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At the end of 2011, the French-based sire Turtle Bowl drew some attention to himself when his son French Fifteen took the Criterium International (gr. I) to propel Turtle Bowl to a position as leading freshman sire and leading sire of 2-year-olds in France. Promising as that start was, it is the events of the last two weekends that have made it ...

In the 2005 Kentucky Derby (gr. I), Flower Alley (TrueNicks,SRO) was making very promising forward progress when his momentum was halted by the imploding front-runner Spanish Chestnut. Winner of the Lane's End Stakes (gr. II) and runner-up to Afleet Alex (TrueNicks,SRO) in the Arkansas Derby (gr. II) going into the race, Flower Alley was unable to ...

Run a few hours before the Kentucky Derby (gr. I), the first English classic, the 2,000 Guineas (gr. I) saw Camelot pay tribute to his late sire, Montjeu. One of the most important sons of Sadler's Wells both as a runner and a sire, Montjeu captured six group one events, including the French Derby (gr. I), Irish Derby (gr. I), Prix de l'Arc de ...

One of the most surprising twists in the build-up to the Kentucky Derby (gr. I) was the declaration of Trinniberg. It's not that Trinninberg hasn't shown a considerable level of talent—in his last two starts he's won graded stakes by six lengths and three lengths, and earlier he'd come within three-quarters of a length of winning a grade I—and ...

According owner Rick Porter, recently-retired Havre de Grace is currently for sale, and she could be offered at a broodmare sale this fall. Given that Royal Delta, the champion 3-year-old filly of 2011 realized $8.5 million at last year's Keeneland November Sale, we should expect fireworks if Havre de Grace—Horse of the Year and champion older ...

In his first crop, sired at a relatively modest fee of $10,000, Broken Vow (TrueNicks,SRO) came up with a very promising colt in Private Vow. Winner of the Futurity Stakes (gr. II) and Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (gr. II), Private Vow might also have gone close in the Breeders' Cup Futurity (gr. I) had a rein not broken in the straight. A leading ...

The most recent weekend saw another pair of grade I Kentucky Derby (gr. I) preps, with the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct and the Santa Anita Derby on the West Coast. In New York, two of the leading Derby hopefuls, Gemologist and Alpha, had to finish in the first two to be certain of having sufficient graded earnings to make the field. In the event, ...

The most recent weekend saw two Kentucky Derby (gr. I) preps with $1 million purses, and both resulted in upsets. The Florida Derby (gr. I, video) seeing longtime Derby favorite Union Rags and the well-regarded El Padrino finish third and fourth, respectively, behind gate-to-wire scorer Take Charge Indy. The Louisiana Derby (gr. II, video) fell to ...

Last week was a very tough one for the mighty Coolmore/Ashford stallion operation. On March 29 came the news that Montjeu had died in Ireland at the age of 16 after a short illness caused by septicemia, an infection in the bloodstream. Just two days later at Ashford, 17-year-old Grand Slam, who had been enjoying an excellent start to 2012, died as ...

Easter may be a holiday, but it’s also a time of intense activity in the Australian Thoroughbred industry, especially in Sydney. The BWM Sydney Carnival runs from March 24 to April 28 at Royal Randwick and Rosehill Gardens, and features the world’s richest 2-year-old race, the A$3.5 million AMI Golden Slipper (gr. I)—contested on Easter ...