Now I hear the winners get to pick.

Yes—a first-year Standardbred stallion can have a somewhat rough breeding season, but it is not necessarily a sign that he will be a poor sire.

Common reasons include:

Limited book size: Breeders may be cautious until they see his first foals or race results.

Low fertility or management problems: A young stallion may have lower semen quality, poor libido, or need time to learn the breeding routine.

Freshness and inexperience: Some young stallions are difficult to handle or inconsistent early in the season.

Mares and timing: Conception rates can be affected by mare fertility, breeding timing, uterine health, and veterinary management—not just the stallion.

First-year marketing risk: Even a good young stallion may struggle to attract quality mares until his first crop proves itself.

That said, a genuinely poor conception rate, consistently low semen quality, or weak libido in the first season is a legitimate concern. The key is to distinguish a difficult first season because of inexperience or management from an actual fertility problem.

For a young stallion like Captain's Quarters, I would want to see his actual first-season conception rate, semen evaluation, number of mares bred, and whether his difficulties were with fertility or simply getting a large book of mares before judging his breeding potential.

From actual #'s we see of the 100 mares bred to Captains
Quarters he has approximately 60 in Foal.

Obviously , after the second season we will have a better
idea of where he stands.

Another example of first Year stallions is leading Ontario

Stallion Cattlewash...who had (38) foals his first season

with (20) racing as 2 year olds....which was exceptional.

Bulldog Hanover had (54) Foals in his initial crop.

Trying to beat Burke on adios day is futile

Day 4292  Henry Ford and Gerald Ford should resign.

How would dead people resign? You have a sick obsession with those no longer living.
Let them RIP

 armed forces want to inject you like a lab rat