TrueNicks : Auctions and Sales

Keeneland September Auction Page Now Available

sgillies — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 15:00:00 GMT

With nicking reports available at no cost for more than 4,000 Keeneland September yearlings, you'll want to use this free tool before heading to Keeneland's sales pavilion....(read more)

Saratoga Yearling Sales Catalogs Now Online

brogers — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 18:16:00 GMT

The glorious Saratoga race meeting is now underway -- which means that the highly successful Fasig Tipton Saratoga Select and New York-bred yearling sales are just around the corner. TrueNicks has you covered!...(read more)

TrueNicks Auction Guide: Fasig-Tipton July Sale

aporter — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 13:55:00 GMT

Plan to attend the Fasig-Tipton yearling sale later this month? Check out TrueNicks scores here!...(read more)

A Year On -- TrueNicks Scores From the 2008 March OBS Sale of 2-Year-Olds

brogers — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 14:30:00 GMT

We thought that it was worthwhile going back and taking a look at the 2008 OBS March sale of 2-year-olds to examine the horses that rated well with TrueNicks from that sale. ...(read more)

Pedigrees in Practice -- Cherry One

aporter — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 18:48:00 GMT

The cross of Northern Dancer with the family of Best In Class has yielded overwhelming success. Alan comments on the recent stakes winner Cherry One while also looking at the specific inbreeding influence that is present in the filly's pedigree....(read more)

Identify Thoroughbred Mares Carrying Foals With Promise

sgillies — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 17:48:00 GMT

For Keeneland's January breeding stock sale, the team at TrueNicks identifies several broodmares whose produce records reveal promising patterns, based on the nick ratings of their previous and current matings....(read more)

TrueNicks Special Report on Emerging Broodmare Sires

aporter — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 20:56:00 GMT

TrueNicks releases a free special report on emerging broodmare sires....(read more)

Freshman Report Card for Keeneland April Sale

admin — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 12:04:00 GMT

Alan analyzes first-crop sires of 2-year-olds represented at the Keeneland April sale in a featured article in The Blood-Horse Data Digest (preview below). If you'd like to follow along in the Keeneland catalog while reading, it's available here.

Coming into the Keeneland April 2-year-olds in training sale, TrueNicks turns its eye on the freshman sire class of 2008. Below are notes on all hips by freshman sires that rate B+ or higher.

Graded stakes-winning sprinter Canadian Frontier (Gone West - Borodislew, by Seattle Slew) will be hoping to enhance his sire's considerable reputation as a sire of sires. He has an A+ rated daughter in Hip 10, a filly out of the Desert Wine mare Desert Victress. She is rated on the basis of the Gone West/Desert Wine cross that has also produced grade I winners Maryfield and Celtic Melody. She is half sister to graded winner Desert Digger (by Mining, who is from the same Mr. Prospector line as Canadian Frontier). The dam is half sister to four stakes winners, including the multiple graded winning sprinter Explicit.

One of horses who looks sure to be in the thick of the fight for the freshman sire race is Lion Heart (Tale of the Cat - Satin Sunrise, by Mr. Leader)... Download the free Data Digest to continue

TrueNicks Top 10 for OBS March

admin — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 17:03:00 GMT

Topping the charts is hip #308, a colt from the second crop of Zavata (TrueNicks, SRO), out of the Pine Bluff mare Fair Miss, a half sister to Irish stakes winner Steaming Home, from the family of Corporate Report. Bred on the Phone Trick/Pine Bluff cross that has also produced stakes winners Who's Happy and Call Me Wild, this colt is also inbred to Mr. Prospector.

A couple of breeders seem to have had crystal balls in operation, as they sent Wild Again mares to Tapit, a son of Pulpit. This is rather opportune, since Pulpit now has Kentucky Derby prospect Pyro out of a Wild Again mare. The mating also gives the second highest variant score of the OBS March horses. The first of these is hip #160, a filly out of stakes-placed Wild and Icy, already dam of the stakes-placed Storm Boot daughter Ice Storm Coming. A half sister to stakes winner Native Russian, Wild and Icy is out of Native Paster, a stakes winner who set a new world record for 6 1/2 furlongs. Not long after comes hip #169. She has an even closer connection to Pyro, as her dam, the stakes winning Your Call, is three-parts sister to the dam of Pyro.

Hip #290 is a Florida-bred filly by Trippi out of Drymytears, a daughter of Pentelicus and half sister to $445,700 earner Castlebrook. There have already been two stakes winners by End Sweep (sire of Trippi) and a son out of Pentelicus mares, and this one has a clever twist, as both Trippi and Pentelicus are bred on a Mr. Prospector/In Reality cross. Trippi has another representative in hip 66, a filly out of the Cox's Ridge mare Sennen Cove. This half brother to stakes winner and graded stakes-placed Ensign Ray is bred on the same cross as Trippi's juvenile star Green Vegas.

That extremely consistent racehorse sire, Alphabet Soup (TrueNicks, SRO), is represented by hip #38, a colt. The dam, Rain Symphony, is a Fappiano mare who is half sister to the dam of Japanese stakes winner Red Chili Pepper (by Fappiano's son, Unbridled). The third dam, Mellow Marsh, is a stakes winning half sister to Exclusive Native. This is a product of the Alphabet Soup/Fappiano cross that has also produced multiple listed winner Tempus Fugit, listed winner Show Me Your Glory, and stakes winner Alpha Saphire.

One of the fanciest pedigrees in the sale is that owned by hip #389, a filly from the first crop of Smarty Jones (TrueNicks, SRO) out of the grade I winning La Gueriere. She is half sister to the multiple graded stakes winner Lasting Approval, and to two stakes-placed horses. Smarty Jones is a son of Elusive Quality (TrueNicks, SRO) and that horse has the hugely promising current English 3-year-old Raven's Pass and stakes winner Calendar Girl, out of mares by Lord at War (ARG), the broodmare sire of this one.

Hip #68 is a colt who is by a stallion not on everyone's radar, Black Mambo. A son of Kingmambo, he is a $1.1 million yearling who is three-parts brother to Lemon Drop Kid. This colt is half brother to this year's LeComte Stakes (gr. III) runner-up Izzie's Halo. The dam, a half sister to stakes winner Stormy Venus, is out of a sister to Serena's Song.

One of the most-sought sires at stud today is Distorted Humor (TrueNicks, SRO). He is sire of hip #95, a filly out of Sugar Walls Babe, who is by Private Terms out of Sugar Walls. That mare, a daughter of Lyphard, is a sister to the French One Thousand Guineas (Fr-I) winner Pearl Bracelet. This filly is bred on the Distorted Humor/Private Account cross that has also produced graded winners Go Rockin' Robin and It's No Joke, and stakes winner Star By Design.

The top ten TrueNicks horses are rounded out by hip #456, a filly by Dixie Union out of the A.P. Indy mare Open Flirt. This filly is closely related to stakes winners Jena Jena and Win With a Wink, who are both by Dixie Union's sire, Dixieland Band, out of the granddam of this filly. She is bred on the Dixie Union/A.P. Indy cross that has also produced graded stakes winner High Cotton and two other stakes winners, including Fierce Wind, recent winner of the Sam F. Davis Stakes.

A listing of all A++ and A+ TrueNicks horses in the sale is included in the most recent BloodHorseNOW.com Data Digest, which is available free to TrueNicks.com readers: Download the PDF here.

Top 10 at Barretts March Sale

admin — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 15:03:00 GMT

With the Barretts March Sale of 2-year-olds in training coming up next week, TrueNicks turns the spotlight on the West Coast, with some notes on the TrueNicks top 10 rated horses in the sale.

The highest rated sale horse, hip #49, is bred for speed, being a son of grade I winning sprinter Trippi. Out of Meteoric, a daughter of Pentelicus who set a track-record for 4 1/2 furlongs at Delaware Park. Both Trippi's sire, End Sweep, and that stallion's son Precise End have sired stakes winners out of daughters of Pentelicus. There is an extra twist here, as both Trippi and Pentelicus are Mr. Prospector/In Reality crosses.

Hip #133 is a colt by the exciting young stallion Harlan's Holiday. He is out of the Alydar mare Alygator, and the cross of Harlan and his son, Menifee, over Alydar-line mares has produced four stakes winners. Alygator is granddam of stakes winner Storm Rolling In, who is by a son of Storm Cat (grandsire of Harlan's Holiday).

From the first crop of Tapit comes hip #19, a colt out of the Copelan mare Ideal Index, a sister to stakes winners Quality Exchange and Basic Exchange. This colt is a half brother to Cool Ashlee, a stakes winner who was also runner-up in the Mazarine Breeders' Cup Stakes (gr. I). We can note that Tapit's sire, Pulpit, has two stakes winners, including grade I winner Purge (TrueNicks, SRO), out of another Copelan mare.

Another young A.P. Indy-line sire with his first crop currently 2 is Friends Lake. He has an A++ rated colt in hip #91, a son of Sleep Away Camp, a Bertrando mare who is already dam of stakes-placed Spooked (by Silver Ghost). From very limited opportunities, there are already two stakes winners by A.P. Indy sons out of Bertrando mares, and this is an extension of the successful A.P. Indy/Relaunch cross.

Hip #76 is a filly from the first crop of Medaglia d'Oro (TrueNicks, SRO). The dam, the Sorority Stakes (gr. III) third Runaway Chanel, is half sister to the La Brea Stakes (gr. I) heroine Got Koko. Runaway Chanel is a daughter of Runaway Groom, and Medaglia d'Oro's sire, El Prado (TrueNicks, SRO), has three stakes winners out of Runaway Groom mares, including grade III winner Air Rocket.

Maryland-based Storm Cat son Lion Hearted is the sire of hip #10, a filly out of Highest Offer, a half sister to graded winner Upper Noosh. The Storm Cat/Forty Niner cross has worked well in general, and this one gets an A++ rating on the basis of sons of Storm Cat with mares by Forty Niner's son Roar, the sire of Highest Offer. It's worth noting that Lion Hearted is a Northern Dancer/Raise a Native cross, where Roar reverses the cross. The Raise a Native strains come through the genetic relatives Alydar and Mr. Prospector.

With the likes of Grasshopper and Fierce Wind, Dixie Union is off to a good start in 2008. He has a filly here - hip #33 - that is the first foal of stakes winner Lakeville. As Lakeville is by the Seattle Slew-line stallion Evansville Slew, this rates an A++ on the basis of the Dixie Union/Seattle Slew cross (although we should note that the three stakes winners to date bred on the cross are out of mares by A.P. Indy).

Hip #176, a chestnut son of More Than Ready (TrueNicks, SRO) out of Exquisite Mistress, is a brother to Ready's Gal (winner of four graded stakes, and also runner-up in the Frizette Stakes (gr. I), and three-parts relative to the graded stakes-winning and grade I-placed Ready to Please.

We have noted a filly from the first crop of Medaglia d'Oro, and hip #140 is a colt by the same stallion. He is a half brother to the graded stakes-winning and grade I-placed Anklet, stakes winner Spangled, and stakes-placed Awe That, herself dam of the multiple graded stakes-winning Bel Air Beauty. Out of the Alysheba mare Bangled, he achieves his A++ rating on the basis of the El Prado/Alydar cross, that has produced four stakes winners including grade I winner Borrego, and graded winners Chindi, Buffalo Man, and Timo.

The top 10 are rounded out by hip #156, a son of Forestry (TrueNicks, SRO), bred on the Storm Cat/Notebook cross that is most notably also produced the excellent sprinter Gators N Bears (TrueNicks,

Sky Mesa Colt's Speed is No Surprise

admin — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 17:02:00 GMT

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 these is a double of the excellent runner and outstanding producer Weekend Surprise, who appears as dam of both A.P. Indy (grandsire of Sky Mesa) and Honor Grades, broodmare sire of the sale colt. I can recall only one other stakes winner with this duplication, but that one is champion 2-year-old Stevie Wonderboy (by a son of A.P. Indy out of a mare by Honor Grades' close relative, Summer Squall.

It is also interesting to note that Sky Mesa's sire, Pulpit, and this colt's dam, Secondary School, are by sons of Weekend Surprise, out of Mr. Prospector-line mares. In addition, Sky Mesa's broodmare sire, Storm Cat, and Honor Grades are both Northern Dancer/Secretariat crosses.

Keeneland January Preview: Day Seven

admin — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 10:01:00 GMT

Alan Porter has been asked to preview each day of the Keeneland January horses of all ages sale. His comments appear on BloodHorseNOW.com, including a special page in that publication’s daily PDF newsletter, which is distributed each day at the salegrounds.

As part of Alan’s notes, he has provided a Top 10 list of the short yearlings offered each day, and another Top 10 list of the sale’s “carried foals”–all according to their TrueNicks variant score.

Here’s a free preview: Keeneland January: Day Seven.

Check in each day for the most current Top 10 lists and commentary.

Keeneland January Preview: Day Six

admin — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 10:01:00 GMT

Alan's Day Six preview: Keeneland January: Day Six

Keeneland January Preview: Day Five

admin — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 18:01:00 GMT

Alan's Day Five preview: Keeneland January: Day Five

Keeneland January Preview: Day Four

admin — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 22:01:00 GMT

Alan's Day Four preview: Keeneland January: Day Four