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The summer of 2017 saw the publication of a scientific paper titled "Y Chromosome Uncovers the Recent Oriental Origin of Modern Stallions" with the outcomes found in this paper covered by Eric Mitchell in the Blood Horse that year. The paper at the time, while generally a broad discussion about the origins of the equine breed, did raise some questions about our...
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While there is no doubt that nicks tend to run in sire lines, we've also often found it profitable to consider the dam of a stallion when attempting to predict potential crosses. For example, when Smart Strike ( TrueNicks ) retired to stud, we noted that he was a half brother to champion Dance Smartly, a daughter of Danzig. Since Smart Strike was a Mr. Prospector...
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A little over two years ago, we looked at the cross of Galileo with mares by Danehill . This was fast becoming a European mega nick, having—in the space of three weeks—been represented by Frankel, who had just taken the Two Thousand Guineas (Eng-I) in breathtaking style; Golden Lilac, successful in the French One Thousand Guineas (Fr-I); and Roderic O'Connor...
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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...
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Here's an interesting first crop Florida stallion... Standing for a mere $7,500 fee in 1975, Mr. Prospector sired 28 foals in his initial crop that included 1978 Champion 2-Year-Old Filly It's In the Air . By 1981, Mr. Prospector's continued success had brought him to Claiborne Farm in Kentucky. Here he developed into one of the breed's great sires, siring 181...
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Pulpit ( TrueNicks , SRO ) was one of the sensations of the early part of 1997, going undefeated through his first three starts at Gulfstream Park. In succession he took a seven furlong maiden by 7½ lengths, an allowance race by 6¼ lengths, and the Fountain of Youth Stakes (gr. II). The triumphant progress was interrupted when, taken further off the pace than...
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Last Saturday, Quality Road erased the Gulfstream Park nine furlong track record that he himself had established in the 2009 Florida Derby (gr. I), earning a Ghostzapper ( TrueNicks , SRO ) -like 121 Beyer in the process. Quality Road’s sire, Elusive Quality ( TrueNicks , SRO ) can now claim to be responsible for three truly outstanding horses; Smarty Jones ...
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Of the numerous orders we have received for the new TrueNicks Stallion Analysis and companion Pedigree Consultants Stallion Compatibility Report, one of the most intriguing was for Sabirli , who retires to Karacabey Farm in Turkey for 2010. While Sabirli may not be a very familiar name, he is a son of 1991 Kentucky Derby (gr. I) winner, Strike the Gold, out of...
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Actually this post is as much about Prince John as it is about Halo, but “Prince John effect” doesn’t have quite the same ring. What turned our mind to the connection between the two, and more particularly it’s current effects, was the victory of Custom For Carlos in the Mr. Prospector Handicap (gr. III). Custom For Carlos – who strikes us as having the potential...
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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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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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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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Kim asks : I did a TrueNick with Bertrando and Benson's Girl (by Buddha) and it said no rating. What does that mean? Alan's response: Thank you for the inquiry. For TrueNicks to compute a rating there must be either two stakes winners bred on the cross, or 15 starters. If there are insufficient stakes winners or starters on the sire/broodmare sire cross, the...
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It might seem hard to believe, but only a handful of years ago, Sadler's Wells' legacy as far as the extension of his male-line appeared to be in severe doubt. That is no longer the case, and we were treated to a number of reminders of over the weekend. Sadler's Wells' son, High Chaparral has been rather in the shadow of his stud companions Galileo and Montjeu...
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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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Dawn asks : I am somewhat new to this and really need some help. have a mare named Buy You A Bear (Bayou Hebert x Sheckyrilla - Shecky Greene) that I am contemplating breeding to Borrego or Leroidesanimaux. These are my questions: 1) Based on TrueNicks, she nicks better with 'Leroi' than Borrego, but her Dosage is better with Borrego and she has more stakes winners...
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