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If you want to catch up with Ted Bassett, you have to move at a brisk trot. The former Keeneland Association chairman, now trustee emeritus at age 91, has a full schedule, starting with an important morning ritual: feeding the family pets at Lanark Farm, the Midway, Ky., property that Bassett’s wife, Lucy, inherited from her father in 1983.
Artificial racing surfaces at North American racetracks trace to 1966, when Tropical Park in Dade County, Fla., introduced a rubberized surface called “Tartan Turf,” developed by Hall of Fame trainer John Nerud and Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Co. (3M), whose chairman, William L. McKnight, owned Tartan Farm.
When the first major racetracks began converting their dirt main tracks to synthetic surfaces in the mid-2000s, it added a new element to the sport. While it seemed as if synthetic was just a substitute for dirt, that was not the case, as all observers of racing quickly found out, and it put every stallion in North America at the same starting point: Who would be a good sire of runners on synthetic surfaces?
The best all-around American sire of the first decade of the 21st century, especially on dirt, was 1992 Santa Anita Derby winner A.P. Indy. His success raises an interesting question: Is A.P. Indy’s success as a sire typical of Santa Anita Derby winners or the exception?
Hill ‘n’ Dale Farms stallion Midnight Lute might have made his name on the racetrack as a top sprinter, but his first crop is swiftly remaking his reputation this spring as one of the most promising young sires of middle-distance runners in North America.
Davidson’s Tracks-N-Time in Midland, Mich. has added new sire Zulu Magic to its stallion roster for 2013.
Multiple Group 1 winner Bushranger was represented by his first winner on Wednesday in England, when his daughter Outback Lover won a maiden race at Wolverhampton.
European Horse of the Year Frankel, currently standing his first season at Juddmonte Farms' Banstead Manor Stud near Newmarket, England, will be available later this year to cover a limited number of mares on Southern Hemisphere time.
The Maryland Horse Breeders Association has honored Not For Love as its stallion of the year; Poised to Pounce as its broodmare of the year; and Tom and Chris Bowman as breeders of the year.
Nearly six weeks after undergoing abdominal surgery following foaling complications, 2009 Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra returned home to Stonestreet Farm in Lexington, Ky., on Tuesday to continue her recovery.
