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Other work pressures have kept us off the blogosphere for most of this week, but we've finally found a minute or two for some pedigree notes on last week's stakes winners. Last year, after his win in the Fayette Handicap (gr .II) at the end of October, we noted that Blame was developing a career arc very similar to that of his sire, Arch ...

Having established himself as the dominant horse in Macau – where he became the first Triple Crown winner – Luen Yat Forever is set to return to his homeland, Australia, to tackle top-class opposition. The announcement was made following his win in last Saturday’s Star of The Sand Stakes (Macau gr. II event), and the plan calls for his homecoming ...

Of the first six foals produced by the great mare Hasili, only one did not capture a group or grade I event. However, that one, Dansili, may well turn out to be the most influential of all of his dam’s offspring, at least in the foreseeable future. Of course, although Dansili never captured a group I event, the son of Danehill ...

We’ve mentioned before that it’s not exactly clear what constitutes the Filly Triple Crown. The Kentucky Oaks (gr. I), Acorn Stakes (gr. I), Mother Goose Stakes (gr. I), and Coaching Club American Oaks (gr. I) would seem to be the primary candidates, which might place the Alabama Stakes (gr. I) as a filly counterpart to the Travers Stakes (gr. ...

Marlang had not won a race since capturing the Saranac Stakes (gr. III) in August, 2008, but the now five-year-old returned to the winner’s circle at the weekend leading throughout to take the Sunset Handicap (gr. III). Marlang is by Langfuhr (TrueNicks,SRO), and he’s not the first son of his sire we recall pulling a similar trick. Last year, the ...

Breeding a mare by a stallion whose only group wins came at six furlongs, to a stallion whose two group wins came at five furlongs is not exactly the usual way of getting a 1½ mile classic winner. But when the stallions in question are Danehill and Pivotal, normal principals don’t always apply. Thus we have the 2010 Deutsches Derby (gr. I) hero, ...

The saying is that “great minds thing alike,” but sometimes, and especially with horses, there is more than one way to the same destination. We didn't have time or space to cover her in detail in our U.S. weekend round up, but one recent example is Pica Slew, who stamped herself as one of the leaders of the three-year-old filly sprint division by ...

Last year Gio Ponti put together a four-race win streak – all in grade I events – from spring through summer, that stamped him as one of the best around. Since then, however, the now five-year-old has been on a more frustrating streak. He ended the year with seconds in the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Invitational (gr. I) and Breeders’ Cup Classic (gr. ...

At Royal Ascot, Australian-bred Starspangledbanner captured the Golden Jubilee (gr. I), a contest that the Racing Post suggested was “arguably the classiest sprint ever run in this country” with 12 of the 24 starters having previously won group or grade I events. In the July Cup (gr. I), Starspangledbanner lined up against another top-class ...

Franny Freud has had very few slips in her career; in fact she has never been beaten sprinting on the dirt. In a six-race juvenile career, she won four races, including the Ontario Debutante Stakes, Lady Finger Stakes and Fifth Avenue Stakes, her only defeats coming when second in the My Dear Stakes on Woodbine’s all-weather, and off the board in ...