Country House Lookin At Lucky - Quake Lake, by War Chant

Bred in Kentucky by J.V. Shields, Jr.

The broodmare Tanca recorded a rarity on Saturday at Laurel Park, with two of her offspring winning $100,000 stakes races in the span of about an hour. Tanca, a Robert Manfuso and Katy Voss homebred, was first represented by Cordmaker, who won the Harrison E. Johnson Memorial. Shortly afterward, Las Setas won the Beyond the Wire Stakes.

Pioneerof the Nile, sire of Triple Crown winner American Pharoah, died unexpectedly on Monday, WinStar Farm has announced. The son of Empire Maker was 13.

In a release, WinStar said that Pioneerof the Nile covered a mare on Monday morning, but began acting uncomfortably after he was back in his stall. He was en route to a veterinary clinic when he died.

Take Charge Lady raced once at Oaklawn Park, finishing second by a head to Horse of the Year Azeri in the Grade 1 Apple Blossom Handicap in 2003. But Take Charge Lady was a big winner last Saturday at the Hot Springs, Ark., track, as the common thread between the winners of the two divisions of the Grade 2 Rebel Stakes.

The Big Beast, a Grade 1-winning sprinter, may have passed his speed on to his progeny. Several juveniles from his first crop stood out at last week’s under-tack preview show for the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co.’s March sale.

One of those fillies then stepped up to sell for $850,000 to West Point Thoroughbreds and partners, tying for the top price by a freshman sire and for the fourth-highest price of the sale.

Palace Malice showed stamina, emerging from consistent classic sire Curlin’s first crop to win the 2013 Belmont Stakes. One year later, he showed brilliance, cutting back to the one-turn mile at Belmont Park to defeat Goldencents in the Metropolitan Handicap, considered a stallion-making race.

Improbable
City Zip–Rare Event, by A.P. Indy
Bred in Kentucky by St. George Farm and G. Watts Humphrey Jr. ($110,000 Keeneland November weanling purchase by Taylor Made Sales; $200,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase by Maverick Racing and China Horse Club)

Imperial Hint was honored as the Florida-bred Horse of the Year and World of Trouble took home special recognition from Daily Racing Form as the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners Association recognized its champions at an annual awards banquet Monday night in Ocala, Fla.

While unbeaten Triple Crown winner Justify, the globe-trotting Grade 1 winner Mendelssohn, and other stakes competitors by the late Scat Daddy have entered stud this season, the well-traveled No Nay Never is already burnishing their sire’s legacy.

Breeders have reported the first mares in foal to unbeaten Triple Crown winner Justify, who began his stud career last month at Coolmore’s Ashford Stud in Kentucky.