Sun, 03/28/2021 - 12:34

Music Note delivers half-brother to Mystic Guide

Barbara D. Livingston
Music Note, who won 7 of 12 starts for Goldolphin, has produced four winners from five starters.

The international Godolphin operation enjoyed an outstanding day with multiple stakes winners on Saturday, highlighted by homebred Mystic Guide's dominant victory in the Group 1, $12 million Dubai World Cup. In a fitting note, Godolphin welcomed a new arrival earlier in the day, as that runner's dam, multiple Grade 1 winner Music Note, delivered a Medaglia d'Oro colt in Kentucky, just hours before her son's smashing performance.

Sun, 03/28/2021 - 12:27

Caravaggio has first winner, in Ireland

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.

Tenebrism, who is trained by Aidan O'Brien for Coolmore, Westerberg, and Merriebelle Stables, won by 3 3/4 lengths going five furlongs on the turf. The filly is out of the British champion and multiple Group 1 winner Immortal Verse.

Sun, 03/28/2021 - 12:17

Sire Liam's Map has great day of three stakes winners at Gulfstream

Barbara D. Livingston
Liam's Map, fifth after the first six furlongs, rallies under Javier Castellano to win the final race of his career in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile.

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.

The stallion's daughter Crazy Beautiful punched her ticket to the Kentucky Oaks with a breakthrough victory in the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Oaks.

Elsewhere on the card, Churn N Burn won the Grade 2 Pan American Stakes at 1 1/2 miles on turf, and Basin took the Sir Shackleton Stakes at seven furlongs on dirt.

Wed, 03/24/2021 - 12:20

Kentucky Derby pedigree profile: Greatest Honour

Lauren King/Coglianese Photos
Greatest Honour has stamina influences on both sides of his family tree and should not have any distance problems during the Triple Crown.

Greatest Honour

Tapit – Tiffany’s Honour, by Street Cry

Bred in Kentucky by Courtlandt Farm

 

Greatest Honour, who is seeking his third consecutive graded stakes win at Gulfstream Park in Saturday’s Grade 1 Florida Derby, has established himself as a standout contender for the Kentucky Derby. He has a pedigree suited to the 1 1/4-mile Derby – but perhaps even more tailor-made for the 1 1/2-mile Belmont Stakes.

Mon, 03/22/2021 - 13:16

Best has rooting interests in the Kentucky Derby and Oaks

Amanda Hodges Weir/Hodges Photography
Travel Column romps in the Fair Grounds Oaks. She is a leading contender for the Kentucky Oaks.

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.

Sun, 03/21/2021 - 12:48

Cigar began string of stallion misadventures for Dubai World Cup winners

Andrew Watkins/Dubai Racing Club
Curlin wins the 2008 Dubai World Cup at Nad Al Sheba. The two-time Horse of the Year has had a successful second career as a stallion, siring 12 Grade 1 winners and multiple champions.

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.

Sat, 03/20/2021 - 21:44

Gus Koch, legendary Claiborne Farm manager, dead at 74

Barbara D. Livingston
Gus Koch with the Hall of Famer Personal Ensign, one of the many Thoroughbred greats raised on Claiborne Farm during Koch's tenure.

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- 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.

Wed, 03/17/2021 - 11:06

Kentucky Derby pedigree profile: Hot Rod Charlie

Barbara D. Livingston
Hot Rod Charlie, a shocking second at 94-1 in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile, makes his first start since then in the Robert Lewis.

Hot Rod Charlie

Oxbow–Indian Miss, by Indian Charlie

Bred in Kentucky by Edward A. Cox Jr. ($17,000 Fasig-Tipton February short yearling purchase by Erickson Equine; $110,000 Fasig-Tipton October yearling purchase by Dennis O’Neill)

:: DRF BREEDING LIVE: Real-time coverage of breeding and sales

Sun, 03/14/2021 - 12:16

Sires Into Mischief, Practical Joke bear watching at upcoming sale

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.

Wed, 03/10/2021 - 12:30

Kentucky Derby pedigree profile: Caddo River

Coady Photography
Caddo River's sire and dam were hard-knocking horses who were successful around two turns.

Caddo River

Hard Spun – Pangburn, by Congrats

Bred in Kentucky by Shortleaf Stable

 

Caddo River, who is continuing along Oaklawn Park’s Kentucky Derby prep series, comes from a family with a history of success. Both his sire and dam were hard-knocking racehorses, and there is proven two-turn ability on both those sides of the family.