July 2008 - Posts
It was quite a weekend for the Danzig. First of all, Danzig himself was represented by 200th stakes winner when Olympic captured the Mataji Stakes at Calder. And a review of stakes activity around the world shows that an awful lot of Danzig-line horses were keen to get in on the act, with no less than 15 other Danzig-line horses winning black type events. Five of these took group or grade I events...
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Some time ago on this blog we noted that second-year sire Macho Uno ( TrueNicks , SRO ) was one to watch. The champion 2-year-old of his crop and half-brother to Awesome Again was represented by Arlington-Washington Futurity (gr. III) and Breeders' Futuirty (gr. I) victor Wicked Style, and two-time stakes winning filly Swifty Victress, with his first 2-year-olds. This year he's added two other top...
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It is not often that we have a posting on this site with a history lesson included but it seems in order after the 2-year-old filly African Skies (TrueNicks A ) impressively won the Princess Margaret Stakes (gr. III) at Ascot on the weekend. African Skies is a daughter of the Ashford Stud stallion Johannesburg and is out of the Woodman mare Rababah and looks a filly of considerable scope given she...
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We posted a story over the weekend regarding the outstanding matriarch Best in Show and it happened to be the weekend that another great mare in Lassie Dear stepped up and showed her wares! The "Lassie Dear Weekend" started when Susan Magnier and Michael Tabor's Duke of Marmalade (Ire) (TrueNicks A+ ) made it four group Is in a row in Ascot's King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes. Attempting the...
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Plan, who looked extremely promising when winning a maiden on the second of two starts at 2, was unplaced in the Two Thousand Guineas (gr. I) on his 3-year-old debut. Fourth in a listed race next time out, he fulfilled his potential on his third start of the year, taking the Keeneland International Stakes (gr. III). A son of Storm Cat out of Breeders' Cup Distaff (gr. I) winner Spain, Plan is rated...
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With the Australian racing season winding to a close, the final stakes race of the winter was run at Eagle Farm last Saturday with the Glenlogan Park-owned mare Perfect Feeling claiming the listed Tattersalls Mile. Perfect Feeling is a daughter of the Coolmore stallion Spinning World, who in this author's opinion is one of the best value stallions to stand in Australia this coming breeding season,...
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In a strange instance of synchonicity a pair of stakes at Lone Star Park, Texas, on the same day were taken by horses whose pedigrees - and close inbreeding - are virtual reverses. The first of these was the Allen Bogan Memorial Stakes, won by Wrenice. By Uncle Abbie, a brother-in-blood to Lemon Drop Kid ( TrueNicks , SRO ), Wrenice (now an earner of $462,762) is ot of a mare by Slewacide, and is inbred...
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The French Colonial Stakes, run over nine furlongs on turf at Belmont Park July 10, resulted in a first stakes win for Willsboro Point, a son of Point Given ( TrueNicks , SRO ) out of the Red Ransom mare Petrouchka. Rated A by TrueNicks, Willsboro Point is bred on the same Thunder Gulch/Roberto cross as grade I winners Balance and Tweedside. Point Given himself may turn out to quite like Roberto, as...
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The family of the Troy mare Cocotte has been hot this year with four group/graded winners among her descendents. First, in May, Creachadoir captured his first group I win in the Lockinge Stakes at Newbury. Then on June 29, Creachadoir's half-brother Youmzain took the Grand Prix de Paris (Fr-I). Rated A by TrueNicks, Creachadoir, a son of King's Best (a son of Kingmambo out of the great mare Miesque...
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Alan Porter recently commented on the newly-announced merger of powerhouse Thoroughbred industry newsletters Owner-Breeder International and TBH MarketWatch . "Having been publisher of Owner-Breeder International for the last seven years, I'm delighted by the recent merger of the publication with MarketWatch . The move will both bring the work of OBI's current stable of writers to a wider audience...
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TrueNicks is proud to welcome the stallions from both the Kentucky and Texas divisions of Lane's End Farm as the newest rosters to join TrueNicks. This exciting development enables TrueNicks users to obtain complimentary ratings for nearly 30 stallions, among them some of the world's leading sires. The Lane's End Kentucky powerhouse is home to such as twice leading sire A.P. Indy ( TrueNicks , SRO...
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The Man o' War Stakes (gr. I) witnessed not only the defeated of Curlin on his turf debut, but also a return to form of the 2006 Breeders' Cup Turf (gr. I) hero Red Rocks, who was taking his first stakes win since the spring of 2007. Red Rocks, a son of one of Europe's dominant sire Galileo, is out of a mare by Machiavellian, who - like Galileo's broodmare sire, Miswaki - is a son of Mr. Prospector...
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In the upcoming months, TrueNicks has a number of innovations and new products to unveil. Some will be quite visible while the others more subtle. One of the changes in the latter category will be the migration of this site in a couple of days from the current standalone platform you see today onto the powerful Blood-Horse Community Server where the blog aspect of the site will integrate with other...
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TrueNicks is very pleased to announce the addition of well known industry analyst Matt O'Neil as our national sales manager. Matt will be in charge of promoting and managing the products that TrueNicks offers to racehorse owners, breeders, stallion owners and trainers. Following is a news release issued by TrueNicks partner Blood-Horse Publications: Blood-Horse Publications has hired pedigree analyst...
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The influence of Sharpen Up's son Diesis was strongly felt on the Thursday of Newmarket's July meeting. Last year's St. Leger (gr. I) winner Lucarno -- out of a mare by Diesis -- led throughout to take the Princess of Wales's Stakes (gr. II), while 2-year-old Classic Blade (by a son of Diesis) employed similar tactics to take the July Stakes (gr. II). Lucarno is a product of a cross that has enjoyed...
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The Hungarian-trained mare Kincsem was one of the greatest runners of the 19th century, winning 54 races without defeat, in six different countries, between 1876 and 1879. Those victories included the Goodwood Cup in England and the Grand Prix de Deauville in France - in the space of 17 days - when international racehorse transport wasn't quite what it is today. Hungarian-trained 3-year-old Overdose...
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The highly successful Danzig / Sharpen Up nick had a very good weekend. Mount Nelson ( A++ TrueNicks rating), a son of Rock of Gibraltar out of the Selkirk mare Independence, found most in a driving finish to win the Coral-Eclipse (gr. I) at Sandown, in doing so he returned to the form that saw him capture a grade I race at 2. Bred along similar lines, Anna Pavlova ( A++ ), a daughter of Rock of Gibraltar...
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It's no secret that Darley stallion Street Cry (IRE) ( TrueNicks , SRO ) has made an exceptional start to his stud career, but his performance over the July 4 weekend can't go without comment. First, on July 4, Summer Doldrums captured the Presque Isle Mile Stakes. Out of a mare by Unaccounted For, she is rated A++ by TrueNicks. Then came July 5 at Hollywood Park. First, Zenyatta emphasized the she...
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Since he was our Owner-Breeder International (a publication now incorporated into The Blood-Horse MarketWatch ) pick for the Leading Freshman Sire title, we're naturally thrilled with the start made by Lion Heart. The son of Tale of the Cat already has nine winners, two of them stakes winners. He really upped the tempo at the weekend with Azul Leon taking his record to two-for-two with a win in the...
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Take one part grandson of Danzig with one part daughter of Equalize and shake... what do you get? The A++ TrueNicks-rated and current sprinting superstar Lucky Island (Arg), that is what! Starting on the 4th of July in the time-honored Tom Fool Handicap (gr. II), Lucky Island burst out of the gates from the one hole and simply rolled to a 4 1/4-length victory, without a serious challenge, and made...
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It's no secret that Giant's Cauesway is having another very good season. Currently sitting third on the 2008 sires' list, he has been represented by by 10 stakes winners this year, nine of them graded. He added a new grade I winner at the weekend when his son Frost Giant won the Suburban Handicap in a gritty style very reminiscent of his sire. The weekend was also a good one for Giant's Causeway's...
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