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With the announcement of Lookin At Lucky's retirement on Friday, and the previous decisions to retire Rachel Alexandra, Blame, Quality Road, and Zenyatta, arguably the five best and most popular North American-based horses of this year will no longer be running in 2011. Other than the soon-to-be 3-year-olds revving up for the Triple Crown (And ...

Like many of you, I have heard and read lots of opinions in the wake of the events surrounding the very disappointing performance by Life At Ten in the Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic at Churchill Downs two weeks ago.  Understandably, the owner is upset that Life At Ten was allowed to start. Bettors are mad that she was not scratched by the ...

By Frank Vespe, www.thatsamorestable.net/blog In the end, it seemed to me that the tale would be told in details: the red-rimmed eyes of a nearby horseman, the hundred-yard stare of a disappointed fan, the 72,000 voices suddenly gone silent. The tale, of course, was the oldest racing tale of all, that of the dream dashed, the mountain ...

Only a few weeks ago we were reflecting in MarketWatch how the U.S. dirt horse–the core of the North American commercial thoroughbred– had evolved into a horse that was very different from the European turf runner. It that light, it's somewhat ironic that the two horses that fought out the heart-stopping run to the line in the Breeders’ Cup ...

(Guest post by Tom Hall) Arkansas seems an unlikely place to be the birthplace of a future chef-de-race Thoroughbred stallion. But the fact is this: A good horse can be born anywhere, from the ''horse capitals'' of the world to any out-of-the-mainstream state in the hinterlands. Such is the case with Nodouble. On March 4, 1965, a chestnut colt ...

 It is finally time to say goodbye. Mighty Mare Zenyatta has been retired; and this time it is official, as she departs for Lane’s End Farm in Versailles, Ky. in early December.Despite having her remarkable 19-race winning streak ended in the Breeders’ Cup Classic (gr. I), by only a short head, Zenyatta not only added to her legacy, she ...

WinStar Farm's new 2011 stallions Super Saver and Hold Me Back have joined TrueNicks. WinStar homebred Super Saver (TrueNicks) claimed this year's Kentucky Derby (gr. I, video below), making him the second colt by the late Maria's Mon to win the classic following Monarchos in 2001. A winner of the Kentucky Jockey Club (gr. II) at two, Super Saver ...

The stallions of Bybee Road Farm in Ranson, West Virginia, have joined TrueNicks. Unlimited free nicking reports are now available to breeders for Officer Rocket and Ghostly Numbers. New for 2011 is Officer Rocket (GB) (TrueNicks), dead-heat winner of the Arlington-Washington Futurity (gr. III) while defeating eventual two-year-old champion ...

 (Originally published in the November 20, 2010 issue of The Blood-Horse magazine. Feel free to share your own thoughts and opinions at the bottom of the column.)  By Evan Hammonds   Though we don’t begrudge the continued, passionate interest in the outcome of the Breeders’ Cup Classic (gr. I) or the ongoing, ...