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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...
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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...
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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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In his first crop, sired at a relatively modest fee of $10,000, Broken Vow ( TrueNicks , SRO ) came up with a very promising colt in Private Vow. Winner of the Futurity Stakes (gr. II) and Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (gr. II), Private Vow might also have gone close in the Breeders' Cup Futurity (gr. I) had a rein not broken in the straight. A leading winter fancy...
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The most recent weekend saw another pair of grade I Kentucky Derby (gr. I) preps, with the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct and the Santa Anita Derby on the West Coast. In New York, two of the leading Derby hopefuls, Gemologist and Alpha, had to finish in the first two to be certain of having sufficient graded earnings to make the field. In the event, they achieved...
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We're always happy to see TrueNicks customers succeed on the racetrack, and we were especially thrilled when Derby prospect El Padrino won the Risen Star Stakes (gr. II) over the weekend. Emory Hamilton, breeder of El Padrino, uses TrueNicks broodmare reports for her mares, and a report for El Padrino's dam, Enchanted Rock, identified Pulpit ( TrueNicks , SRO...
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Union Rags, who remained winter favorite for the Kentucky Derby (gr. I) despite a narrow loss to Hansen ( TrueNicks ) in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile (gr. I), made his keenly-awaited seasonal debut in the Fountain of Youth Stakes (gr. II, video ) at Gulfstream Park. The wait proved worthwhile, as Union Rags could hardly have been more impressive, settling behind...
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It appears – to paraphrase the song about New York – that the Southwest Stakes (gr. III) has become the race “so good they ran it twice.” Since 2004, when Smarty Jones swept the series en route to victories in the Kentucky Derby (gr. I) and Preakness Stakes (gr. I), the Oaklawn Park road to the Triple Crown – the Southwest Stakes (gr. III), Rebel Stakes (gr....
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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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Having come within a furlong of stealing the Kentucky Derby (gr. I) off very slow early fractions, Shackleford succeeded in capturing the Preakness Stakes (gr. I, video below) after what appeared to be a suicidal first quarter. We’d noted that the victory of the turf-bred Animal Kingdom in the Derby came in a contest which was actually run like a turf race, with...
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