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In what was somewhat of an upset victory, the classy mare Pinker Pinker won the historic Cox Plate (Aus-I), the best weight for age race over 10 furlongs in Australasia, last night at Moonee Valley. Interestingly, the owner of Pinker Pinker's dam Miss Marion had asked TrueNicks to run a Broodmare Analysis Report on the mare when Pinker Pinker was still an unnamed...
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Saint Ballado, 1989-2002 There was a moment when the Hail to Reason line through Halo threatened to establish itself as the “third force” in U.S. breeding (behind the inevitable Mr. Prospector and Northern Dancer). Of course we still have the ultra-consistent Southern Halo son More Than Ready ( TrueNicks , SRO ) (whose own son Ready's Image ( TrueNicks , SRO...
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Back in mid-June, we blogged that “ On the West Coast, Bob Baffert has a potential good 'second season' 3-year-old in Coil (TrueNicks A++), who took his record to three wins in four starts by capturing the Affirmed Handicap (gr. III). Coil was apparently under consideration for the Woody Stephens, but he shouldn’t have much trouble carrying his speed a distance...
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Perhaps the most interesting pedigree of the July 4 weekend stakes winners is that of Her Smile, the 3-year-old filly who took the Prioress Stakes (gr. I, video below). She’s a daughter of Include ( TrueNicks , SRO ), who had the grade I-winning fillies Panty Raid and Cash Included in his first crop, but hadn’t had a graded stakes winners since. However, Her...
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The first U.S. 2-year-old grade II winner of the year is Jack’s in the Deck (TrueNicks A+ ), who upset the Futurity Stakes (gr. II, video below), breaking his maiden in only his second start. Jack’s in the Deck is from the second crop of Love of Money ( TrueNicks , SRO ) (by Not For Love ( TrueNicks , SRO ), a brother to Rhythm, and three-parts-brother to Woodman...
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A standout in Australia, More Than Ready ( TrueNicks , SRO ) has also been a very successful and consistent sire in the U.S., but his Northern Hemisphere record had lacked one important thing: a grade I winner. That omission was corrected over the weekend when his progressive daughter Buster’s Ready (TrueNicks A++ ) captured the Mother Goose Stakes (gr. I, video...
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Although a front-running victory in a sloppy renewal of the Alabama Stakes (gr. I) would prove to be the final win of Pretty Discreet’s racing career, she was about to commence a broodmare career that would bring her even greater acclaim. Last weekend, Awesome Maria became the latest grade I winner to extend from Pretty Discreet when winning the Ogden Phipps...
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Withdrawn from the English 1,000 Guineas (gr. I) after misbehaving in the stalls, and unplaced in the French 1,000 Guineas (gr. I), Immortal Verse turned a corner with a win in the Prix de Sandringham (gr. II). In the one mile Coronation Stakes (gr. I, video below), she delivered a very impressive performance sweeping from last-to-first to win by 2¼ lengths....
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Royal Ascot occupied most of our attention last week, but we wanted to note a few interesting pedigrees from last week before they get too distant in time. In Australia, the Stradbroke Handicap (gr. I, video below) saw Sincero (TrueNicks A++ ) become one of the few 3-year-olds in that country this season to defeat his elders in a major race this year. Sincero...
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If the modern horse is not supposed to be as tough and durable as the stars of bygone eras, it’s clear that Banimpire (TrueNicks A++ ) and her connections didn’t get the message. The daughter of Holy Roman Emperor was making her seventh start of the season (six of them in not much more than three months) when gamely defeating the Galileo filly Field of Miracles...
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It was generally considered that one of the absolute bankers of the meeting would be So You Think in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes (gr. I, video below). The New Zealand-bred had become a superstar in Australia, and was a highweight in the long-distance category on the International Classifications, as well as being highly-rated at shorter distances. He’d scored...
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One of the most eagerly awaited contests of the week was the first day’s opening contest, the Queen Anne Stakes (gr. I, video below). Run over the straight mile, it brought together the 6-year-old mare Goldikova, winner of three straight runnings of the Breeders’ Cup Mile (gr. I), and the 4-year-old colt Canford Cliffs, coming off four consecutive group I wins...
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A muddy renewal of the Belmont Stakes (gr. I, video below) always seemed to have the potential to deliver an upset, and so it proved, with the unheralded Ruler On Ice (TrueNicks B+ ) defeating Stay Thirsty and Brilliant Speed, with the Kentucky Derby (gr. I) and Preakness Stakes (gr. I) winners Animal Kingdom and Shackleford off the board (as an aside, when,...
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Incredibly, 2011 was the first time in history that all three Triple Crown races were won by horses with double-digit odds, but longshot or not, siring a classic winner is an achievement not to be taken lightly, especially for a young sire. The chart below shows longshot (10-1 or longer) classic winners since 2000 and the resulting effect on their sires' fees...
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It wasn't exactly the best of times or the worst of times, but there were some strange and contradictory contrasts in the two English 1½ mile classics, the Oaks and Derby (both gr. I). In the Oaks, the winner – by a sprinter/miler, out of a mare by a sprinter – was ridden for stamina, while the Derby saw a son of a French Derby winner out of a mare by a French...
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