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Several recent posts inspire us to take a quick look at some similarities -- perhaps coincidental -- between the pedigrees of Birdstone (TrueNicks,SRO), Medaglia d'Oro (TrueNicks,SRO) , and Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) third Musket Man. As we've mentioned (here), Birdstone's sire Grindstoned is out of a mare by Drone (whose ...

The Kentucky Oaks (gr. I) was taken in devasting style by Rachel Alexandra, who romped by 20 1/4 lengths. Like Mine That Bird, she is from the first crop of her sire -- in her case, Medaglia d'Oro (TrueNicks,SRO) .  (With Tapit (TrueNicks,SRO) , Speightstown (TrueNicks,SRO) , Candy Ride (ARG) (TrueNicks,SRO) , and Even the Score ...

Squeezed back as the field left the stalls and way off the pace early on, Mine That Bird -- under a rail-skimming ride from Calvin Borel -- ran past a rubber-legged field in the stretch to take a muddy renewal of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) by 6 3/4 lengths. The $9,500 yearling -- the least expensive in the race -- ...

In a big weekend for Cal-breds, two sires had a particularly good time. The blazingly fast but lightly-raced Storm Cat son Tribal Rule (TrueNicks,SRO) was represented at Hollywood Park by Rule the Storm, who took the Warren's Thoroughbreds Stakes, and by Tribal Justice, successful in the Grey Memo Stakes. In his first three crops, Tribal ...

The victory of Winter View in the Grey Goose Bewitch Stakes (gr. IIIT) last week gives us the opportunity to give a call to a great value racehorse sire, and to note the further deeds of a family that is currently on fire. TrueNicks rated A+, Winter View is by 1995 champion 3-year-old Thunder Gulch (TrueNicks,SRO) . Now 17 years old Thunder ...

The historic Haunui Farm of Auckland, N.Z., has become the first Southern Hemisphere farm to subscribe its sire roster to TrueNicks, allowing breeders to run complimentary matings with the stallions Iffraaj, Elusive City, and Don Eduardo. Iffraaj (GB) (TrueNicks,SRO) was a three-time group II winner over seven furlongs in England, taking the ...

The Kentucky Juvenile Stakes (gr. III) to be run April 30 at Churchill Downs 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. Topping the likely runners with an A++ rating is Mission ...

Surprisingly, the richest race of the past weekend wasn’t one of the graded contests. Instead that honor went to the inaugural Charles Town Classic, a nine-furlong contest with a purse of $500,000. The winner, who more than doubled his lifetime earnings, was the Two Smart (by Two Punch) gelding Reseacher. This was the sixth win in his last ...

There are some crosses that, intuitively, one would expect to work. That of European turf star Diesis (GB) (by Sharpen Up (GB)) with Alydar is not among them. The cross, however, has turned out to be quite effective – it is TrueNick rated A++ - and one of the best examples is Magical Fantasy, who added a weekend win in the Santa Barbara ...

Parading has had to wait until he turned 6 to win a graded stakes, but he achieved that feat in great style April 19 in the Ben Ali Stakes(gr. III). Bred and owned by the Phipps Stable, Parading is the fourth stakes winner sired by Pulpit out of a mare by Storm Cat. Two of the others are also graded, most notably hot young sire Sky Mesa ...