MITOCHONDRIA THE MAKING OF SHANGHAI BOBBY?

  • Posted: January 30, 2019  by Alan Porter   -  
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When Shanghai Bobby retired to stand at Ashford Stud, Versailles, Kentucky for the 2014 breeding season, the hope was that he would become a prolific source of speedy and precocious dirt horses. At the time, that hope appeared to be an entirely reasonable one, given that he was an undefeated

ROYAL ASCOT – DAYS 4/5 – THE NEED FOR SPEED

  • Posted: June 22, 2016  by Alan Porter   -  
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Run for only the second time the six furlong Commonwealth Stakes (gr. I) for three-year-old sprinters fell to Quiet Reflection, who was winning for the sixth time in seven starts, all but one of those victories coming in black type company. Quiet Reflection is from the second crop of the

ROYAL ASCOT DAY 3 – CUP OF ST GEORGE

  • Posted: June 17, 2016  by Alan Porter   -  
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After a runaway win in the Irish St. Leger (gr. I) at three last year, Order of St George was given a World Racehorse Ranking that rated him among the best stayers of recent years. To justify such lofty consideration he really needed to win this year’s Ascot Gold Cup

ROYAL ASCOT DAY 2 – SCAT DADDY SCORES AGAIN

  • Posted: June 16, 2016  by Alan Porter   -  
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On Day 1 at Royal Ascot, Carvaggio, a son of Scat Daddy, scored an impressive victory in the Coventry Stakes (gr. II). Last year, Scat Daddy was represented by Royal Ascot juvenile group winner Acapulco, and before that there was No Nay Never. None of that trio, however, was as

NYQUIST AND THE PARADIGM SHIFT PART II – UNCLE MO & NYQUIST PEDIGREE PATTERNS

  • Posted: May 11, 2016  by Alan Porter   -  
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In part one of this post we looked at how Nyquist is an example of what we think is something of a paradigm shift with regard to the modern classic U.S. dirt horse. The industry is so much better at producing fast horses than true middle-distance runners, that more and

NYQUIST CONTINUES THE PARADIGM SHIFT?

  • Posted: May 10, 2016  by Alan Porter   -  
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Last year the running style of what were at the time three of leading candidates for the Kentucky Derby – American Pharoah, Firing Line and Dortmund, who ultimately took the first three places at Churchill Downs – caused us to consider whether we were seeing something of a change in

Cathryn Sophia Is The Boss In Kentucky Oaks

  • Posted: May 6, 2016  by Alan Porter   -  
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For a horse who was advertised to stand at just $12,500 in 2016, Street Boss has done commendably to sire at least one top-class horse in each of his first three Northern Hemispher crops. From his initial runners came the King’s Bishop Stakes (gr. I) scorer, Capo Bastone; Danza, who

TRIPLE CROWN FOR THE DEPUTY MINISTER LINE

  • Posted: May 4, 2016  by Alan Porter   -  
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Twice Leading Sire Deputy Minister – Champion in the U.S. and Horse of the Year in Canada at two – wasn’t a stallion generally associated with staying turf runners. He did, however get one of that kind in Go Deputy. Bred by Wertheimer et Frere, out of a Secretariat half-sister

MOSSMAN – EXTENDING THE ST. SIMON LINE

  • Posted: April 5, 2014  by Alan Porter   -  
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The Golden Slipper Stakes (gr. I) victory of Mossfun, gives us an excuse to post an article that we wrote about her sire, Mossman (who is having a career year) for Bluebloods magazine last month… The male line of the undefeated St. Simon – one of the greatest racehorses and sires

WILL TAKE CHARGE SHINES LIGHT ON FAPPIANO INBREEDING

Classic trials apart, in the U.S. the championship-defining contests for straight 3-year-olds are usually the three Triple Crown events plus the Haskell Invitational (gr. I) and the Travers Stakes (gr. I). Prior to the weekend, the first four events had taken place and had been won by four different horses: