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California's ''secret-weapon'' Unusual Heat was represented by another good winner in the shape of the Las Virgenes Stakes (gr. I) heroine, Golden Doc A. A sister to the Hollywood Turf Express Handicap (gr. III) winner Unusual Suspect, Golden Doc A is out of the New Zealand-bred Penpont, a daughter of Crested Wave (by Fred Hooper's star Crozier). ...

One of these years it's gonna happen. And it's gonna be sooner than later. The law of averages says so. What am I talking about? The Kentucky Derby drought that has followed three of the best trainers in the world - Bill Mott, Todd Pletcher and Steve Asmussen. Though between them they have more than $420 million in purse money and ...

Even the most forgiving critic would have to agree that the iron horse Giant’s Causeway has proven a disappointment in his stud career in Australia. Serving some outstanding matrons at his base at Coolmore Australia, his four seasons at stud there resulted in 256 foals of racing age for just 6 stakes winners to date, a far cry from his ...

While most second-season colts with classic hopes are just taking their first steps on the Triple Crown Trail, one possible candidate is already a Derby winner. That horse is the remarkable Tomcito. A $7,500 Keeneland September yearling purchase, Tomcito was shipped to Peru where, despite being up to six months younger than his Southern Hemisphere ...

It's a couple of weeks before your favorite sale, and the catalog has just arrived in your mailbox. You sit down to take a first look through the book, flipping open to the first hip. Quick: What jumps out? Where did your eyes immediately focus? For most of us, the answer reveals a lot about our real passions in the Thoroughbred ...

We were recently investigating the pedigree of the up-and-coming juvenile Vincent Mangano (NZ), who is by No Excuse Needed (GB) (by Machiavellian) out of a mare by Housebuster. Based on the Machiavellian/Blushing Groom (FR) cross, this resulted in a TrueNicks rating of D. Out of curiosity, we looked at the mating on another nicking system and ...

As I made my way out to Keeneland to bet Pool 1 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager Feb. 10, I couldn't help but think about what a guilty pleasure it is. In between thoughts of cashing a huge ticket on May 3, I tried to fight off all the reasons why I should not ''waste'' money on this ultimate longshot of a wager. Buying diapers and ...

A few days ago we answered a a query about the Dynaformer/Mr. Prospector cross. The crux of the question was why a mating of a son of Dynaformer with a Mr. Prospector-line mare would rate differently (in this case higher) than Dynaformer himself with the same mares. Our answer was that overall, Dynaformer (TrueNicks, SRO) and his stallion sons had ...

On a weekend which saw 85% of the stakes winners scoring B or above TrueNicks scores, there were several interesting pedigrees last week that are worth a quick mention. The Santa Monica Handicap (gr. I) was won by Intangaroo (by Orientate out of a mare by the Fappiano stallion Tasso), who followed 2007 Alabama Stakes (gr. I) heroine Lady Joanne ...

[image url=''http://cdn.bloodhorse.com/images/content/dmetzger_large.jpg'']Dan Metzger[/image] Dan Metzger was appointed president of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association (TOBA) in July 1999. Based in Lexington, Ky., TOBA was formed in 1961 and is a national trade organization for Thoroughbred owners and breeders. TOBA's mission is ...