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This is a blog, and indeed TrueNicks is not supposed to be a handicapping service - but we are seriously going to have to reconsider this after the win of Sebring in the Golden Slipper Stakes (Aus-I) on the weekend! It was back on the 20th of January, some 13 weeks ago, that we first mentioned the then-non stakes-winning Sebring as a likely ...

That remarkable California sire, Unusual Heat, was represented by another graded stakes winner when his daughter, Lightmyfirebaby, won the Las Cienegas Handicap (gr. III) last week, her first victory in a race at that level. Lightmyfirebaby is the fifth graded winner by Unusual Heat, following 2008 grade I winner Golden Doc A, Tucked Away, ...

That Pivotal (GB) is one of Europe's best stallions is not exactly news. However, Cheveley Park Stud's Nureyev grandson recently enjoyed a day that was special, even by his standards. At Kempton on Saturday, April 12, there were three black type events and offspring of Pivotal won all three, with a one-two in one race. First up was the ...

In an increasingly commercial world it is becoming more and more evident that particular sire lines - and more specifically, one stallion and his sons - can, at least from a commercial sense, quickly dominate the broodmare population of a given country. It then becomes a race for the next sire line - one that fits the dominant sire and his sons ...

Readers of this blog are encouraged to register for the free online introduction to TrueNicks to be conducted Wednesday, April 23 at 2 p.m. During the Webinar, Alan Porter and Byron Rogers will explain nicking theory, the proprietary TrueNicks calculation, and benefits for breeders and owners. Please pre-register for the session by providing ...

We were recently forwarded an e-mail containing an advertisement from another pedigree consultancy that mentioned ''... other pedigree information services that attempt to dazzle you with vast database resources without discriminating the information that matters from the information that doesn't ....'' It also asserts that it chooses not to ...

One of the stallion success stories of 2008 is that of New York's Hook and Ladder (Dixieland Band - Taianna, by Cox's Ridge). Although a very fast horse - he ran a 110 Beyer speed figure as a 2-year-old and subsequently won the Mr. Prospector Handicap (gr. III) and the seven furlong Gulfstream Park Breeders' Cup Sprint Handicap (gr. II), after ...

My mother, Alice Chandler, and I were scheduled to meet with the Editor-in-Chief of The Blood-Horse April 4 to reflect on her life and the transition of our family�s Mill Ridge Farm. But it was hard that morning to also not reflect on the life of our dear friend Buddy Bishop, who had passed away the previous night after struggling with cancer for ...

Former European champion 2-year-old and Darley-owned sire Xaar (GB) was a stallion that looked to have it all - a rudely talented racehorse that boasted a superb pedigree being by the brilliant Zafonic from the Best in Show family. Despite outstanding credentials and opportunity to match, Xaar failed to reproduce a horse close to his own ability ...