom side of said stud prospect. Currently, SBD's fee isn't that high, which isn't to say that it won't increase. So if the bottom side is STRONG and prominent then maybe. But a mediocre mare/bottom side would make me lean towards gelding.

https://www.allbreedpedigree.com/ima+darkelly+gal

This is the bottom side.

What has she produced or done? There are some incredible mares (race proven and offspring proven) that are being bred to SBD. Those are the possible stud that you are going to be competing with in the future as far as stud prospects. 

Such an excellent point!  I do not own the mare and I'm not aware of what she has produced in the past.  I think she has been a broodmare her whole life.  

Rockstar By Design, who was the high seller at the Fulton Sale a couple of years ago and out of a phenomenal ASOF daughter has one crop on the ground with the second crop starting. He's a nice horse and is in training with Michelle McCloud. He doesn't have a lot of foals, but they've gotten some really nice mares under him.

Theres a surprising amount of colts by him standing or planing to stand. 

I mean slick is not overly old, his kids are just hitting the pen and his stud fee is really affordable for what he is. Hes not one I'd breed to if I wanted a highly markatable stallion prospect. 

I mean I'm sure the foal would sell easily but theres going to be lots of "son of" competition if standing the colt is your end goal. 

I would absolutely geld. As others have said, Slick's stud fee is super reasonable for what he is and what he is producing. Plus, Highpoint is already standing Slye By Design who is out of Kellies Chick (400k+ LTE) for only $1000 - hard to compete with that. Plus, I've seen him in person and he is beautiful. Slick is being bred to some NICE mares. If you dont have a mare with a proven record on some level, then there's no point. 

Nice mare, but with Slye By Design already out there being marketed and having a stellar dam (Kellies Chick by Darkelly), it would be hard to compete against that in the stallion market. 

I have to agree with everyone else here. Gelding him is the way to go. 

A slick by design stud isn't going to get any good mares unless owned by the same owner.  Slick is too cheap for a son to be an legitimate alternative.  That doens't mean slick is priced lower than he should be.  

Slick's stud fee is too good to pass up. And Slye's stud fee is also too good to pass up. 

Thank you guys!  I really appreciate all of your input and perspective!!  

If I remember correctly, she was injured as a yearling and unraced.  My family owned 2 of her foals- one ran AAA on the track but can't seem to put a run together on barrels and the other couldn't run a jump on the track but was turning into a nice 1D horse before she passed.  It looks like she has 2 foals by SBD, any idea how those two are turning out?  If she hasn't had a stand out performer, I would recommend gelding.    

In my opinion...Why breed to a son when you can breed directly to Slick for such an affordable price? 

bscanchaser

You had 2 of the Ima Darkelly Gal foals?

yes

Looking down the road, I'd think the future would be in a stallion that would be a super-duper cross on Slick by Design mares.  As others stated, Slick's and Slye's fees are reasonable and there are lots of very nice mares foaling.  I would geld.  IMHO, the next big thing for a stud would be the magic cross on the Slick/Slye mares.