The quality of the Thoroughbreds bearing the colors of the late breeder and owner Paul Pompa, Jr., was very much in evidence in the year following his death about 1 1/2 years ago, as his stock was highly in demand at his estate dispersal and his young stallion Connect got his career off to a solid start. As the calendar has moved into 2022, the legacy has continued to grow.
2022 Kentucky Derby pedigree profile: Rattle N Roll
Shadwell Farm, in the process of a business review to streamline its global operations following the death of founder Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid al-Maktoum last March, announced that it will sell two farms in Central Kentucky.
European Horse of the Year Giant's Causeway, multiple times a leading sire in North America, accomplished much during his stud career, siring champions on multiple continents. However, one accomplishment he has yet to check off is siring the winner of an American classic race.
The consistent Shipsational, a statebred stakes winner who reaches for the brass ring in this weekend's Tampa Bay Derby, is from a family that has found success at a variety of pursuits.
Grade 1 winner and sire Get Stormy died on Sunday at Crestwood Farm in Lexington, Ky., from a suspected cardiac event. The son of Stormy Atlantic was 16.
Pioneerof the Nile died three years ago, at the age of 13, but in that relatively short life, he accomplished much. A Grade 1 winner at ages 2 and 3, Pioneerof the Nile delivered the sport's long-awaited Triple Crown winner, siring 2015 hero American Pharoah. Still represented on the track by his final crops, Pioneerof the Nile also left behind a bevy of sons to carry on his legacy. That was apparent on Saturday's busy day of racing nationwide, as Pioneerof the Nile and three of his sons recorded stakes winners, including capturing a pair of Kentucky Derby points races.
Un Ojo sprang a $152.80 upset in the Grade 2 Rebel Stakes last Saturday to earn his debut on the Derby Watch list. However, the New York-bred gelding is from a young sireline that has already had its share of classic success, and from a classy family that has produced several dirt route stakes winners.
Emblem Road, the $229 shock winner of the Group 1, $20 million Saudi Cup for local connections last Saturday, is the latest top level-winning grandson of the late champion Bernardini, who has left behind a powerful legacy as a broodmare sire.
The cross of Argentinian champion Candy Ride over European champion Giant's Causeway proved potent with Horse of the Year Gun Runner. Mixing the bloodlines of these stallions has continued to pay dividends, producing an American classic winner last year and a number of stakes-performing 3-year-olds already this year.
