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We've frequently mentioned, in this and other columns, varieties of what we call ''Parallel Patterns.'' There are variations, but a general description would be where a sire and a mare or broodmare sire are bred on a similar cross (we also have inversion of this, which we've christened ''Reverse Parallel Patterns''). A couple of recent ...

We had yet another example of the imporatance of considering opportunity when creating nick ratings with the August 1 victory of Luck Money in the Majestic Light Stakes at Saratoga. Irish-bred Luck Money was scoring his first stakes victory, although he'd been third to superstar Henrythenavigator in the Coventry Stakes (gr. II) and captured the ...

Last week, we debated whether temperament has anything to do with class or talent.  I put forward that there seems to be an industry bias towards fiery spirits, and quick forgiveness for certain wild behavior, with the idea that it indicates racing aptitude. A poll that accompanied this discussion asked for reader input.  More than half ...

It's been a few weeks since I brought my Keeneland September colt (pedigree, catalog page) over to a sales prep facility.  I stopped by Friday to check on his progress -- it's only a couple of miles from my office, so quite convenient to get there during a lunch break -- and I was impressed by the progress made thus far.  The ...

Some recent articles by propents of rival nicking systems have floated the idea that somehow programs that don't use a database of worldwide stakes winners, and don't consider true opportunity - in fact they admit they don't use opportunity at all - can be more accurate than the TrueNicks program that considers true opportunity, and utilizes the ...

One of California's leading stallion farms, River Edge, has become the latest to enroll its stallions on TrueNicks. River Edge Farm is home to three stallions: Benchmark (TrueNicks, SRO), Bertrando (TrueNicks, SRO), and Tribal Rule (TrueNicks, SRO). Benchmark, a son of Alydar, was a three-time grade II winner. He is sire of 19 stakes winners, ...

Question: My question is whether there a much greater risk factor when considering between two stallions that differ in the fact that one has many proven mares and was a very good performer himself, while the other is a young stallion that is well-bred but has never raced because of an injury, and doesn't yet have a large number of offspring? The ...

It was quite a weekend for the Danzig. First of all, Danzig himself was represented by 200th stakes winner when Olympic captured the Mataji Stakes at Calder. And a review of stakes activity around the world shows that an awful lot of Danzig-line horses were keen to get in on the act, with no less than 15 other Danzig-line horses winning black type ...

Some time ago on this blog we noted that second-year sire Macho Uno (TrueNicks, SRO) was one to watch. The champion 2-year-old of his crop and half-brother to Awesome Again was represented by Arlington-Washington Futurity (gr. III) and Breeders' Futuirty (gr. I) victor Wicked Style, and two-time stakes winning filly Swifty Victress, with his first ...

It is not often that we have a posting on this site with a history lesson included but it seems in order after the 2-year-old filly African Skies (TrueNicks A) impressively won the Princess Margaret Stakes (gr. III) at Ascot on the weekend. African Skies is a daughter of the Ashford Stud stallion Johannesburg and is out of the Woodman mare Rababah ...