BloodHorse.com

Alan responds to a few readers' questions... Q: Are there any downfalls to nicking? A: Nick ratings are a measurement of one area of pedigree affinity, that of the sire (or sire line) for mares by the broodmare sire (or broodmare sire line). There is a very high correlation between a high TrueNicks rating and the potential for success. However, ...

Courtesy of HorseRaceInsider.com Barron’s, last week, asked this question: “This economy keeps dispensing with decades of statistical precedent. We have a 23-year-high inventory of unsold homes, a 49-year-low in per-capita home sales, a 28-year-low in consumer confidence, and an all-time high in inflation-adjusted oil prices. With it all, is it ...

  If you haven't seen the latest comments from Rick Dutrow Jr. regarding Smarty Jones and what he feels was questionable training by John Servis leading up to the 2004 Belmont Stakes, here they are: ''I think maybe the way they trained that horse for that race going up to the Belmont had a lot to do with him getting beat,'' Dutrow said. ''I ...

After such good, but heavy conversation in my recent posts, I thought it would be fun to take a look at a lighter side of race horses. This includes a new angle for betting I have stumbled upon for the Belmont and my prediction of who could win.While touring the awesome stallions at Lane's End Farm, my buddy Aragorn stood out from the crowd with ...

By Steve Zorn, courtesy of NYTimes.com Right now, Bill Turner is the only living trainer of a Triple Crown winner. His horse, the great Seattle Slew, was undefeated in nine races, a streak that ended with his Belmont Stakes win in 1977. Bill might lose that distinction June 7, if Big Brown takes the Belmont, but for now the reporters are still ...

Big Brown's auction prices of $60,000 as a yearling and $190,000 as a 2-year-old in training weren't high enough to attract much attention when other horses were bringing millions of dollars. But the amounts did stand out among the progeny of the stallion Boundary in their respective years. According to The Blood-Horse Auctions of 2006 ...

[image url=''http://cdn.bloodhorse.com/images/content/gknapp_large.jpg'']Dr. Gary Knapp[/image] In 1973, Dr. Gary Knapp was inspired by the great Secretariat to buy a Kentucky farm and get involved in the Thoroughbred business. Thirty-five years later, the Minnesota native is the breeder of Big Brown. A 64-year-old entrepreneur, Knapp formerly ...

The holiday weekend was a remarkable one for Coolmore associates, who swept all three group I events at the Irish Guineas meet. In the Irish One Thousand Guineas (Ire-I), the Pivotal filly Halfway to Heaven chose a good spot to capture her first stakes event. Halfway to Heaven is one of six stakes winners from the current 3-year-old crop sired by ...

Anyone who breeds to a first-year stallion must be considered a high-stakes gambler. Entering sires are an unknown quantity. They might be the next A.P. Indy (on SRO) or Unusual Heat (pedigree) -- but more likely, they're going to be on the other end of the spectrum and will never amount to anything great.  So why do breeders send ...

  So you are going to try to beat Big Brown huh? Me too. Short of hitting the superfecta or Pick 4, there is no way to make any significant money in this race if Big Brown wins. With that in mind, here is one longshot to consider in the Belmont: Anak Nakal. Anak Nakal? I know, he hasn't been better than fifth in four races this year and on ...