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The Tribe has Spoken! - Curlin tops potential matings for Rachel Alexandra
Thursday, November 05, 2009 8:42 AM

With close to 500 responses, the TrueNicks community overwhelmingly picked Horse of the Year Curlin to top the potential matings for super mare Rachel Alexandra. Some would say that it was an unsurprising result given the ownership of the two horses, but it was a very competitive voting process and there were a number of stallions who were well regarded by the... Read More...

by brogers | 27 comment(s)

Filed under: Hypothetical Matings, Announcements, Just for Fun

Your Turn: Time to Suggest a Mating for Rachel Closes FRIDAY!
Monday, August 03, 2009 9:06 AM

Ok, so we have run the feature a little longer than we'd planned, but we figured that with Rachel Alexandra's outstanding win in the Haskell Invitational (gr. I) on the weekend, it was worth a little more time for readers to come up with some suggestions for us to consider before we start creating the shortlist for the mating analysis product. If you haven't... Read More...

by brogers | 100 comment(s)

Filed under: Hypothetical Matings, Announcements, Just for Fun

Your Turn: Analyze Rachel Alexandra's Breeding Opportunities
Monday, May 11, 2009 10:00 AM

With a year and a half of the TrueNicks blog and 300-plus posts behind us, it has not escaped our attention that there are some passionate horsemen and pedigree analysts who frequent this corner of the Web. Indeed the "TrueNicks Community" has at times both intrigued and informed us and we are certainly thankful for this community that has given us some great... Read More...

by brogers | 145 comment(s)

Filed under: Hypothetical Matings, Just for Fun

Quite Contrary Exceptions
Wednesday, March 11, 2009 3:42 PM

Before being made available to the public, TrueNicks was tested on a group of more than 100,000 horses. That study firmly established a correlation between a high nick rating and success at stakes level: in fact, while only 13% of the population earned a variant rating high enough to qualify for a rating of A or better, 37% of stakes winners achieved that rating... Read More...

by aporter | 7 comment(s)

Filed under: Hypothetical Matings, Pedigrees and Breeding, Validity, Other Breeding Theories

READER Q&A - Should I Breed My Mare?
Thursday, January 22, 2009 5:37 AM

Reader's question: My mare Pebbles Delight has an A++ wih Corinthian. She has been accepted to his book for 2009. However, since she doesn't have a lot of black type up front, I probably won't make any profit on the resulting foal. What are your thoughts on this mating? I love the mating, but my pocketbook needs to rule rather than my heart. Sally. Byron's reply... Read More...

by brogers | 24 comment(s)

Filed under: Hypothetical Matings, Pedigrees and Breeding, Other Breeding Theories, Readers' Questions, Sires

Who Should Peppers Visit? -- Suggest a Mating for the Record-breaking Thoroughbred Mare.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008 3:20 PM

A week or so ago we had an interesting post on this site from Scot Gillies in regards to a "dream mating" for your favorite mare. There was a lot of ideas, some of them very well reasoned, from a number of readers with some suggestions for various mares to visit various stallions. In some type of continuation from that post, I read with interest today that the... Read More...

by brogers | 133 comment(s)

Filed under: Hypothetical Matings, Just for Fun

What If? Nick Ratings for Your Dream Mating
Wednesday, November 26, 2008 10:30 AM

I don't own Hasili (IRE) ( pedigree ). To provide a quick recap of that mare's record as a broodmare, I'll just say she got off to a "slow" start with Dansili (GB), her first foal: he was merely a multiple group II winner. The five foals following -- the mares Banks Hill (GB), Heat Haze (GB), and Intercontinental (GB), and the stallions Cacique (IRE) and Champs... Read More...

by sgillies | 28 comment(s)

Filed under: Hypothetical Matings, Just for Fun

Reader Q&A: Cost vs. Quality
Saturday, August 02, 2008 12:16 PM

Question : My question is whether there a much greater risk factor when considering between two stallions that differ in the fact that one has many proven mares and was a very good performer himself, while the other is a young stallion that is well-bred but has never raced because of an injury, and doesn't yet have a large number of offspring? The two stallions... Read More...

by sgillies | with no comments

Filed under: Hypothetical Matings, Pedigrees and Breeding, Validity, Readers' Questions

Research is a Mare Owner's Best Investment
Thursday, March 27, 2008 4:03 PM

Amy from Lexington asks Alan: I work for a small farm in Lexington and have been helping to plan matings. I really enjoy pedigree research and learning all the theories behind different nicks / crosses inbreeding / outcrossing, etc. The main problem I have run into had been finding a way to figure out what lines broodmare sires cross with. I was hoping you could... Read More...

by admin | 1 comment(s)

Filed under: Products, Hypothetical Matings, Other Breeding Theories, Mares

Giant's Riches
Tuesday, March 25, 2008 1:03 PM

Yesterday brought the news that champion 3-year-old filly Rags to Riches was to be retired and bred to Giant's Causeway. The match of the history-making Belmont Stakes (gr. I) heroine with Storm Cat's leading son is one that should create a tough runner, and a horse that will have no problems with classic distances. Of course, we couldn't resist running it through... Read More...

by admin | with no comments

Filed under: Hypothetical Matings, Mares, Just for Fun

Ashado Booked to Street Cry
Wednesday, February 06, 2008 5:02 AM

Darley announced this week that two-time champion Ashado, whose $9-million price at Keeneland's November sale in 2005 was then a record for a broodmare or broodmare prospect sold at public auction, will be bred this year to Street Cry (IRE) ( TrueNicks , SRO ) (a stallion who is subscribed to TrueNicks complimentary hypothetical mating reports). This will be... Read More...

by admin | 1 comment(s)

Filed under: Hypothetical Matings, Mares

Gold Edition: Report from Australia, Part II
Tuesday, February 05, 2008 2:02 AM

Continuing on yesterday's search for the best potential matches for recently-retired Australian sprint star Gold Edition (AUS)... Broadening our scope to look to other parts of the world raises a number of intriguing prospects. Starting in the U.S., we have Street Cry (IRE) ( TrueNicks , SRO ), the Machiavellian son who has made such a sensational start to his... Read More...

by admin | with no comments

Filed under: Hypothetical Matings, Pedigrees and Breeding, Mares

Gold Edition: Report from Australia, Part I
Monday, February 04, 2008 10:02 PM

The retirement of the brilliant sprint filly Gold Edition (AUS) engendered some speculation in Australia as to what might be her ideal mate, especially as she is by a son of Danehill, which naturally rules out some of Australia's most illustrious sires. With the help of the mating tool TrueNicks, we were able to indulge in some speculation about how the brilliant... Read More...

by admin | with no comments

Filed under: Hypothetical Matings, Mares

In the Beginning
Tuesday, December 18, 2007 4:12 PM

The launch of TrueNicks represents the completion of a full circle regarding my involvement in the Thoroughbred industry. By age 19 I had completed three years “hands on” experience working at an English stud farm. Around that time, the English magazine Stud & Stable published an article with a grid showing sire line crosses and the percentage of stakes winners... Read More...

by admin | with no comments

Filed under: Broodmare Sire Lines, Sire Lines, Products, Hypothetical Matings, Announcements