Country Star and My Girls!

Country Star is a Feb. 7, 2005 filly born in beautiful Paris, Kentucky at Stonerside Stable to Empire Maker out of Rings a Chime by Metfield. She has an impressive pedigree, including a little taste of Citation!

Her trainer is Hall of Famer Bobby Frankel, and she's been nominated for consideration for the Kentucky Derby this spring! She'll also likely have a chance to opt for the Oaks instead!

Her current record is a slim, but impressive 3: 2-1-0.

She won the Alcibiades Stakes and then set a flaming track record at Hollywood Park at the Hollywood Starlet Stakes. I haven't recieved very many workout notices or race results for her this spring, so I am hoping that she is training well, getting to be a big strong fast girl, and that she has a good year.

Breaking News! 448 Nominated to Triple Crown 2008!

Triple Crown Productions announced this past Saturday that 448 horses were nominated by the January 19th deadline for the races associated with the Triple Crown! The fee was $600 for the nomination, and horses can still nominate, but the fee jumps to $6,000! Among the 448 are Pyro and War Pass. Only 2 fillies are nominated, Country Star and Mushka. Country Star (photo by Benoit) won the Hollywood Starlet and Alcibiades Stakes in 2007 and Mushka (photo by Vanessa Ng) won the Demoiselle Stakes (shown in these photos). They are both daughters of the 2003 Belmont Stakes winner, Empire Maker.

Distorted Humor is the stud with the most kids nominated with 13, and Tale of a Cat and Mineshaft have the second-most nominated offspring with 11 each! Todd Pletcher leads the trainers with 31 nominees, Zito comes in second with 19!

Only 2 fillies out of 448 nominees! Makes you really see why Rags is a powerful kind of girl!






http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/2/3/1737770/2008_derby_noms.pdf

Kentucky 2007: Claiborne's Monarchos

Here is Monarchos standing outside his stallion barn at Claiborne Farm. He was beautiful and sweet -- he preened like a stallion, but also was gentle. The stallion manager let us pet him. And so he is officially the first Kentucky Derby winner I ever petted! I was thrilled.

He was born in 1998 and his record is 10: 4-1-3 and $1,720,830. He won both the Florida Derby and Kentucky Derby, placed in the Wood Memorial, and showed in the Belmont Stakes. His time in the Kentucky Derby was the second fastest in history, behind Secretariat's. He was in 10th place in a pack of 17, but managed to pick off each horse and finally put Congaree behind him at a searing pace! Of his preparatory win in the Florida Derby before the run for the roses, his jockey, Jorge Chavez said, "When I asked him, he just exploded. That was a great feeling, like I was the king."


So far, he has had 5 crops and 261 foals. Three of his crops are of racing age, with 192 foals of racing age.

His mom, Regal Band, died this year at the age of 20 at Rood and Riddle Hospital on April 9. She was suffering from a liver disorder. She was carrying an Empire Maker foal. My girls are related to his family in many ways, including Nearctic, Bimelech, Eight Thirty, War Admiral, Busanda, Bull Dog, Menow, Blue Larkspur, Turn-To, Nasrullah, Gainsborough, Case Ace, Bull Lea, Sir Gallahad, Case Ace, and Discovery.

You can read more about this sexy sweet kind stallion at the following links:
http://www.claibornefarm.com/stallions/monarchos.shtml
or
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarchos
or
http://www.kentuckyderby.com/2005/derby_history/derby_charts/years/2001.html
or
http://www.bloodhorse.com/stallionregister/sr_sire_page.asprefno=4475639&origin=BHonline or
http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/horseracing/preakness/bal-sp.derby06may06,1,3965877.story?coll=bal-sports-preakness&ctrack=1&cset=true
or
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/1315147.stm
or
http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/breeding-news/2007/April/09/Dam-ofMonarchos-dies-at-age-20.aspx
or
http://horseracing.about.com/library/weekly/aa050501a.htm