SEBRING ON TRACK FOR STARDOM

One of the most interesting developments of the current Australian breeding seasons has been the rapid progress of second season sire, Sebring. A son of More Than Ready (two-time Leading Sire of Two-Year-Olds in Australia, and also winner of that title in the U.S.), Sebring won five of six starts

STRANGE DAYS INDEED

We we’re pretty sure that John Lennon didn’t have Kentucky Derby trials in mind when he penned the chorus of “Nobody Told Me” but, “strange days indeed” was our immediate reaction to the results of the Arkansas Derby (gr. I) and Blue Grass Stakes (gr. I) on Saturday. After all,

MOSSMAN – EXTENDING THE ST. SIMON LINE

  • by Alan Porter  on April 5, 2014  -  
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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

Dubai World Cup winner pedigrees: a brief look

The Dubai World Cup (gr. I) went to African Story, a seven-year-old who had enjoyed a previous incarnation as a high-class sprinter/miler in Europe, but who had no trouble seeing out the ten furlongs here. TrueNicks rated A+, African Story is by veteran sire, Pivotal, a top-class sprinting grandson of

Freshman Sires At the William Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sales

  • by Alan Porter  on April 3, 2014  -  
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With the William Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale (from April 8-10) just over the horizon, it’s worth a look at the very eclectic mix of stallions that will be represented here by their first yearlings. It’s an unusually mixed bag, including Northern Hemisphere shuttlers, both proven and unproven in their

Leading European Sires: Galileo dominates

  • by Alan Porter  on March 19, 2014  -  
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For 13 straight years, from 1992 to 2004, the title of leading sire in England and Ireland fell to Sadler’s Wells. The next three years saw another great stallion, Danehill, rule the roost. Sadler’s Wells’ son Galileo took the title in 2008, followed by Danehill’s son Danehill Dancer the following

TALE OF TWO FILLIES

  • by Alan Porter  on October 7, 2013  -  
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The Wertheimer family first won the Prix Marcel Boussac (gr. I) – France’s premier race for juvenile fillies – with Jacques Wertheimer’s Gold Splash in 1992. The brothers Alain and Gerard Wertheimer, racing as Wertheimer et Frere took their first edition of the race with Juvenia in 1998. They repeated

Complacent About The Rasmussen Factor?

We’d have to admit, we’ve never taken too seriously the idea that the “The Rasmussen Factor” – inbreeding to superior females within five generation through different individuals – was a direct causal influence for upgrading racing performance. In fact at the generational distances usually found in thoroughbred pedigrees, it’s unlikely

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: