The Industry Standard Werk Nick Rating®
The effectiveness of the Werk Nick Rating® as a measure of the success of sire-line crosses has made it the industry standard in pedigree evaluation. This translates into a commercial advantage for stallion farms that are advising their clients on the basis of WTC products which enable them to distribute Werk Nick Ratings® for their stallions.
Breeder, Beware of Imitations
Imitation may be the highest form of flattery, but it can also cause confusion and result in misinformation. Some pedigree advisors, either independently or on behalf of stallion operators, are assigning their own letter grades to pedigrees either for the purpose of reflecting their personal evaluation of pedigrees or for the promotion of certain stallions. Therefore, we want to advise breeders of imitations, which more often than not differ - sometimes radically - from the letter grades assigned by WTC's Werk Nick Rating® system.
The Werk Nick Rating® is the result of a sophisticated analysis of crosses, an analysis that has been developed over many years of research and testing. The rating for any given cross is subject to change as new stakes winners are added to the system. As a breeder, you need to be sure that the letter grade you have been given for a certain cross is an authorized, up-to-date Werk Nick Rating®. Otherwise, you could be the victim of misleading or downright incorrect information given to you for strictly commercial reasons.
There are two ways that a stallion farm or pedigree advisor can be authorized to distribute Werk Nick Ratings®:
Stallion Compatibility Analysis
Message to Stallion Managers: Nicks Change
Stallion managers should keep in mind that, as a young sire line begins to yield stakes production, new favorable ratings emerge quickly, as happened, for example, in the case of Storm Cat and his sons. But, as the sons of a major sire such as Storm Cat begin to go their own divergent ways, some in the direction of certain broodmare sire lines and others in the direction of other broodmare sire lines, many of the nick ratings for the Storm Cat line as a whole will eventually level off and, as the population of stakes winners increases, decline in accordance with the principle of regression to the mean.
This suggests yet another reason why stallion managers should update their books on at least an annual basis: to take advantage of these rapidly emerging nicks. Stallion managers who have purchased WTC's Stallion Compatibility Analysis in the past should check to make sure the stallion is listed here. If he is not listed, it could be because the book is out of date. Or it could be the result of an inadvertent omission on our part. Call WTC immediately to arrange to have your stallion added to the list: (510) 490-1111.