Two-time Royal Ascot winner Caravaggio became the first Northern Hemisphere freshman sire of 2021 to record a winner, as his daughter Tenebrism won on debut at Naas in Ireland on Sunday.
Liam's Map, one of the accomplished runners in a stellar class of third-crop sires, showcased his versatility with a fantastic Saturday of three stakes winners at Gulfsteam Park.
Kentucky Derby pedigree profile: Greatest Honour
Larry Best, who buys, breeds, and races as OXO Equine, has been a Thoroughbred owner since 2017. In less than five years, he has raced a bevy of graded stakes winners, and is now drawing a bead on the Kentucky Oaks with one of those. He also will have a rooting interest in the Kentucky Derby, thanks to the progress of his broodmare band.
A quarter-century ago, America’s reigning Horse of the Year, Cigar, shipped halfway around the globe for a game victory in the then-$4 million Dubai World Cup, granting instant credibility to the race inaugurated in 1996.
Robert “Gus” Koch, the manager of Claiborne Farm during a golden age for the farm’s stallion business who commanded respect throughout Central Kentucky, died on Saturday at his home in Paris, Ky., of complications from cancer, according to his family. Koch was 74.
Kentucky Derby pedigree profile: Hot Rod Charlie
Amid a logjam atop the leaderboard at the under-tack preview show for the Ocala Breeders' Sales Co. March sale of 2-year-olds in training, reigning leading sire Into Mischief and his son Practical Joke emerged as stallions to watch at the year's juvenile market opener.
Kentucky Derby pedigree profile: Caddo River
Longtime horseman John Fernung died on March 5 in Ocala, Fla. He was 79. Fernung gained national prominence as the racing manager for multiple Eclipse Award-winning Lasater Stable. The operation was the leading money-winning stable in the country five years in a row and, during Fernung’s tenure, raced Grade 1 winners Honky Star, Hot N Nasty, and Royal Glint.
