Reduction in 2009 stud fees does nothing to help with the current problem. The injection is needed now. The way stallion managers could help is to revise the contracts made in 2008.

The situation is not unlike the mortgage crisis. Breeders signed up for fees (many inflated past reason) payable as early as October 2008, in anticipation of profitable sale of produce during the year. For many reasons, that did not transpire. Among them , the recession around the world - even in Dubai, the 21st. century Golconda. Do not forget another critical factor - horseracing is in a mess and accounts for much of the difficulty breeders now face.

Curing our internal ailments would be a help toward future good health. Sorry to say, there is no cure in sight in that area.

Rewriting 2008 contracts, even with a proviso the breeder must send a mare to a horse at the same farm in 2009, could help both years to stabilize and, possibly, get us through to a few more years.

If not cured, then like the mortgage lenders, stallion managers may find themselves “repossessing” a lot of 2009 foals.

The prognosis is anything but good. I doubt that the right cure will be found, principally because “the doctors” cannot agree on the diagnosis or the cure. Remember the maxim: When doctors differ, patients die.