Breaking News! John Henry passes at 32

Today John Henry was euthanized at the Kentucky Horse Park, at the venerable age of 32. He was an amazing gelding who was only 15.1 hands, but a whole lot of champion. I have seen this gentleman at the Hall of Champions a few times, and was grateful for the experience.

He was foaled on March 9, 1975 at Golden Chance Farms, and was a "small, ugly, and bad-tempered" foal who was sold at Keeneland for $1,100. He was so naughty and destructive of his stall property that he was gelded and sold for $2,200. But then finally, he was purchased by his family, the Rubins, for $25,000 and sent to train with Ron McAnally who trained him with "carrots, apples and love!"

John Henry raced for 8 years, between 1977-1984, earning more than $6.5 million, and earning the Eclipse Horse of the Year Award twice! His final record was 83: 39-15-9. He earned 7 Eclipse Awards and voted Champion Older Horse. He was the oldest horse to win Horse of the Year at age 9, and oldest horse to win a Grade 1 race at the age of 9. He was the Champion Turf Horse in 1980, 1981, 1982, and 1984. He won 30 stakes races. And is the only horse to win the Arlington Million (G1) twice and the only horse to win the Santa Anita Handicap twice!! He has won more graded stakes than any other thoroughbred in history. Not surprisingly, he was voted Race Horse of the Decade for the 1980s. And is still the richest gelding of any breed in history! He was inducted into the National Museum and Racing Hall of Fame in 1990, and was voted #23 of the Top 100 race horses of the 20th century! When he retired in 1985, he was the highest money-earning American thoroughbred in history!

He was retired to the Kentucky Horse Park, along with his famous buddy, Cigar and has received his adoring public for 22 years! His family and close friends visited him often, with his trainer Ron McAnally and his exercise rider of 6 years visiting him just this past September. He was failing in health over the past few weeks, and took a bad turn over the weekend. He lost considerable weight and was in kidney failure. The KHP executive director, John Nicholson, said, "John Henry was a testament to the fact that a horse's value is far greater than the sum of his pedigree, conformation, sales price, and race record."

John Henry's dad has passed away, so a son said today that his mother and stepfather, Rubin, "loved sharing John's victories with his adoring fans and we appreciate their devotion even to this sad day. We are sure that if Sam Rubin were here today, he and my mother, Dorothy, would agree that their wish would be for John Henry to be rememberd as the mighty cantankerous champion we all loved."

My girls' share many relations with this champion, and I am sure that you can see that he and Hailee share their looks! Some of their shared family members are Princequillo, Bull Lea, Whisk Broom, Mahmoud, Blenheim, Mah Mahal, Blue Larkspur, Bubbling Over, Man 'O War, and Black Toney.

Here are photos of John with Bill Shoemaker up! Rest in peace, you honored creature!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Henry_(horse)
or
http://www.racingmuseum.org/hall/horse.asp?ID=93

Ta Wee and My Girls!!

Ta Wee was born in 1966 and became the Champion Sprinter of 1969 and 1970! Like Violet, she was born in Florida. And her sweet name, Ta Wee means "Beautiful Girl" in Sioux.

Her career record was 21: 15, 2, 1. And this accomplishment is staggering, given that she was expected to carry weights that never before had been assigned to a filly! When she was 3 years old, she won the Fall Highweight Handicap, carrying an unprecedented 130 pounds -- a first for a filly. Then the next year, she won the same race -- this time carrying 140 pounds!! She won the Interboro Handicap carrying 142 pounds!! And that was 29 pounds MORE than the second place horse, Hasty Hitter. She beat the boys, she beat the girls, and she was relentlessly expected to carry heavy weights! Lucky for her, it was in her genes. She and her half-brother, Dr. Fager, could carry giant huge weights and still sail ahead of everyone! For her efforts, she was voted #80 of the Top 100 Race Horses of the 20th century, and inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame in 1994.

She was a hard-working girl, and when she retired from racing, she had 6 children. Five of those children were track winners, and 4 were stakes winners. She even had a foal by Secretariat who was named Tweak!. She passed relatively young in 1980.

Of course, this champion, weight-carrying, formidable girl is related to both my sweet ponies! Some of their shared relatives include Bubbling Over, Discovery, Percentage, Better Self, Bimelech, and Bull Dog!

You can see video of her winning the 1970 Interboro Handicap while carrying 142 pounds at the following links!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWafPy3XBeM
or
http://www.championsgallery.com/ta_wee.htm
or
http://www.racingmuseum.org/hall/horse.asp?ID=149

Azeri and My Girls!

In 2002, Azeri earned the Eclipse Horse of the Year Award, the first filly since Lady's Secret. She also earned the Champion older female in 2002, 2003, and 2004. Her trainer, Laura de Seroux, was the first woman to train a Horse of the Year winner. The award ceremony that year included Tobey Maguire, Jeff Bridges, and Chris Cooper, as they were promoting Laura Hillenbrand's Seabiscuit. So, describing Azeri's grace on the track, Laura de Seroux accepted the award, saying "This is Azeri's Oscar." She said that her filly had all 3 elements of a champion -- class, brilliance and consistency. Laura de Seroux said, "Horse of the Year should be there all year. You did not elect her by default, but by the purest criteria." She was a heavy winner of the Eclipse of the Year Award, earning 189 of 228 votes, and all 227 votes for those who voted for Older female. That year, she had won 10 out of 11 starts and earned $2,227,740. For her entire racing career, she started 24: 17-4-0 for total earnings of $4,079,820. She's owned by the son of her breeder. Her breeder passed before ever seeing her run, so she is especially beloved by the son now. She retired and is boarded at Hill 'N Dale Farms where she was barren to Storm Cat in 2006, but delivered her first colt foal to A.P. Indy on February 14, 2007 -- Valentine's Day!!!! She's to be bred to Storm Cat again this year! Of course, my proud girls are related to her. They share many relatives including the following: Case Ace, Nasrullah, Teddy, Man o' War, Whisk Broom, Count Fleet, Bull Dog, Blue Larkspur, Bull Lea, War Relic, Hyperion, War Admiral, Traffic Court, and Bubbling Over! You can read more about this important filly at the following links:

http://www.drf.com/eclipse/2002/winners/winners.html

or

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azeri_(horse)

Violet, Hailee, Rags to Riches, 3 peas in a pod!

Here's a picture of Rags to Riches right after her historical win with her beautiful blanket of white carnations. Doesn't she look happy! Anyway, Rags, Violet, and Hailee share relatives. Rags to Riches' dad is A.P. Indy (who won the Belmont) and her mom is Better than Honour (who produced last year's Belmont Stakes winner, Jazil). So, apparently, Better than Honour deserves a special mother's day card, since she keeps producing Belmont-winning babies! You go, girl!! Rags to Riches also has the very special Secretariat and Seattle Slew in her tree. And what I think is very cool is that she has Busher, War Admiral's rockin' sockin' daughter. Now, here are some of the relatives my girls share with Rags: Blushing Groom, Bimelech, Nasrullah, Traffic Court, War Admiral, Baby League, Bubbling Over, and Equipoise, among many others. In fact, Violet can be proud that they share the same great-grandpa (Rags has Blushing Groom on the bottom, Violet has him on top). And Hailee can be super proud that they share Bubbling Over and Baby League! I am so proud to own a filly thoroughbred, and in the first year that Violet is part of my family, her close filly relative wins the Belmont in historical style. It's good to be part of the equine power girls!!!

Whisk Broom and my Girls!

My girls are related to the famous Whisk Broom II, born in 1907 to Broomstick and Audience. Audience was sired by the 1888 Belmont Stakes winner, Sir Dixon, and her dam was sired by Hindoo, a major stakes winner and Kentucky Derby winner. Whisk Broom was born at the Kentucky Horse Park, then called Senorita Farms, and was sent to England to race. In Great Britain, he won the Prince of Wales Plate, the Trial Stakes, Select Stakes, Peril of the Peak, Victoria Cup, and came third in the 2,000 Guineas. When he came to the United States, he raced only three times, but won the most difficult Triple Crown of Racing, the New York Handicap Triple Crown -- the Metropolitan, Suburban Handicap and Brooklyn Handicap. Only Tom Fool and Fit to Fight ever duplicated this amazing feat of winning the Handicap Triple Crown! In his last race ever, he carried a staggering 139 lbs to the second place horse's 112 lbs and still set a scorching track record!!! His final race record was 26: 10-7-1 for total earnings of $47.931. He won the 1913 U.S. Horse of the Year Award and U.S. Champion Handicap Horse of the Year, and the U.S. Handicap Triple Crown. In retirement, he sired 163 foals with 23 stakes winners for a stakes percentage of 16%. He was inducted into the National Museum and Racing Hall of Fame in 1979. Among his children, he sired Upset, the only horse to deliver Man 'O War a defeat. He also foaled the Kentucky Derby winner, Whiskery, and Whiskaway, as well as the Preakness winner, Victorian, who was the damsire of Seabiscuit. You can visit him in his family cemetary at C.V. Whitney Farm in Lexington, Kentucky. He is related to both Hailee and Violet. An obvious connection for Hailee is in her Bim-a-Nick line, where Whisk Broom produced the sire John P. Grier. This is a pretty interesting line -- Whisk Broom and Fair Play were the sires of horses crossed to produce Algeria who was bred to Bubbling Over to produce Airegla to be bred to Bimelech to produce Sir Bim. For Violet, you can see Whisk Broom in her Boodle line where his son John P. Grier is crossed with the famous mare Elf to produce Boojum. You can read more about the fabulous, tough, world-travelling, Triple Crown winning sweetheart at the following links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whisk_Broom_II

or

http://www.tbheritage.com/Portraits/Broomstick.html

or

http://www.tbheritage.com/TurfHallmarks/Graves/cem/GraveMattersWhitney.html

or

http://www.racingmuseum.org/hall/horse.asp?ID=160

or

http://www.spiletta.com/UTHOF/whisk.html

The Vengeful Busher and my girls!!!

Okay, so even this story seems just too over the top for me. My girls are heavily, heavily related to Busher, the #40 Top Race Horse of the 20th Century and 1945 Eclipse winner for U.S. Horse of the Year Award!!! Busher was born in 1942 to War Admiral and Baby League. So, she is heavily related to both my girls on both her sire and dam side, along all family chains. Remember that War Admiral is a Triple Crown winner, and Baby League is out of Bubbling Over, a Kentucky Derby winner, and La Troienne, one of the most influential broodmares in history! Thus, Hailee and Violet are so heavily related right away that there's really not much more to say! Anyway, Busher's race record was 21-15-3-1 for total earnings of $334,035. She was the 1944 Champion 2-year-old filly, and 1945 Horse of the Year and Champion 3-year-old filly. She is full sister to Striking, half-sister to Bimelech, and dam of Jet Action (her only foal of 5 who raced). Her mom, Baby League was the third foal of the most influential foundation mare of the 20th century, La Troienne. Busher was bred and born on Idle Hour Stock Farm where all the foals' names began with a "B." What's funny is that Colonel Edward R. Bradley (her owner) didn't want to breed Baby League to War Admiral because he considered the Triple Crown winner to hot-blooded. But someone reminded him that War Admiral looked lots like the great horse Sweep, so he relented. Many of Hailee and Violet's relatives were born and raised at Idle Hour Farm, including Black Toney, Blue Larkspur, and Burgoo King. Colonel Bradley sold Busher to Louis B. Mayer, the movie mogul, and she quickly made him richer under Hall of Fame Jockey, Johnny Longdon. Her racing colors were French Blue and Pink. What else that's cool? She regularly beat the boys. And, get this, on the odd occasion that she was beat, she always beat her competitor in another race. In fact, William H.P. Robertson, turf authority and historian wrote in his History of Thoroughbred Racing in America that "the salient attribute of War Admiral's little daughter was she always took revenge." Because of this macho cool hip suaveness, she was voted #40 of the Top 100 race horses of the 20th century, and was inducted into the National Museum and Racing Hall of Fame in 1964. She is among only a handful of fillies which earned the Eclipse Award. You go, girl! And you go, my sweet Hailee and Violet!!!! Busher died during foal birth in 1955. She bore 5 foals, Bush Pilot, Golden Heart, Jet Action, Miss Busher, and Popularity. Jet Action was her only baby boy! You can read more about this lovely lady at the following links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Busher_(horse)
or
http://www.racingmuseum.org/hall/horse.asp?ID=39

Nobiz like Shobiz wins the Wood Memorial!

The Derby contenders are starting to sort themselves out. This past Saturday, Nobiz like Shobiz won the $750,000 Wood Memorial by half a length and became the odds-on-favorite. Street Sense is currently the number 2 favorite. Cornelio Valasquez is his jockey and Barclay Tagg is his trainer. Tagg says that he's a great horse, but that sometimes he can be dumb and goofy. He has won 4 out of his 6 starts, and for the Wood Memorial wore blinkers for the first time and had his ears stuffed with cotton. Of this win, Tagg said that his main job is to keep Nobiz healthy for Derby day and that "These horses have to win these races themselves. I never get overly confident about anything. So many things can happen in a race." Now, here's the cool thing -- he is highly, closely related to my sweet Violet and Hailee. Of the many relatives they share, they include the following: Princequillo, Count Fleet, Blue Larkspur, Gay Crusader, Discovery, Teddy, Nasrullah, Hail to Reason, Sir Gallahad, Man 'o War, Hyperion, Tuder Minstrel, Sweep, Bull Dog, Bimelech, Black Helen, Case Ace, Better Self, Bull Lea, Eight Thirty, Broomstick, War Admiral, and Bubbling Over. You can read more about Nobiz at the following links (and also at the Kentucky Derby link!):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood_Memorial_Stakes

or

http://www.ntra.com/stats_bios.aspx?id=20881

or

http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN0728237120070407?feedType=RSS

Sweep and My Girls!

Both my girls are related to Sweep, son of Ben Brush and Pink Domino. He was born in 1907 and won the 1910 Belmont Stakes. He is cross-listed with the AQHA. His final record was 13-9-2-2, and in 1909 he was Champion 2-year-old and 1910 Champion 3-year-old. He is noted as being a great broodmare sire. He had 3 daughters who produced Kentucky Derby winners. Beaming Beauty produced Hailee's Bubbling Over, Brushup produced Violet's War Admiral, and Dustwhirl produced Whirlaway. Sweep is recognized for passing the big heart gene to his daughters. His grandson, War Admiral, is one of the four largest heart lines in today's pedigrees, along with Princequillo, Blue Larkspur, and Mahmoud. Notice that Violet is related to all four of those big-heart lines! In the photos, you see Sweep and his son War Admiral winning the Preakness Stakes! Hailee also has Sweep through his son Eternal.

Hailee's Bubbling Over

My girl, Hailee, is related to Bubbling Over, the 1926 Kentucky Derby Winner and sire to Burgoo King, also a Derby winner. In these photos you see both Bubbling Over and his son. Bubbling Over was blind when he won the Derby. He raced 13 times, won 10, placed twice, and showed 1. He won such races as the Nursery Handicap, Champagne Stakes, Blue Grass Stakes and placed at the Pimlico and Breeders Futurities. For Hailee, he was bred to Algeria who had lots of Fair Play and Whisk Broom. Their daughter, Airegla was bred to Bimelech, the winner of both the Preakness and Belmont Stakes, and son of Black Toney, a very famous sire. Hailee has a family cemetary at Darby Dan Farms in Lexington, Kentucky. You can read more about Bubbling Over at:

http://www.tbheritage.com/TurfHallmarks/Graves/cem/GraveMattersDarbyDan.html

or

http://www.kentuckyderby.com/2002/derby_history/derby_charts/years/1926.html

or

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,751479-1,00.html

La Troienne -- Hailee and Violet's "Blue Hen"

Hailee and Violet are very proud to have La Troienne in their family tree -- a 20th century "Blue Hen." A Blue Hen is a mare who produces nothing but the best characteristics and nothing but winners!! La Troienne was born in France and imported to the United States. She was not impressive on the race track, but has left an indelible mark on Thoroughbred history as one of the most influential broodmares of all time. She was imported to Idle Hour Stock Farm and bore 15 foals, 12 of which raced, and 10 of which were winners. Her first daughter, Black Helen, was a super-charged race horse who out of 22 starts, won 15 times. She was so powerful as a race horse that Black Helen routinely won against fields of colts. She was declared the U.S. champion 3-year-0ld racing filly. The only colt she could not beat was Omaha, the Triple Crown winner. She was inducted into the National Museum and Racing Hall of Fame.

La Troienne produced many, many famous descendents, including Go for Gin and Buckpasser. She produced many broodmares-of-the-year.

Hailee has an impressive connection to La Troienne. La Troienne and Black Toney produced Bimelech and Bubbling Over (Kentucky Derby winner) was the sire on the dam's side of a Bimelech cross which produced Sir Bim. Sir Bim was crossed on the dam side of a Top Deck sire side to produce a line in Hailee's sire's history! Whoo!

Violet too is impressively connected to La Troienne's history in at least two powerful ways. Again, she has the Bimelech connection and on the dam's side War Admiral (Triple Crown winner) is the sire to produce a dam for Bimelech which produced Better Self, a stakes winner. She also has a La Troienne and Blue Larkspur cross which produced Big Event who was bred to War Admiral to produce Blue Eyed Momo on Violet's dam's side.

Blue Larkspur is very cool as a cross because he won the Belmont Stakes, Juvenile Stakes, Saratoga Special, Classic Stakes, Withers Stakes, Arlington Cup, and Stars and Striples Handicap. He was 1929 Horse of the Year and Champion 3-year-old Colt, and the 1930 Champion Handicap Male!

You can read more about La Troienne, the fabulous "Blue Hen" of the Hailee and Violet Sanchez family tree at my friendly links, The Pedigree Post!
You can also read about her at:
http://www.tbheritage.com/Portraits/LaTroienne.html