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...And just when I was getting ready to finalize my pick, the winding and unpredictable Derby road throws a nasty curveball. This morning's news of Quality Road's latest quarter crack was a shocker. As far as I was concerned, the first one had completely healed and it was no longer an issue. It was a done deal. He was going to be my ...

Courtesy of Rob Fundter, The Amateur CapperAn Embarrassment of Riches: Part 1 Great horses, Kentucky Derby winners in this case, possess the ability to adapt to different circumstances and win.  This year's Kentucky Derby presented by Yum! Brands 3y.o. crop, thanks to the absence of Mare Reproductive Loss Syndrome, has quality that we ...

I was poking around a couple of the online Thoroughbred listing sites last evening and a name jumped out at me.  Charedi's Gold (pedigree) has been in my Virtual Stable for years because her pedigree incorporates several of my favorite bloodlines.  (If ''Virtual Stable'' is new to you, check out this post I wrote last ...

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 ...

Beginning next week, we'll start analyzing the Derby field closely and talking about our picks. For now, there is still some sorting out to do and workouts to watch. In this blog, I present one very simple question: Which Derby horse has the best story behind it? In other words, if you could pick one horse to win Derby 135 based on his ...

This week came the sad news that 1987 Budweiser Irish Derby (Ire-I) winner Sir Harry Lewis has died.  (An interesting note for you equine health purists:  the Racing Post lists the cause of death as a ''heart attack,'' terminology that is medically inaccurate but commonly used in cases of equine aortic aneurysms and atrial ...

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 ...

The Average Earnings Index (AEI) is simultaneously one of the most popular and oft-quoted statistics in Thoroughbred horse breeding, and one of those numbers that tend to be thrown around without actually being completely understood. Fortunately, it's a fairly straightforward concept. To start, here's how we define AEI in TBH ...

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