Homebred Departing carried the famed gold silks of Claiborne Farm to victory in the Grade 3 Illinois Derby Saturday at Hawthorne, becoming the latest graded stakes winner for the farm and partner Adele B. Dilschneider.
Grindstone showed his class in winning the 1996 Kentucky Derby, rallying in the final strides to prevail by a nose in what would be his final career start. He showed his class again on another Derby Day some 14 years later, when veterinarian Jack Root vanned the stallion from his Oakhurst Thoroughbreds in Newberg, Ore., to parade him before the crowd at Portland Meadows in Portland, Ore.
After edging up on the mark on Friday, Kentucky owner-breeders Ken and Sarah Ramsey wasted no time in breaking the record for wins by an owner at a Keeneland Race Course meet Saturday afternoon, sending out Scealeile to win the first race of the day, a maiden claiming event for fillies and mares.
The Lumber Guy and his connections claimed six awards, including the evening’s most coveted trophy, as the New York Thoroughbred Breeders honored its standout performers of 2012.
Ramsey Farm’s homebred stallion Talent Search was represented by his first winner from his first foal to race on Friday, when Hollywood Talent won a maiden race at Keeneland Race Course by 3 ½ lengths.
A full brother to 2010 Horse of the Year Zenyatta was foaled April 9 at Coolmore's Ashford Stud near Versailles, Ky. The Street Cry colt is out of the winning Kris S. mare Vertigineux, Kentucky's Broodmare of the Year in 2008. The mare was privately purchased by Coolmore from breeder Eric Kronfeld in the fall of 2008.
Popular theory in breeding suggests that the very best racemares struggle to duplicate their success as broodmares. So, we decided to look at a key race for 3-year-old fillies, the Kentucky Oaks, to evaluate that theory.
Leighton Farm of Upper Marlboro, Md., has announced that it will host a series of clinics focused on the re-training of former Thoroughbred racehorses for other disciplines.
The first show in the Thoroughbred Classic Horse Show Series will be held April 20-21 at Rancho Mission Viejo Riding Park in San Juan Capistrano, Calif.
Over the past decade, the Thoroughbred world has seen a number of successful sires die young. As detailed in the Feb. 9 issue of DRF Breeding, short-lived sires such as Saint Liam, Chester House, Lawyer Ron, and Dubai Millennium have made substantial contributions to the breed despite serving three seasons or less at stud. If the victory by Java’s War in the Grade 1 Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland on April 13 is any indication, we can add the name of his sire, War Pass, to that list of important, short-lived sires.
