Browse by Tags
Classic trials apart, in the U.S. the championship-defining contests for straight 3-year-olds are usually the three Triple Crown events plus the Haskell Invitational (gr. I) and the Travers Stakes (gr. I). Prior to the weekend, the first four events had taken place and had been won by four different horses: Orb (Kentucky Derby, gr. I), Oxbow (Preakness Stakes...
Read More...
Discreet Cat ( TrueNicks , SRO )'s stud career may not yet have matched the scintillating racetrack performances that saw him rated as a world champion at 3, but he's having a very strong year in 2013, standing second only to stud-mate Hard Spun ( TrueNicks , SRO ) among U.S.-based third season sires. Photo: Darley Discreet Cat (Forestry—Pretty Discreet, by Private...
Read More...
This week we have a guest post from Michelle Kinane ( @MichelleKinane ) on the wonderful Jacobs family stallion Silvano. Michelle is a young pedigree enthusiast based in Ireland and has her own blog which can be found here . Photo: Maine Chance Farms Silvano (Lomitas—Spirit of Eagles, by Beau's Eagle) Owned and bred by Dr. Andreas Jacobs' Gestüt Fährhof, Silvano...
Read More...
The weekend brought some top-class action in races worlds apart in aptitude, and continents away in location. The big race of the weekend was the Irish Derby (Ire-I) which saw a rematch between the Epsom Derby (Eng-I) first and second, Ruler of The World and Libertarian. Ruler of The World got the better of that one by about two lengths, but it was something...
Read More...
The final day of what had otherwise been a wonderful Royal Ascot was marred by the death of Thomas Chippendale, who collapsed and died—apparently of a heart attack—shortly after winning the 1 1/2-mile Hardwicke Stakes (Eng-II). Successful last year in the King Edward VII Stakes (Eng-II) over course and distance, Thomas Chippendale was a son of Dansili, who had...
Read More...
Day four at Royal Ascot kicked off with the six-furlong Albany Stakes (Eng-III) for 2-year-old fillies. The winner, Kiyoshi, looked to travel nearly as far sideways as forwards in the last couple of furlongs, but still scored impressively from favorite Sandiva (by Footstepsinthesand), with Frankel's half sister Joyeuse third. Kiyoshi is by Dubawi, who we covered...
Read More...
U.S. trainer Wesley Ward, who nearly took yesterday's Queen Mary Stakes (Eng-II) with Sweet Emma Rose, by City Zip ( TrueNicks , SRO ), gained compensation with the Scat Daddy ( TrueNicks ) colt No Nay Never in the Norfolk Stakes (Eng-II). Ward's 2-year-olds usually break like greased lightning, but No Nay Never dwelt leaving the stalls. He was was soon in front...
Read More...
The Royal Ascot seven-furlong Jersey Stakes (Eng-III) for 3-year-olds who have yet to win a group race went to Gale Force Ten, who produced a super-game effort to prevail after being headed close home. The result was a significant boost for the form of both the Poule d'Essai des Poulains (French Two Thousand Guineas, Fr-I), in which Gale Force Ten was a very...
Read More...
At around halfway in the opening day's Queen Anne Stakes (Eng-I), Animal Kingdom ( TrueNicks ) and Declaration of War were about the same distance off the lead. From that point, however, the duo went in opposite directions: Animal Kingdom, who had pulled hard in the early stages and found no cover, fading out of contention, while Declaration of War stormed up...
Read More...
While he is now considered an "elder statesman" of the Coolmore Australia stallion roster, there can be no doubt that Encosta de Lago (AUS) ( TrueNicks , SRO ) is one of the premier stallions standing in Australia this year. The son of Fairy King has amassed a sensational record at stud with 6.3% stakes winners to foals and 7.6% stakes winners to runners (up...
Read More...
The victory of Snow Bell in the Prix des Lilas at Chantilly on June 4 credited the young French sire Kendargent with his sixth individual stakes winner from his first two crops. Kendargent's start as a sire has been a lot more impressive than his early career as a runner. In fact, he started six times at 2 and 3 before he was able to gain his first win, scoring...
Read More...
It's no secret that the late German stallion Monsun, who died last September at the age 22, was an outstanding sire. However, even by his standards, he had exceptional day May 26, with 5-year-old Maxios taking the Prix d'Ispahan (Fr-I) and 3-year-old filly Silasol capturing the Prix Saint-Alary (Fr-I), both at Longchamp; and in Milan on the same afternoon, Charity...
Read More...
The interpretation of Thoroughbred pedigrees is no simple matter. The multi-factorial elements that might be considered include nicks, inbreeding, linebreeding, the positions of ancestors relative to one another, the relationship of the pedigree to the female line, and the class of the individuals involved. Given the volume of the data, and the difficulty of...
Read More...
The wins of Orb in the Kentucky Derby (gr. I) and Princess of Sylmar in the Kentucky Oaks (gr. I) further solidified the pensioned Lane's End stallion A.P. Indy as the premier sire line source of classic speed in the North American Thoroughbred. Indeed, with Normandy Invasion (by Tapit ( TrueNicks , SRO )), Dreaming of Julia, and Revolutionary (out of an A.P...
Read More...
The death of Dixie Union in July 2010 was a serious loss for commercial breeders. As a mid-priced horse (he stood for $35,000 in his final season) who was an extremely consistent stakes sire, and who also consistently got a physically attractive horse, he was almost a "must use," particularly for the market breeder. At the time, the only thing preventing Dixie...
Read More...
Sunland Park's big day turned into a benefit for Bob Baffert and Mike Pegram, who took the Sunland Park Derby (gr. III, VIDEO ) with Govenor Charlie (also bred by Pegram) and the Sunland Park Oaks ( VIDEO ) with Midnight Lucky (owned by Pegram in partnership). The duo—who both scored in track record time—are both from the first crop of the Baffert-trained/Pegram...
Read More...
Photo: Daehling Ranch Peppered Cat Not many people outside Northern California have heard of the stallion Peppered Cat , but with current earnings per starter of $36,400 compared to a 2013 stud fee of $2,000, the 13-year-old son of Tabasco Cat is starting to get some attention. Granted, he's had just 16 starters, but that group includes 10 winners and three stakes...
Read More...
This morning I spoke briefly with Brereton Jones of Airdrie Stud, who alerted me to a homebred filly of his with a very clever name. She is by Airdrie stallion Proud Citizen ( TrueNicks , SRO ) out of the winning Langfuhr ( TrueNicks , SRO ) mare Saramar—the exact same cross as Mr. Jones' Kentucky Oaks (gr. I) winner and champion 3-year-old filly Proud Spell...
Read More...
The weekend saw New Approach (IRE) ( TrueNicks , SRO ) become the first European-based freshman sire of 2012 to be represented by a group I winner when his son Dawn Approach took the Vincent O'Brien National Stakes (Ire-I) by 4 3/4 lengths. This was the fifth win in five starts for Dawn Approach, who had taken the Coventry Stakes (Eng-II) at Royal Ascot on his...
Read More...
With Danedream flashing her credentials for a shot at back-to-back victories in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (Fr-I) with a score in the Grosser Preis von Baden (Ger-I) at the weekend, we thought it was worth a look back at her pedigree from this article we wrote for the International Thoroughbred after her win in the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes in...
Read More...
Last weekend was an exciting one for bloodstock consultant Gary Hadden ( haddenbloodstock.com ). Gary recommended the mating that produced Reckless Abandon, a son of Exchange Rate ( TrueNicks , SRO ) who won Sunday's Darley Prix Morny (Fr-I) and solidified himself as the top European 2-year-old. The colt previously took the Norfolk Stakes (Eng-II) at Royal Ascot...
Read More...
It's still very early in the season for serious juvenile competition, but there is no doubt that one of the most impressive 2-year-old fillies seen to date is Kauai Katie. Successful by 12 lengths on her debut ( video ), the Stonestreet Stable color-bearer returned to action at Saratoga in the Adirondack Stakes (gr. II), and captured the 6 1/2-furlong event by...
Read More...
The 3-year-old crop of 2007 was one of the most contentious of recent years as Street Sense ( TrueNicks , SRO ), Curlin ( TrueNicks , SRO ), Hard Spun ( TrueNicks , SRO ), and Any Given Saturday ( TrueNicks , SRO ) fought it out for leadership of the division. Curlin would emerge with titles as champion 3-year-old and Horse of the Year, and he remained in training...
Read More...
Last week brought the news that ace sprinter/miler Caleb's Posse ( TrueNicks , SRO ) would be retiring to stand at Three Chimneys for the 2013 breeding season. Over the weekend, however, it was two Three Chimneys stallions that have departed for greener pastures, Rahy and Dynaformer, that took the headlines with a quartet of graded winners. Like the protagonists...
Read More...
It would be reasonable to suggest that while time may prove Coolmore stallion Galileo superior to his breed-shaping sire Sadler's Wells, with the exception of siring a group I winner over 4000m (which Sadler's Wells did in the form of the brilliant Yeats), right now Galileo is every bit as good a classic sire as his father. Like many elite stallions, Galileo...
Read More...
More Posts
Next page »