Russell asks : Why are the ratings found in the Stallion Affinity Report not the same as the ratings obtained by running an individual mating? As an example, Storm Cat over Yonaguska gets a TrueNicks rating of A+ according to the sample affinity report shown for Storm Cat. I ran my Yonaguska mare, Bella...

Giant's Causeway ( TrueNicks , SRO ) celebrated his first Leading Sire crown in appropriate fashion, notching up his twenty-third stakes winner of the year when Tiger’s Rock captured the Gallant Fox Handicap at Aqueduct on December 31. This was the first stakes win for the three-year-old, who is out...

One of the key parts of the TrueNicks calculation is that it does not calculate a nick based on stakes winners being produced out of the same mare. As good a mare that Cee's Song is, her results are effectively counted as one effort on the calculation of Relaunch with Seattle Song mares for example....

We must admit, we did a double-take when we saw the pedigree line for the Malibu Stakes (gr. I) winner, M One Rifle, as the name of his sire, One Man Army, rang absolutely no bells whatsoever. It turns out that we weren’t having a senior moment, as One Man Army has very much been flying under the radar...

There was a 'lucky' ending to the last major two-year-old contests of the year with Looking At Lucky taking the Cashcall Futurity (gr. I) and Blind Luck the Hollywood Starlet Stakes (gr. I). Lookin At Lucky is a son of Smart Strike ( TrueNicks , SRO ) , who won’t repeat his Leading Sire titles of 2007...

We were interested to note the victory of Apapane in the Hanshin Juvenile Fillies (gr. I), the most important contest for two-year-old females in Japan. The race has been won in recent years by such stars as Buena Vista and Vodka, and Apapane was scoring for the third straight time in four starts. Apapane...

Out of the Silver Deputy mare, Silvery Swan, El Corredor ( TrueNicks , SRO ) (by Mr. Greeley ( TrueNicks , SRO )) was the second grade I winner inbred to Mr. Prospector when he took the 2000 edition of the Cigar Mile (gr. I). He was also the first notable runner with such inbreeding to retire to stud...

We’re very used to two-year-old descendents of Sadler’s Wells showing their classic credentials in major races towards the end of the European racing season. For example, Sadler’s Wells’ son, Montjeu, has recently been represented by St. Nicholas Abbey, Jan Vermeer and Joshua Tree, winners respectively...

Kim asks : I did a TrueNick with Bertrando and Benson's Girl (by Buddha) and it said no rating. What does that mean? Alan's response: Thank you for the inquiry. For TrueNicks to compute a rating there must be either two stakes winners bred on the cross, or 15 starters. If there are insufficient stakes...

It might seem hard to believe, but only a handful of years ago, Sadler's Wells' legacy as far as the extension of his male-line appeared to be in severe doubt. That is no longer the case, and we were treated to a number of reminders of over the weekend. Sadler's Wells' son, High Chaparral has been rather...