BloodHorse.com

The last weekend in April saw two major international races in Hong Kong captured by U.S.-breds with extremely interesting - and well-connected - pedigrees. The Audemars Piguet Queen Elizabeth II Cup (HK-I) went to Archipenko, a son of Kingmambo and the Nijinsky II mare Bound (who was 20 years old when she foaled Archipenko). Bound is a sister ...

Former Kentucky governor Brereton Jones and his team at Airdrie Stud had a red-letter day at the Kentucky Oaks May 2. The day started particularly well when the improving Mr. Nightlinger, bred by Brereton Jones and by his thoroughly-proven sire Indian Charlie, proved too swift for the rest in the Aegon Turf Sprint S. (gr. III). A TrueNicks A ...

Galileo (IRE) is launching a strong bid to establish himself as the natural heir to his sire, the magnificent Sadler's Wells, and he has a very promising-looking filly in the shape of Leo's Starlet (IRE), who is now headed for the Prix de Diane-French Oaks (Fr-I) after an impressive win in the Prix Cleopatre (Fr-III) to start the month. A member ...

Sebring (AUS), a 2-year-old that this blog recognized very early on as potentially a top-class horse, went within inches of becoming the second horse in recent history to win the Australian juvenile Triple Crown when he was beaten just a head by the fast-finishing Samantha Miss (AUS) in the Champagne Stakes (Aus-I) on the weekend. While taking ...

Cold lies the heart of Thoroughbred racing following Eight Belles� untimely end after Kentucky Derby 134. The dark side of the toughest game in town showed itself once again on the national stage, this time in the nation�s biggest race. Even prior to her tragic ending as the shadows began to lengthen May 3, there seemed to be a ...

Big Brown's dominating Kentucky Derby (gr. I) win over the tragic heroine Eight Belles was so dominant, he almost literally took the other colts out of the picture, with third placed Denis of Cork, the next-nearest victim of the ''Brown Out,'' 8 1/4 lengths adrift. As stated in many publications, Big Brown's was an historic one, as he is the ...

With the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands mere days away, we thought it was worth giving TrueNicks a tryout on the leading contenders. TrueNicks came through its Derby Trial with flying colors. Of the top 24 contenders at time of writing, nine (37.5%) were A++; 17 (71%) were A or above; 21 (87.5%) were B+ or higher. Of the remaining three, ...