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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 himself a strong contender for end-of-year honors in the Breeders' Cup Sprint (gr. I). It was the fourth consecutive victory for the 4-year-old Argentine-bred son of Lucky Roberto and the Equalize mare Ebrolize - and the Tom Fool winner hasn't been beaten this year.

Lucky Island just highlights one of the great strengths of TrueNicks, its ability to measure horses all around the world no matter what their pedigree background. Using the vast data resource of The Jockey Club Information System, TrueNicks was able to rate Lucky Island an A++ based on his sire and broodmare sire producing the likes of not only Lucky Island but also the Clásico Raúl Aristegui (ARG-II) winner Fotografica among other gallopers.

To get first past the post in the Breeders' Cup Sprint, Lucky Island will need not only to be nominated by his owners, but also to get past the rampaging 3-year-old J Be K who was also successful on the same day in the Jersey Shore (gr. III). A son of the ultra-consistent sire Silver Deputy, J Be K is rated an A by TrueNicks based on the highly successful Deputy Minister/Valid Appeal cross. It is worth noting that while J Be K is the best horse bred on the cross (another great feature exclusive to TrueNicks), there are no less than four sons of Deputy Minister with stakes winners out of Valid Appeal-line mares: Silver Deputy, Touch Gold (TrueNicks, SRO), Open Forum, and Salt Lake. This would indicate to us that there is considerable genetic affinity between Deputy Minister and Valid Appeal.

Filed under: Recent Winners, Emerging Nicks