BloodHorse.com

If you wanted to win an important turf race in Southern California in 2002 and 2003 you had beat Johar (TrueNicks,SRO) to do it. The Richard Mandella-trained runner won or placed in 10 grass stakes on the circuit during that span, winning the Oak Tree Derby (gr. II) and Hollywood Derby (gr. I) at 3. As a 4-year-old he added the San Marcos H. (gr. ...

Bim Bam is a son of Deputy Wild Cat (by Deputy Minister, out of Champion Hollywood Wildcat, and a brother to stake winner Minister’s Wildcat, and half-brother to War Chant (TrueNicks,SRO) ), who stands at Fairberry Farm in Illinois. Deputy Wildcat has sired just 64 foals in his first three crops, and two of these are stakes winners, Bim Bam, and ...

Last Saturday, Quality Road erased the Gulfstream Park nine furlong track record that he himself had established in the 2009 Florida Derby (gr. I), earning a Ghostzapper (TrueNicks,SRO) -like 121 Beyer in the process. Quality Road’s sire, Elusive Quality (TrueNicks,SRO) can now claim to be responsible for three truly outstanding horses; Smarty ...

Ramblings on recent developments in horse racing: One of the more intriguing developments in the Zayat Stables bankruptcy case is the revelation one can receive a mortality payment on an un-dead horse. … Are there similar policies for humans as well? The Pennsylvania Horse Racing Commission investigation into Thoroughbred owner Michael Gill ...

Through five weeks of the 2010 season, there have been only three 3-year-olds that have posted a Beyer Speed Figure of 100 or more, and only one of those has done it around two turns. Any guesses on who the horse is? Didn't think so. Admittedly, I had also had some research to find out more about Tempted to Tapit, a gelded son of Tapit, out of ...

If you have not read Steve Haskin's Derby Dozen for this week, be sure to do so. Why you ask? Because his number one pick is a MaidenWatch horse (by Saint Liam) and he is trained by Bruce Levine, I am good friends with Bruce's niece. Say hello to Buddys Saint. This blog is actually about several of the horses in HD. HD referring to ''Haskin's ...

I decided to go in a bit of a different direction with this entry. I promise we will go back to more horse rescues and retraining stories soon enough—possibly even an update on Curlin’s old buddy, Pancho. But for now, I wanted to talk about the very interesting subject of the use of horses in Hollywood—first in the recent blockbuster sensation ...

By Brian Zipse, Zipse At The Track How about a little love for the ladies?  Today ZATT forsakes the boys and takes a look at the fairer sex, with my first Kentucky Oaks list.  Although, with the recent success shown by the girls in the Triple Crown races, some of these may be looking at the Derby as well. Enjoy these talented young ...

(Originally published in the February 13, 2010 issue of The Blood-Horse magazine. Feel free to share your own thoughts and opinions at the bottom of the column.)   Ahmed Zayat is a 47-year-old multi-millionaire who fell in love with horses during his youth in his native Egypt, where he competed in national show jumping events. The ...