May 2008 - Posts
The holiday weekend was a remarkable one for Coolmore associates, who swept all three group I events at the Irish Guineas meet. In the Irish One Thousand Guineas (Ire-I), the Pivotal filly Halfway to Heaven chose a good spot to capture her first stakes event. Halfway to Heaven is one of six stakes winners from the current 3-year-old crop sired by Cheveley Park's star sire Pivotal, others including...
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Champion 2-year-old Macho Uno ( TrueNicks , SRO ) is off to a bright start with a first crop - now 3-year-olds - which has already produced Wicked Style, who took the Arlington-Washington Futurity (gr. III) and Keeneland Lane's End Breeders' Futurity (gr. I); undefeated Withers Stakes (gr. III) winner Harlem Rocker; Macho Again, winner of the Derby Trial Stakes and runner-up in the Preakness (gr. I...
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With the ink barely dry on the announcement of their sire's retirement from active stud duty, the race to assume the mantle of rightful heir to the great Sadler's Wells in European breeding and racing is well and truly underway. With the classic winner Cima de Triomphe (IRE) ( A++ TrueNicks rated) and the classic contenders New Approach (IRE)( A++ ), Leo's Starlet (IRE) ( A ), Lush Lashes (GB) ( A...
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While it may not have been rocket science to pick out the winner, you could have had yourself the Trifecta in the Preakness Stakes if you had merely boxed the five horses that were A++ rated by TrueNicks (link to Alan's post). With Macho Again and Icabad Crane filling the place and show, a $2 box for the five horses would have cost you $120 for a return of $336.80. Just another way to win when you...
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Twelve contenders will go to the post for the May 17 Preakness Stakes (gr. I). Let's see how they're rated by TrueNicks. A++ BIG BROWN (Boundary - Mein, by Nureyev) - Went into the history books by winning the Derby on only his fourth start, but is also there as one of the most closely inbred Derby winners of all time: with Northern Dancer 3 x 3, Damascus 3 x 4, and Round Table 4 x 5, all of the stallions...
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Just last week we commented on the "deadly duo" of Kingmambo and Sadler's Wells mares and the success that this nick has had, despite the fact that these two stallions stood in separate countries. On the weekend there was another example of a potential "mega-nick," this one certain to be tried an awful lot more given that it is one for the home team of Coolmore Ireland. The group I Derby Italiano,...
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Looking through some recent results, we noticed that another nicking program had rated Elite Squadron - who took the May 3 Churchill Downs Stakes (gr. II) - as an A++ nick. A cross check with TrueNicks revealed that Elite Squadron is rated D . Naturally, we wondered what could have caused such a discrepancy. A little research revealed that Elite Squadron is the only starter for the cross on which ...
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In two recent blogs we discussed inbreeding to the mare Special, and specifically her influence through Kingmambo (dam by Special's son, Nureyev). We also discussed Galileo (IRE), whose sire Sadler's Wells is both three-parts-brother to Nureyev, and a grandson of Special. Oddly enough then, the Stanjamesuk.com Two Thousand Guineas (Eng-I), saw sons of Kingmambo and Galileo separated by a nose, as Henrythenavigator...
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A horse who peaked at 5 and 6 - when he won back-to-back renewals of the Santa Anita Handicap (gr. I), Milwaukee Brew ( TrueNicks , SRO ) was never going to sire early runners. However, with his first crop now 3, the brew is beginning to ferment for this Adena Springs South stallion. Progress started quietly with One Quick Brew (rated A ) taking the non-black type Oregon Derby in March. On April 26...
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The last weekend in April saw two major international races in Hong Kong captured by U.S.-breds with extremely interesting - and well-connected - pedigrees. The Audemars Piguet Queen Elizabeth II Cup (HK-I) went to Archipenko, a son of Kingmambo and the Nijinsky II mare Bound (who was 20 years old when she foaled Archipenko). Bound is a sister to the graded winner and notable producer Number, and is...
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Former Kentucky governor Brereton Jones and his team at Airdrie Stud had a red-letter day at the Kentucky Oaks May 2. The day started particularly well when the improving Mr. Nightlinger, bred by Brereton Jones and by his thoroughly-proven sire Indian Charlie, proved too swift for the rest in the Aegon Turf Sprint S. (gr. III). A TrueNicks A rated horse, Mr. Nightlinger is bred on the same In Excess...
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Sebring (AUS), a 2-year-old that this blog recognized very early on as potentially a top-class horse, went within inches of becoming the second horse in recent history to win the Australian juvenile Triple Crown when he was beaten just a head by the fast-finishing Samantha Miss (AUS) in the Champagne Stakes (Aus-I) on the weekend. While taking nothing away from Sebring, an A+ rated colt whose efforts...
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Galileo (IRE) is launching a strong bid to establish himself as the natural heir to his sire, the magnificent Sadler's Wells, and he has a very promising-looking filly in the shape of Leo's Starlet (IRE), who is now headed for the Prix de Diane-French Oaks (Fr-I) after an impressive win in the Prix Cleopatre (Fr-III) to start the month. A member of Galileo's third crop, Leo's Starlet is out of the...
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Big Brown's dominating Kentucky Derby (gr. I) win over the tragic heroine Eight Belles was so dominant, he almost literally took the other colts out of the picture, with third placed Denis of Cork, the next-nearest victim of the "Brown Out," 8 1/4 lengths adrift. As stated in many publications, Big Brown's was an historic one, as he is the first horse to win the Derby with as few as three previous...
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With the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands mere days away, we thought it was worth giving TrueNicks a tryout on the leading contenders. TrueNicks came through its Derby Trial with flying colors. Of the top 24 contenders at time of writing, nine (37.5%) were A++ ; 17 (71%) were A or above; 21 (87.5%) were B+ or higher. Of the remaining three, two are D ; one, a non-stakes winner, does not achieve...
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