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While the Golden Slipper Stakes (Aus-I) might not mean much to the average North American Thoroughbred breeder, with its AUS$3.5 million purse-which is just on US$3 million today-it is in fact the world's richest race for 2-year-olds. Run at 1200m (about 6f) the Golden Slipper has a long storied history as a race that shapes the Australian breed ...

The successful return of likely 2-year-old champion filly Indian Blessing in the Santa Ynez Stakes (gr. II) at the weekend was a pleasing one for me, having had a very small part in her story. Back in 1999, I was dispatched to the Keeneland January sales to purchase mares specifically to support then-Florida stallion Matty G. The first mare I ...

The TrueNicks Web site now has an RSS feed. For the more tech-savvy of our readers, you can now subscribe to the TrueNicks RSS feed to get all the latest postings on the site fed into your reader. Click on the RSS feed on the left hand column to subscribe to the feed. Really Simple Syndication, more commonly known by its ''RSS'' acronym, is ...

''Curiouser and curiouser'' cried Alan. The anomaly of widely differing nick ratings on an identical cross is a very strange one. When TrueNicks rates Unbridled's Song (TrueNicks, SRO) with a Miswaki mare, the result is a ''D,'' based on the direct cross of Unbridled's Song with Mr. Prospector-line mares, as there is insufficient evidence ...

As good-looking and talented as he was, Siphon (BRZ) presented something of a puzzle for breeders when he retired to stud. The Brazilian-bred winner of over $3.1 million was by Itajara (BRZ), a son of the French-bred Felicio, from a male line that went back to the storied St. Simon,via the great French sire, Sicambre (FR), and out of a mare by ...

A nick showing great promise that has only emerged very recently is that of Mr. Greeley with Storm Cat-line mares. This is a version of the Gone West/Storm Cat cross that produced champion sprinter Speightstown (TrueNicks, SRO), and might be most notable for duplicating Secretariat, the broodmare sire of both Gone West and Storm Cat. For Mr. ...

A reader wrote in to ask for clarification on the No Rating return after running a TrueNicks hypo-mating report for Niigon with a Richter Scale mare. Niigon is a son of Unbridled, by Fappiano, by Mr. Prospector. Richter Scale is a son of Habitony, by Habitat, by Sir Gaylord. Question: I just purchased a TrueNicks hypothetical mating and received ...

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 ...

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

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