BloodHorse.com

Why do racing fans coalesce around one horse and not another? Favorability can be as simple as a catchy name (Smarty Jones) or backing an underdog (Funny Cide). Unfavorability, since horses themselves don’t usually rub us the wrong way, is tied to the animal’s human connections.Nobody should question Big Brown's talent. Yet, other than vying for ...

 Seattle Slew was a heck of a racehorse. He started only three times at 2 and had just six races prior to winning the 1977 Kentucky Derby (gr. I). He went on to win the Preakness (gr. I) and Belmont (gr. I) Stakes and remains, 31 years later, the only unbeaten horse to win the Triple Crown.Big Brown tried…and failed.We can look back and ...

There is no doubt about who is the early sensation amongst European freshman sires. One Cool Cat has already sired 10 individual winners, but more importantly, has three individual black type winners. His daughter Knavesmire captured the Hilary Needler Trophy at Redcar. Then the colt Icesolator captured the National Stakes at Sandown Park. ...

One stallion that has been on the move, both physically and in terms of his stud fee, is Exchange Rate (TrueNicks, SRO). The son of Danzig - Sterling Pound (by Seeking the Gold) retired to Padua Stables in Ocala, Fla., where he stood for as little as $7,500. However, after a flying start, the gray has earned a move to Three Chimneys Farm in ...

By John Clay, Lexington Herald LeaderUnlike last Saturday, this time the superstar delivered. Big time. There is only one true superstar on the Thoroughbred racing planet right now, and it isn't that worn-out 3-year-old who dissolved into a Big Brown meltdown in the Long Island heat during last Saturday's Belmont Stakes. Curlin is king of the ...

It's just 35 years since Mill Reef stamped himself as one of the best horses to race in Europe during the 20th century. Paul Mellon's son of Never Bend went on to prove himself an outstanding sire, too, so it's something of a surprise to find that his male line is already in danger of extinction. Recent weeks, however, have indicated that the line ...

The practice of correcting the legs of young horses surgically before they are offered at yearling auctions stirs up controversy. Some people believe it is a good thing because it allows the horses to be sounder when they race. Others say it allows horses with inferior conformation to succeed, making them more likely to contribute their defects to ...

Japanese racing seems to have a new star in the shape of Deep Sky, who followed up his win in the NKH Mile Cup (Jap-I), by producing a blistering finish to land the Japanese Derby.Deep Sky is by Agnes Tachyon. A son of the almost inevitable Sunday Silence, Agnes Tachyon scored his most important triumph in the Japanese Two Thousand Guineas (gr. ...

  Now that the Triple Crown run is over and more than five weeks have passed since the Eight Belles tragedy, I thought it would be a good time to pick the brain of Larry Jones. Thought of by many as not only one of the most talented, but most respected trainers in the sport, Jones gave his take on a few different topics, including Eight ...

In my last post, I started to discuss a yearling that I am sending to the Keeneland September sale.  I introduced the colt (TrueNicks pedigree) and promised to give details on the breeding decisions that resulted in this foal.  I chose to go with Honour and Glory (on SRO) for several reasons.  One, frankly, was because he ...