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Russell asks : Why are the ratings found in the Stallion Affinity Report not the same as the ratings obtained by running an individual mating? As an example, Storm Cat over Yonaguska gets a TrueNicks rating of A+ according to the sample affinity report shown for Storm Cat. I ran my Yonaguska mare, Bella Cherokee, with Frost Giant using the TrueNicks link on the...
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Giant's Causeway ( TrueNicks , SRO ) celebrated his first Leading Sire crown in appropriate fashion, notching up his twenty-third stakes winner of the year when Tiger’s Rock captured the Gallant Fox Handicap at Aqueduct on December 31. This was the first stakes win for the three-year-old, who is out of the Afleet mare, Call Me Fleet (TrueNicks rated A ). What...
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One of the key parts of the TrueNicks calculation is that it does not calculate a nick based on stakes winners being produced out of the same mare. As good a mare that Cee's Song is, her results are effectively counted as one effort on the calculation of Relaunch with Seattle Song mares for example. However, Truenicks does calculate ratings where from two different...
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With Tapit ( TrueNicks , SRO ) , Sky Mesa ( TrueNicks , SRO ) and the over-achieving Stroll ( TrueNicks , SRO ) (now back at Claiborne from a sojourn in Italy), Pulpit ( TrueNicks , SRO ) has made quite a start as a sire of sires. Another Pulpit son, freshman sire Purge ( TrueNicks , SRO ) , has a smart performer in Macias. He scored a first stakes victory when...
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We must admit, we did a double-take when we saw the pedigree line for the Malibu Stakes (gr. I) winner, M One Rifle, as the name of his sire, One Man Army, rang absolutely no bells whatsoever. It turns out that we weren’t having a senior moment, as One Man Army has very much been flying under the radar. Although not bred by Fred Hooper, One Man Army has a pedigree...
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There was a 'lucky' ending to the last major two-year-old contests of the year with Looking At Lucky taking the Cashcall Futurity (gr. I) and Blind Luck the Hollywood Starlet Stakes (gr. I). Lookin At Lucky is a son of Smart Strike ( TrueNicks , SRO ) , who won’t repeat his Leading Sire titles of 2007 and 2009, but who has had enjoyed another excellent season...
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We were interested to note the victory of Apapane in the Hanshin Juvenile Fillies (gr. I), the most important contest for two-year-old females in Japan. The race has been won in recent years by such stars as Buena Vista and Vodka, and Apapane was scoring for the third straight time in four starts. Apapane (TrueNicks rated A++ ) is by Kingmambo ( TrueNicks , SRO...
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Kenneth and Sarah Ramsey have done a tremendous job with their stallion, Catienus, a Storm Cat son whom they claimed, then sent out to win a minor stakes, run second in the Suburban Handicap (gr. II), two renewals of the Saratoga Breeders' Cup Handicap (gr. II) and place third in the Whitney Handicap (gr. I). Catienus has never been a fashionable stallion, but...
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Sea the Stars has rightfully dominated the headlines from Europe but the other story of the weekend was the remarkable performance of horses bred and owned by the Aga Khan. We'll start with the 2½ mile Prix du Cadran (gr. I), which went to Alandi (TrueNicks A ), who is by Galileo out of the stakes winning Darshaan mare, Aliya, and is one of no less than five...
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A lot of the key North American action was focused in Canada this weekend. The most valuable race of the weekend was the $1,000,000 (Canadian funds) Woodbine Mile (gr. I), which was taken in storming fashion by the five-year-old mare Ventura (TrueNicks A++ ). She is a reminder of just how severe a loss the premature death of her sire, Chester House was. He sired...
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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...
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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...
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The second round has just begun in the current auction cycle of Thoroughbred breeding stock sales. If the ongoing OBS Mixed Sale is any indication, it's a buyer's market, and anyone looking to purchase a broodmare has a great chance to find a bargain -- if he knows what he's looking for. Byron Rogers, Alan Porter, and the rest of the TrueNicks pedigree rating...
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Question from "DZ" : When using Exchange Rate nicking with Buckpasser mare line the nick comes up with a C rating, yet it shows top performers with the cross throwing 5 separate grade I winners. Why not a higher nick rating? Alan's reply : Thank you for the question. The Danzig/Buckpasser cross is one that has existed for a considerable time, in fact the first...
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Byron and I -- along with the rest of the team at TrueNicks and with the help of The Blood-Horse MarketWatch -- combed through the data and developed a special report titled Top 10 Emerging Thoroughbred Broodmare Sires at the Keeneland November Sale . It was a very interesting white paper to develop -- and there are some good opportunities at the upcoming sales...
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If you're not completely familiar with the basic premise of sire-line nicking, here it is in a nutshell: Specific affinities of stallions of one male line for mares from other sire lines -- called nicks -- have made a profound impact on the development of the Thoroughbred. Today's powerful data-processing computers have now made it possible to measure and rate...
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Question : We were wondering why Rahy crossed on Trempolino is a C TrueNicks but Runaway Groom (through Cherokee Run) crossed on Trempolino is an A when they are both Blushing Groom sire lines. Mare is Emeralino. Your thoughts please.... Regards, Brian Answer: Hi Brian, Thank you for your enquiry. When we look at a Cherokee Run ( TrueNicks , SRO )/Emeralino mating...
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New York-based sire Western Expression was represented by his first stakes winner when his daughter, I Lost My Choo, took the Virginia Oaks (gr. III) at Colonial Downs. Rated A++ by TrueNicks, I Lost My Choo has a very unusual pedigree pattern. Firstly, she is inbred to Majestic Prince, and in both instances combined with Buckpasser (Western Expression's dam...
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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...
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The recent post by Alan regarding the Ascot stakes winner Supaseus (Spinning World - Supamova, by Seattle Slew) brought back memories for this author as her dam was one of the 100 or so horses in the yard of leading trainer Paul Cole while I worked a flat season in England going back almost 15 years now (...yes we are all getting old!). Supamova, a 2-year-old...
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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 ;...
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We were sufficiently impressed by Big Brown's devastating Florida Derby (gr. I) win that we went straight to TrueNicks to have a look at the pedigree. The TrueNicks rating is always updated overnight, but when we looked at the pedigree on Saturday afternoon, the page reflected the state of play before Big Brown's win (see attached). Therefore, we were both delighted...
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Jeri from New York asked: I'm pleased to see Empire Stud signed up! Could you ask Alan Porter if there is any value to tying to inbreed to Alydar. I do not see his name come up in pedigrees anymore and I have mare by Western Expression whose bottom has Alydar mate of third dam. I may be going back to far, but I could not help but think of the great horse himself...
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Fastest work at the under tack show for Tuesday's Fasig-Tipton Calder 2-Year-Old in Training sale was a colt by Sky Mesa ( TrueNicks , SRO ) out of Secondary School, by Honor Grades. The colt - who broke the 10-second mark - is rated an A+ by TrueNicks on the basis of the Pulpit/Danzig cross, but has several other interesting pedigree features. The foremost of...
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