January 2008 - Posts
Complimentary ratings for all 12 sires standing at Stonewall Stallions are now available on TrueNicks after the Versailles, Ky., nursery became the latest farm to sign up to provided the service. The Stonewall Stallions are headed by Medaglia d'Oro ( TrueNicks , SRO ), a three-time grade I winner, who earned over $5,754,720. A son of leading sire El Prado ( TrueNicks , SRO ), Medaglia d'Oro will have...
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TrueNicks users are now able to get complimentary hypothetical matings with a trio of stallions standing at Richland Hills near Midway, Kentucky. The trio are first-year stallions Purim ( TrueNicks , SRO ) and Storm Surge ( TrueNicks , SRO ), and second-season sire, Star Dabbler ( TrueNicks , SRO ). Purim is a six-time stakes winner, who captured last year’s Shadwell Turf Mile (gr. 1). A son of Dynaformer...
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Stallion managers and broodmare owners have offered some interesting insights since the release of TrueNicks. One stallion manager told me that he would come across clients who would reject matings that rated A on another nicking product because they wanted A++ . In an e-mail conversation regarding a prospective mating, a broodmare owner told me that a planned mating that had a very clever pedigree...
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TrueNicks welcomes three new sires in the shape of Crestwood Farm stallions Kipling ( TrueNicks , SRO ), Noble Causeway ( TrueNicks , SRO ), and Unbridled Energy ( TrueNicks , SRO ). Crestwood is located in Lexington, Ky. Kipling is by Gulch and out of Weekend Storm-a Storm Bird full sister to Summer Squall, and half sister to A.P. Indy. He moves from Mighty Acres in Pryor, Okla. He has sired five...
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Lexington's Hurricane Hall is the latest farm to sign up to provide complimentary TrueNicks ratings for its stallion roster. Managed by Ben Walden Jr., Hurricane Hall stands first year stallions English Channel ( TrueNicks , SRO ), recently crowned as the champion turf horse of 2007; millionaire Silver Wagon ( TrueNicks , SRO ), winner of the Hopeful Stakes and Carter Handicap (both gr. I); and Teuflesberg...
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Even though the race took place at the "Santa Anita speedway," Bob Black Jack's Sunshine Millions Dash splits of :20.92 and :42.46, which led to a final time of 1:06.53-the quickest ever run on a track other than turf-more than likely makes him "the fastest horse whose pedigree you have never heard of." We have to admit the name of the sire, Stormy Jack, left us completely blank. However, a little...
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The latest farms to subscribe to provide complimentary TrueNicks are Vinery Kentucky and Vinery Florida . Vinery's Kentucky operation stands 10 stallions including leading freshman sire Posse ( TrueNicks , SRO ); flagship stallion More Than Ready ( TrueNicks , SRO ); Breeders' Cup Sprint (gr. I) victor Silver Train ( TrueNicks , SRO ); and first year sire Stormello ( TrueNicks , SRO ). Among the team...
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The 6-year-old Giant’s Causeway horse Angliana, who captured his first stakes with a win in last week's Aqueduct Handicap, has a very clever pedigree pattern. Out of the graded stakes winning Jade Hunter mare Pratella, he earns an A TrueNicks score on the basis of the extremely successful Giant's Causeway/Mr. Prospector cross-one that has also produced grade I winners Shamardal, Maids Causeway (IRE...
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By Louis Quatorze - a horse very capable of getting a top-class runner, but not the most consistent stallion in the world - out of a South American mare, Repent ( TrueNicks , SRO ) was somewhat difficult stallion to evaluate when he retired to stud in Florida for the 2004 breeding season. The class which saw him win four graded stakes at 2 and 3, and finish second in the Bessemer Trust Breeders' Cup...
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One nick that made a considerable advance at the weekend was that of Awesome Again ( TrueNicks , SRO ) with mares by Seattle Slew and his sons. The broad Deputy Minister/Seattle Slew cross has proved to be a productive one, with grade I winners including Pool Land, Hello Seattle, and Mayo On the Side. Until this weekend, however, it had had only a relatively modest degree of success for Deputy Minister...
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While the Golden Slipper Stakes (Aus-I) might not mean much to the average North American Thoroughbred breeder, with its AUS$3.5 million purse-which is just on US$3 million today-it is in fact the world's richest race for 2-year-olds. Run at 1200m (about 6f) the Golden Slipper has a long storied history as a race that shapes the Australian breed with Australian-bred leading sires Flying Spur, Danzero...
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The successful return of likely 2-year-old champion filly Indian Blessing in the Santa Ynez Stakes (gr. II) at the weekend was a pleasing one for me, having had a very small part in her story. Back in 1999, I was dispatched to the Keeneland January sales to purchase mares specifically to support then-Florida stallion Matty G. The first mare I purchased was the Matchlite daughter Lady's Legacy (then...
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The TrueNicks Web site now has an RSS feed. For the more tech-savvy of our readers, you can now subscribe to the TrueNicks RSS feed to get all the latest postings on the site fed into your reader. Click on the RSS feed on the left hand column to subscribe to the feed. Really Simple Syndication, more commonly known by its "RSS" acronym, is an innovate, easy-to-use, and free service that provides 24...
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"Curiouser and curiouser" cried Alan. The anomaly of widely differing nick ratings on an identical cross is a very strange one. When TrueNicks rates Unbridled's Song ( TrueNicks , SRO ) with a Miswaki mare, the result is a "D," based on the direct cross of Unbridled's Song with Mr. Prospector-line mares, as there is insufficient evidence (opportunity) to rate matings between Unbridled's Song and mares...
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As good-looking and talented as he was, Siphon (BRZ) presented something of a puzzle for breeders when he retired to stud. The Brazilian-bred winner of over $3.1 million was by Itajara (BRZ), a son of the French-bred Felicio, from a male line that went back to the storied St. Simon,via the great French sire, Sicambre (FR), and out of a mare by Kublai Khan, with scarcely a recognizable name on the page...
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A nick showing great promise that has only emerged very recently is that of Mr. Greeley with Storm Cat-line mares. This is a version of the Gone West/Storm Cat cross that produced champion sprinter Speightstown ( TrueNicks , SRO ), and might be most notable for duplicating Secretariat, the broodmare sire of both Gone West and Storm Cat. For Mr. Greeley, the first score came with the talented 2006 juvenile...
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A reader wrote in to ask for clarification on the No Rating return after running a TrueNicks hypo-mating report for Niigon with a Richter Scale mare. Niigon is a son of Unbridled, by Fappiano, by Mr. Prospector. Richter Scale is a son of Habitony, by Habitat, by Sir Gaylord. Question : I just purchased a TrueNicks hypothetical mating and received a report with No Rating . Hardly worth the $20. I presume...
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Alan Porter has been asked to preview each day of the Keeneland January horses of all ages sale. His comments appear on BloodHorseNOW.com , including a special page in that publication’s daily PDF newsletter, which is distributed each day at the salegrounds. As part of Alan’s notes, he has provided a Top 10 list of the short yearlings offered each day, and another Top 10 list of the sale’s “carried...
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Alan's Day Six preview: Keeneland January: Day Six
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Alan's Day Five preview: Keeneland January: Day Five
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Diane, a broodmare owner in California, wrote in to suggest an addition to my earlier comments about Sunday Silence and his stallion sons. In addition to Silent Name ( TrueNicks , SRO ) and Hat Trick ( TrueNicks , SRO ) (JPN)-Sunday Silence sons who willl be commence their stud careers in Kentucky in 2008-she drew my attention to Austinpower (JPN) (Sunday Silence -Eishin Austin, by Seattle Slew), who...
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Alan's Day Four preview: Keeneland January: Day Four
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Alan's Day Three preview: Keeneland January: Day Three
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Alan's Day Two preview: Keeneland January: Day Two
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One of the strengths of the TrueNicks rating system is its ability to operate in what is an increasingly international Thoroughbred world. With stallions and mares travelling throughout the world it is sometimes difficult to work out what is the right pedigree match for mares with bloodlines that are found in different parts of the world and not necessarily native to the genetic population of a particular...
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