More Than Ready Photo: Vinery Hindsight is always 20/20, but when the Vinery Stud stallion More Than Ready ( TrueNicks , SRO ) shuttled to Australia, he looked to be a ‘lock’ to suit mares by then-leading sire Danehill. Invariably within breeding populations, the next great sire establishes himself with...

Ron the Greek looked like a horse who could develop into a genuine classic prospect when closing late to take the 2010 renewal of the LeComte Stakes (gr. III) by 1½ lengths. At that point, the Florida-bred was a winner of three of his four starts, but rather surprisingly, it would take another 22 months...

Union Rags, who remained winter favorite for the Kentucky Derby (gr. I) despite a narrow loss to Hansen ( TrueNicks ) in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile (gr. I), made his keenly-awaited seasonal debut in the Fountain of Youth Stakes (gr. II, video ) at Gulfstream Park. The wait proved worthwhile, as Union...

Recent discussion of the pedigree of the Australian supermare Black Caviar focused some attention on Tom Fool, whose son Silly Season is doubled in Black Caviar’s pedigree. Since he was a foal of 1949, Tom Fool will now, to many, mean little more than a name that is found in the more distant removes...

2012 will be the first breeding season without A.P. Indy as an active stallion since he retired to Lane's End in 1993. Now 23 years old, the two-time leading sire was pensioned last April due to declining fertility. Sire of 1,119 foals and 142 stakes winners, A.P. Indy commanded a $300,000 stud fee for...

American Lion, a popular son of Tiznow entering stud in 2012 There was no doubt about Tiznow ( TrueNicks , SRO )’s quality as a racehorse. Horse of the Year and champion of his crop at 3, he earned honors a champion older male the following season. He won a quartet of grade I events, and certainly his...

Saint Ballado, 1989-2002 There was a moment when the Hail to Reason line through Halo threatened to establish itself as the “third force” in U.S. breeding (behind the inevitable Mr. Prospector and Northern Dancer). Of course we still have the ultra-consistent Southern Halo son More Than Ready ( TrueNicks...

Alan Porter's recent post on the Galileo/Danehill nick inspired some lively discussion in the comments section. One of our most outspoken and analytical community members, known by the handle sceptre , posed a very good set of questions that we thought we'd address here in a new blog. 1. Consider two...

The blazing fast colt Majesticperfection ( TrueNicks , SRO ) is now available on TrueNicks. He retires to Airdrie Stud for the 2011 breeding season. A son of Florida Derby (gr. I) winner Harlan's Holiday, Majesticperfection is out of the Wavering Monarch mare Act So Noble. Initially named Cruisinforabruisen...

The thrilling finish of the Breeder's Cup Classic (gr. I) saw Blame spoil the undefeated record of Zenyatta, and the supermare's storyline instantly became reminiscent of another champion—Seattle Slew. Like Zenyatta, Seattle Slew started his career undefeated. He won his first nine races, which included...