BloodHorse.com

In a post three weeks ago, I asked Are Names an Advantage at Yearling Sales? and indicated that I was surprised by the apparent advantage of named hips at the Keeneland September sale in recent years.  I promised to take a closer look -- comparing named versus unnamed foals by book rather than across the whole sale to eliminate any skew that ...

Second season sire Toccet had an interesting stakes double over the weekend, winning both the British Columbia Derby (gr. III) with Winning Machine, and the British Columbia Oaks with La Rocca. He now has four stakes winners from his first crop, and a stakes winning two-year-old from his second crop. Winning Machine, out of a mare by Carson City, ...

This year's Perfect Trip Award will recognize a Breeders' Cup Challenge race winner from this season's North American races that best exemplifies a ''Perfect Trip''. The winner will be selected from a panel of racing experts and will have the opportunity to experience his or her own ''Perfect Trip'' through Sentient Jet, with ...

After reading Bill Farish’s pointed attack at Kentucky Senate President David Williams, it is easy to say the Farish family, staunch Republicans, has decided the fight for video lottery terminals in the state is about business, not politics. But speaking during the Keeneland September sale the day after his letter was published, Farish said that ...

If you were a commercial breeder, finding the silver lining in the cloud at the Keeneland September yearling sale was difficult. High stud fees for this crop of yearlings, a huge supply of horses at a time when demand was falling, and the effects of months of economic woes here and abroad created at perfect storm of misery for sellers and for ...

I arrived back home in Lexington yesterday morning after a much-enjoyed week of sunny relaxation on the Florida Gulf. Because of friends' status updates on Facebook (sad but true), I knew Kentucky had experienced a week of non-stop rain, and that the temperatures had dropped a bit. I guess I sort of ignored the news though (it was in the 90s and ...

Bloggers: I'm off for a few days, be back at the end of the week. In the meantime, here's a guest blog to help get us pumped up for the Breeders' Cup. Jason By Dani Pugh In recent years, racing seems to have fallen from its previous throne of excitement, beauty, and majesty. It is a far cry from where it was in the seventies, eighties, and ...

Europe fired off its first salvo at the Breeders’ Cup Classic (gr. I) when the heavy favorite Rip Van Winkle captured Saturday’s Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (Eng-I) at Ascot, which served as a launching pad for Raven’s Pass’ Classic victory last year. After the race, trainer Aidan O’Brien confirmed that Rip Van Winkle indeed will be pointed for the ...

Kona Gold [brightcove videoid=''14463958001''] Chocolate Candy This is a video of Chocolate Candy receiving a bath Monday or Tuesday of Kentucky Derby week. We did not use this video for anything and since I shot it and had it captured, why not post it for those of you who might be interested. However, it did glitch as I was capturing the ...

Walmac Farm in Kentucky will once again sponsor complimentary TrueNicks on all of their stallions for the 2010 season.Despite a crop of only 43 foals conceived when standing in Florida, Successful Appeal (TrueNicks,SRO) was the leading first crop sire of 2004, with progeny earnings of over $1.7 million. Nine stakes winners (21%) eventually emerged ...