The male line of the immortal Northern Dancer has dominated international breeding for more than three decades, but the distribution of winners by sire line of the first six Northern Hemisphere classics of 2013 has been more even than in recent years.
It’s the stuff of nightmares for any trainer: A horse grabs a bite of poppy-seed bagel, a batch of bedding straw contains a little jimsonweed, or a new feed supplement turns out to be loaded with caffeine even though that’s not on the label, and the trainer ends up with a positive drug test.
When Orb won the 139th Kentucky Derby, he became the first classic winner for his sire, the 16-year-old Spendthrift Farm stallion Malibu Moon, and the colt’s emphatic score adds more luster to A.P. Indy, whose influence on contemporary Thoroughbred racing and breeding continues to grow.
International racing and breeding operation Coolmore has privately purchased three-time Australian Group 1 winner Sea Siren and will add her to its broodmare band, Racing Post reports.
Lethal Leta, a stakes winner, graded stakes producer, and member of the Idaho Racing Hall of Fame, was euthanized May 7 due to foaling complications.
The Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance has accredited its first three aftercare organizations for 2013: Florida Thoroughbred Retirement and Adoptive Care in Palm City, Fla.; New Vocations in Marysville, Ohio; and Southern California Thoroughbred Rescue in Norco, Calif. These facilities are now eligible to receive financial support from the TAA for the ongoing care of retired Thoroughbreds.
With all eyes squarely focused on Churchill Downs last Friday and Saturday, a talented and tested colt from one of Thoroughbred racing’s most esteemed families emerged to capture the 139th Kentucky Derby with a powerful stretch run. One day earlier, an unheralded filly from one of the game’s self-proclaimed “little guys” unleashed a similarly effective late move to score an upset win in the Kentucky Oaks.
Multiple Grade 1 winner Jackson Bend, who was scheduled to enter stud this year but had his breeding career put on hold due to lingering discomfort from an injury suffered last summer, has returned to training.
All Too Hard, the four-time Australian Group 1 winner who is a half-brother to Horse of the Year Black Caviar, has retired from racing, according to Australian news reports.
Nehro, runner up in the 2011 Kentucky Derby, died of colic Saturday morning.
