TrueNicks : Racing and Training

Kentucky Juvenile Stakes Offers Graded Black Type to 2-Year-Olds

aporter — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 21:57:00 GMT

The Kentucky Cup Juvenile (gr. III) offers the first shot at serious black-type for 2-year-olds, and as such we thought it interesting to have a look at the TrueNick ratings for a field of stakes contenders that have yet to earn black type. ...(read more)

Weekend Action for A.P. Indy and Fappiano Bloodlines

aporter — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 20:02:00 GMT

Over and over again, the cross of A.P. Indy/Seattle Slew with daughters from the Fappiano line was in high form this past weekend....(read more)

Weekend Pedigree Shorts

admin — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 22:07:00 GMT

The highly successful Danzig / Sharpen Up nick had a very good weekend. Mount Nelson (A++ TrueNicks rating), a son of Rock of Gibraltar out of the Selkirk mare Independence, found most in a driving finish to win the Coral-Eclipse (gr. I) at Sandown, in doing so he returned to the form that saw him capture a grade I race at 2.

Bred along similar lines, Anna Pavlova (A++), a daughter of Rock of Gibraltar's Coolmore barn mate Danehill Dancer, found success in the Lancashire Oaks (gr. II) at Haydock Park. As we have previously stated on this site, we find it very interesting and rather common to see success where the dam and the broodmare sire of the sire are from the same sireline. In Anna Pavlova's case, Danehill Dancer is out of a mare by Sharpen Up while her dam is by Sure Blade, a grandson of Sharpen Up.

Finally the Darley stallion Kheleyf sired his first group/graded stakes winner in Percolator (B+), winner of the Prix du Bois (gr. III) in France. Kheleyf is by Danzig's son Green Desert and Coffee Cream, the dam of Percolator is by Common Grounds, a grandson of Sharpen Up.

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Speaking of Danehill Dancer, he had a nice 2-year-old stakes winner in the shape of Abbeyside (B+), winner of the Prix Yacowlef at Deauville. He was bred by Paul Makin of Starcraft fame....

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We mentioned it a little earlier with Anna Pavlova but the pedigree of Deutsches Derby (gr. I) winner Kamsin (A++) is certainly worth looking at. He is a son of Samum, a German Derby winner himself who is by Monsun out of the Old Vic mare Sacarina. Monsun has done terrifically well when mated to mares by Sadler's Wells and his sons. Kamsin's dam is by Winged Love, a grandson of Sadler's Wells (thus Sadler's Wells appears in the sire line of Kamsin's dam and the broodmare sire line of his sire). Added to this, Kasmin's dam is out of a mare by Surumu who also appears as the broodmare sire of Monsun.

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Pure Clan (A++), a half to the one time classic contender Greater Good, remained perfect on the weeds when winning the American Oaks Invitational (gr. I). Pure Clan comes from the second crop of the royally-bred Vinery stallion Pure Prize (TrueNicks, SRO). Her broodmare sire, the Secretariat stallion General Assembly, was disappointing as both a sire and a broodmare sire but it is interesting to note that he has found great success when his daughters have been mated to sons of Storm Cat. Pure Clan, Mountain General (by the equally-abysmal Mountain Cat), and Storm Tale (by Crown Ambassador) are all stakes winners by sons of Storm Cat out of General Assembly mares.

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Airdrie Stud stallion Friends Lake has started his career in the best fashion possible siring the Bashford Manor Stakes winner Screen Your Friend (B). A homebred for William Carl, Screen Your Friend is bred on the highly successful combination of A.P. Indy and Mr. Prospector. While this cross has been tried an awful lot of times with sons of A.P. Indy, it still rates quite well and it is uncanny how the first stakes winner by a first-season sire is invariably bred on the best possible cross for his own sire.

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Speaking of first-season sires, Adena Springs stallion Congaree (TrueNicks, SRO) sired his first stakes winner on the weekend in the ultra impressive - if unexpected - winner Congo Kaye (A+). Bred by Rosemont Farm, Congo Kaye was an A+ rated runner prior to winning the stakes race with the stakes winners Nasheej, Walzertraum, and Mountain Mambo all stakes winners by Blushing Groom-line stallions out of Kingmambo mares.

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Unbridled's Song (TrueNicks, SRO) had a Breeders' Cup contender emerge on the weekend in the shape of the Firecracker Stakes (gr. II) winner Thorn Song (A++). Interesting to note that Unbridled's Song has two stakes winners out of mares by Storm Bird as well as stakes winners out of mares by Storm Bird's sons Storm Cat and Bluebird.

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The ill-fated Chester House is certainly looking to be a real loss to the industry. Phoenix Tower (A++) went within a lip of winning the Coral-Eclipse (gr. I) in England... royally-bred Many Volumes (A+) won the Gala Stakes at Sandown on the same day...Castle Berry Road (A+) won the Pola Benoit Memorial at Evangeline Downs in North America, while Chestoria (A++) returned to form when she won the Mariensky Stakes at Belmont Park.

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The time-honored Durban July (gr. I) was run at Greyville in South Africa on the weekend. The race was a thrilling finish with Pocket Power (A++) and Dancer's Daughter (A) being inseparable when they reached the wire. Pocket Power is a son of the Champion Jet Master (SAF) and is out of a mare by Prince Florimund (SAF), a South African-bred son of the rather obscure Dowdstown Charley (GB). As obscure as the pedigree seems to be, Pocket Power is actually one of three stakes winners sired by Jet Master's sire Rakeen and his sons with mares by Dowdstown Charley (GB) and his sons. Dancer's Daughter, owned by Gainesway Stud's Graham Beck, has a more conventional pedigree being by the good 2-year-old Act One (GB), a son of In the Wings out of a mare by Mr. Prospector's son Damister.

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The international nature of pedigrees could be highlighted no better than in the win of Kinshasa No Kiseki (A+) in the Hakodate Sprint (gr. III) in Japan on the weekend. Try and get your head around this. Kinshaha no Kiseki is Australian-bred (thus he races against horses that are 6 months older than him as a southern hemisphere-bred) . He is by Fuji Kiseki (JPN), a Japanese-bred son of the Kentucky Derby winner Sunday Silence and is out of a French-raced daughter of Kentucky stallion Pleasant Colony. Kinshasa No Kiseki was bred by John Messara's Arrowfield Stud in partnership with Sydney businessman John Leaver.

Kentucky Derby Contenders Seen Through TrueNicks

admin — Thu, 01 May 2008 16:05:00 GMT

With the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands mere days away, we thought it was worth giving TrueNicks a tryout on the leading contenders. TrueNicks came through its Derby Trial with flying colors. Of the top 24 contenders at time of writing, nine (37.5%) were A++; 17 (71%) were A or above; 21 (87.5%) were B+ or higher. Of the remaining three, two are D; one, a non-stakes winner, does not achieve a rating....

The rest of Alan Porter's story can be viewed as part of the Derby 134: Contenders' Pedigree Profiles free download. In addition to seeing the TrueNicks rating for all 20 horses in the field, you'll see detailed pedigree analyses for each starter - many written by Alan.

Don't miss your FREE DOWNLOAD here.

Asiatic Boy Looks Ready for World Cup

admin — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 21:02:00 GMT

U.S. and European invaders pointing toward the Dubai World Cup (UAE-I) look as if they will have a tough home-trained opponent to overcome in the shape of Asiatic Boy. Bred in Argentina, the son of Not For Sale won a maiden in his native country and finished second to the Hussonet colt, Husson, in the Gran Criterium (Arg-I). Following that effort, Asiatic Boy was purchased by Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa al Maktoum, a cousin of Sheikh Mohammed, and transferred to Dubai. There he took the Triple Crown, the final leg of which saw him capture the U.A.E Derby (UAE-II) by 9 1/2 lengths. Sent to Europe, where he was racing on grass rather than sand or dirt and was at an age disadvantage (running as a 4-year-old, when he was only six months older than most European 3-year-olds), he performed honorably in two outings. He finished fourth, beaten two lengths, in the BGC Sussex Stakes (Eng-I) and was fifth in the Juddmonte International (Eng-I). On Jan. 12, Asiatic Boy was back in Dubai making his first start since his European trip and took the Meydan Al Shindagha Sprint (UAE-III) over six furlongs, with the ex-U.S. Diabolical, making his Dubai debut, back in fourth. Diabolical had stumbled at the start.

Asiatic Boy has a considerable U.S. influence in his pedigree. Not For Sale is by Parade Marshal, a stakes-winning Caro half-brother to Buckaroo, best known in America as the sire of the grade I filly Star Parade. Himself a grade I winner in Argentina, Not For Sale has been very successful at stud in that country. His offspring include the Horse of the Year Forty Licks. Asiatic Boy's dam, U.S. foaled S. S. Asiatic, is by the Champagne (gr. I), Cowdin (gr. I) and Woodward Stakes (gr. I) winner, Polish Navy. She is out of the stakes-winning Damascus mare, Asian, a half-sister to Breeders' Futurity (gr. II) victor Slavic (by Polish Navy's sire, Danzig).

A TrueNicks A++ nick, Asiatic Boy has a rather interesting pedigree pattern, as his sire is inbred 4 x 3 to the great California-bred, Swaps, and his dam is inbred 3 x 4 to Busanda, the dam of Buckpasser. It's not surprising to find a double of Swaps and a double of Busanda working well together, as Swaps sired one of his best runners, Champion 2-Year-Old Filly Affectionately, out of Searching, who like Busanda, was by War Admiral out of a daughter of La Troienne. One of the Swaps strains in Not For Sale adds more La Troienne. This is No Robbery, the broodmare sire of Parade Marshal. He is out of Bimlette, who is by La Troienne's son, Bimelech, out of a mare by Blue Larkspur (broodmare sire of Busanda). It's worth noting that Buckpasser is in the dams of Parade Marshal's grade I winner Star Parade, and his grade II winner Terms Parade, and Not For Sale's Champion Forty Licks.