BloodHorse.com

''The Blood-Horse'' is an unusual appellation. Non-horseracing types raise an eyebrow when hearing the name for the first time, and even some who make Thoroughbreds their life's work aren't entirely sure why the magazine (and the publisher) is named that.  Back in 1916, we were published as The Thoroughbred Horse, the newsletter of the ...

The Thoroughbred bloodstock market has tanked, investors and even fans are leaving the industry in droves, and the world economy shows no signs of a quick turn-around.  Can there be a silver lining to these dark days of horse racing? Well, yes.  The dim prospects for Thoroughbred sales across the board will serve to cut down on ...

We talked a bit about German stallion Monsun in a previous post about 3-year-old sensation Kamsin (GER).  Kamsin Since then, Kamsin has gone on to capture two German group I contests - both at the same 1-1/2 miles as his Deutsches Derby (Ger-I) win in July.  He fell short in the Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (Fr-I) in October -- won ...

  I don't own Hasili (IRE) (pedigree).  To provide a quick recap of that mare's record as a broodmare, I'll just say she got off to a ''slow'' start with Dansili (GB), her first foal:  he was merely a multiple group II winner.  The five foals following -- the mares Banks Hill (GB), Heat Haze (GB), and Intercontinental (GB), ...

For a moment, let's put aside the somber, serious issues of horse racing and breeding in today's economic climate, and instead discuss the more lighthearted topic of horse names.  As we round out the year, The Jockey Club is receiving an influx of naming requests -- for weanlings being registered and for yearlings and 2-year-olds purchased at ...

A loud chorus of scoffing  has been the Thoroughbred industry's response to the $20 million estimated valuation of Horse of the Year Curlin in recent discussions.  Jess Jackson has offered $4 million for the remaining 20% ownership of Curlin, and by extrapolation, the overall value of $20 million has been achieved.  Some in the ...

Hard Spun (SRO) often played the role of runner-up during his career as a racehorse, but he leads the way in the breeding shed.  I was reminded of the Darley stallion's popularity recently while reading a TBH MarketWatch article on ''quality of mares bred.''  (This annual feature is an analytical review of the year's leading sires ...

Back when the Keeneland November catalogs came out, I spent a lot of time perusing the offerings, and one that was offered on Day 11 -- today! -- caught my eye.  She seemed to be poorly placed, as far as I could tell -- her sale catalog page looked more impressive than many broodmares from a couple of books ahead of her. Here she is:  ...

The ceiling on Thoroughbred stud fees in the U.S. has fallen.  We saw broad cuts last year, and it's shaping up to be an across-the-board slashing as we approach the 2009 breeding season.  But have the reductions been too modest? Take a look at the Breeding News section of BloodHorse.com and almost every headline about stud fees being ...

I'm not going to speculate whether we'll see more of Curlin (pedigree) on the track this year or next -- it would be fantastic for horse racing as a sport, but probably more than we can expect.  Stonestreet Stables' Jess Jackson has already proven to be a true sportsman by bringing Curlin back as a 4-year-old and putting him in ...