Prominent owner/breeder J. Mack Robinson died Feb. 7 following complications due to Alzheimer’s disease. He was 90.
The Atlanta, Ga.-based businessman’s most notable runner was Lucky Roberto, who Robinson purchased as a 2-year-old for $100,000 in 1998. Later that year, Lucky Roberto won the Grade 1 Hopeful Stakes.
Other notable runners raced or bred by Robinson include Grade 3 winners Crash Course, Cherokee Queen, and Race Artist, as well as stakes winners Cherokee Artist, Indian Legend.
Two of the most eagerly-anticipated foals of 2014 arrived over the weekend, as Horse of the Year Havre de Grace and Kentucky Oaks winner Plum Pretty each produced their first foals.
Plum Pretty delivered a colt by Distorted Humor the night of Feb. 6. Havre de Grace delivered a filly by Tapit shortly after midnight on Feb. 7. Both mares are boarded at Timber Town Farm near Lexington, Ky., for owner Mandy Pope. According to Wayne Sweezey, who owns Timber Town with his wife, Cathy, both foalings went smoothly.
Michigan’s Thoroughbred, Quarter Horse, and Arabian horsemen’s groups announced their year-end awards for the 2013 racing season.
The Michigan Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association (MTOBA) revealed its divisional winners on its website, while the Great Lakes Quarter Horse Association (GLQHA) and Association of Racing Arabian Breeders (A.R.A.B.) of Michigan held a joint year-end dinner on Jan. 18 at Yankee Springs Golf Course in Wayland, Mich.
All three breeds raced at mid-Michigan mixed breed track Mount Pleasant Meadows in 2013.
A barn fire at Spooky Hollow Racing Farm near Georgetown, Ky., killed eight horses on the morning of Feb. 9. According to reports by BloodHorse and Lexington, Ky., television stations, seven of the eight horses lost were Thoroughbreds.
The cause of the fire is pending investigation of the property, which is also home to Equine Integrated Medicine veterinary clinic. The facilities are operated by Dr. Clara Fenger and trainer John Langemeier.
As the stud career of the late, great Storm Cat began to wind down in the early 2000s, the Kentucky breeding industry needed a successor as the designated young sire of sires. The obvious choice seemed to be Unbridled’s Song, who had begun his stud career brilliantly, with Breeders’ Cup Distaff winner Unbridled Elaine, Grade 1 winner Songandaprayer, and multiple Grade 2 winner Even the Score in his first crop and Grade 1 winner Buddha in his second.
The frigid temperatures that have blanketed the East for the better part of the new year swept in at a busy time for the Central Kentucky Thoroughbred community, with new foals arriving daily and several major mixed sales falling early in the year. Although the basic principles of horse care remain unchanged, extra attention must be paid to a few details during the winter months to ensure good health.
Adena Springs in Paris, Ky., will host an open house to coincide with the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky winter mixed sale, Feb. 8 and 9.
The operation's stallions will be shown from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Eastern each day, and food will be served.
New to Adena's stallion roster this year are 2012 Breeders' Cup Classic winner Fort Larned and multiple Grade 1 winner Point of Entry. The returning roster is highlighted by classic sire Awesome Again.
New Zealand reported its first confirmed case of the neurological form of equine herpesvirus, also known as EHV-1, Horsetalk New Zealand reports.
The virus was discovered at a stud farm in the Waikato region on the country’s northern island. New Zealand’s Ministry of Primary Industries announced on Wednesday that seven horses on the farm had been euthanized due to the illness.
An additional six horses on the farm had been diagnosed with EHV-1, but are receiving treatment. No new cases have been reported since Feb. 2.
Bob Lombardini, president of the national and Michigan chapters of the Communication Alliance to Network Thoroughbred Ex-Racehorses (CANTER) died Jan. 28. He was 63.
Lombardini was key in helping establish CANTER as a national organization, and one of the most recognizable resources in finding new homes and careers for retired racehorses.
Equine photographer Joy Gilbert died Monday, Feb. 3, at the University of Kentucky Hospital in Lexington after a lengthy illness. She was 54.
Gilbert, a resident of Nicholasville, Ky., was best known for her stallion conformation photography for several Central Kentucky farms, as well as photos of young horses, mares, and scenic shots.
