LEXINGTON, Ky. - Storm Boot, sire of such graded winners as millionaire Bourbon Belle and Grade 1-placed Hurricane Bertie, was euthanized Thursday at Hagyard Equine Medical Institute here at age 18. A Crestwood Farm stallion, Storm Boot had developed laminitis as a complication of chronic degenerative tendonitis.
A son of Storm Cat, Storm Boot had covered about 40 mares from a 60-mare book, according to Robert Keck, Crestwood's bloodstock and pedigree consultant.
Flying First Class will be a longshot in Saturday's $1 million Preakness Stakes at Pimlico. Considering the injuries that his sire and dam have overcome in recent years, it is a wonder that Flying First Class even exists to run in a classic race.
A California-bred, Flying First Class represents the first Preakness starter for California owner and breeder Bud Johnston, who owns Old English Rancho in Sanger.
Even Johnston admits that getting to the Preakness with a colt by the stallion Perfect Mandate out of the broodmare Flying in Style is just short of an equine miracle.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - The victory of Street Sense in the Kentucky Derby brought cheers at Churchill Downs, as well as 90 miles away at Jonabell Farm, where the Kentucky Derby winner's sire, Street Cry, stands at stud. Jonabell is the Kentucky stallion station of Sheikh Mohammed's international breeding enterprise, Darley.
Four generations of William Sorokolit's Canadian breeding program reached the summit on Kentucky Derby Day at Churchill Downs when his turf horse Sky Conqueror won the Grade 1 Woodford Reserve Handicap.
It was 30 years ago that Irish Intrigue, Sky Conqueror's third dam, was foaled. The Irish Castle filly was bought by renowned veterinarian George Badame for Sorokolit but she never made it to the races.
Cormorant, who died on May 4 of old age at age 33 at Jerry Bilinski's Waldorf Farm in North Chatham, N.Y., was one of the great New York sires of the modern era.
Cormorant was the sire of Kentucky Derby winner Go for Gin.
He was a top runner in his racing days, winning the Grade 1 Jersey Derby , Grade 2 Gotham Stakes, and Grade 3 Bay Shore Stakes.
Cormorant also sired Eclipse Award champion 3-year-old filly Saratoga Dew, winner of the New York Oaks, Gazelle, and Beldame.
You can't get smaller than a one-broodmare breeding operation, but that's all that Gerry Theisen owns these days. Her lone broodmare, Frosty Cupcake, by Top Account, is the dam of Imawildandcrazyguy, the gray or roan colt who proved best of the Florida-breds when he rallied from last place and another time zone to finish fourth in last week's Kentucky Derby.
"We kept looking for him," said Theisen, "but we couldn't find him until almost at the end." She was at home in Ocala, Fla., watching the race courtesy of NBC.
With the reversal of a stewards' decision regarding last year's Top Flight Handicap, New York-bred Rahys' Appeal has officially become a graded stakes winner.
The Gallagher's Stud homebred finished first by three lengths in the Grade 2 Top Flight at Aqueduct on Nov. 24, 2006. However, her jockey, Alan Garcia, inadvertently struck second-place finisher Malibu Mint in the face with his whip, causing the stewards to reverse the order of finish.
The New York State Racing and Wagering Board overturned the stewards' decision at its monthly meeting in April.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - The excitement surrounding the stakes double for owner Warren Williamson and trainer Carla Gaines on the California Gold Rush program April 29 at Hollywood Park turned out to be short-lived.
Earlier this week, Tiz Elemental, winner of the $200,000 Melair Stakes for 3-year-old fillies on the Gold Rush program, was found to have a bone chip in a knee, Gaines said. The injury is expected to keep Tiz Elemental out of training until late fall.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - With a length victory in the Westchester Handicap on Wednesday, the Japanese-bred Utopia stamped his passport with another mark of international success. In the Westchester, the 7-year-old horse defeated major winners Sun King, Evening Attire, and Happy Hunting, and is likely to contest some of the principal stakes at about a mile this season prior to a foreseeable retirement to stud next year.