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Thank you for calling attention to this article

I read the NYT article and enjoyed its emphasis on the female side of the breeding "equation."  This is one of my favorite passages: "...for the first time in memory, public and industry interest has consistently focused not on which grand mares a king would accept to his court, but which king would be worthy of servicing the two queens. Never before in modern times have the careers of two female racehorses overshadowed male contemporaries for consecutive years. And chances are, any success by their offspring will be attributed to the mares’ genetic prowess..."  Of course, the author is referring to Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta.

Another excerpt: "... C. V. Whitney, who contended that the surest path to the winner’s circle was “breeding the best to best and hoping for the best”— advice the owners of Rachel and Zenyatta have clearly followed."

And this is the most intriguing for me: "...the vagaries of equine alchemy glaringly represented by the knowledge that the mating that produced Rachel earned an A++ from eNicks, but the mating that produced Zenyatta rated only a D+."

The article at the NYT (The Rail blog)is open for comments and it would be nice to comment to encourage mainstream publications to continue covering horseracing.

In the past, when I've checked the Street Cry-Vertigineux breeding on TrueNicks, the Street Cry - Vertigineux mating was rated "A+" - did Zenyatta by herself elevate a "D+" cross to an "A+" cross?

Yeah girl power!!!  how would you rate the G1 goldmine nicking report? Would they be 20/20 matings?  I  try to use all 3 before I make a decision.  tx  trisha