Spring Waltz and My Girls!

Here is a photo by Bob Coglianese of the lovely Spring Waltz, a 2003 filly just like my lovely Violet. She won the Grade 2 Rampart Stakes by 9 furlongs over the weekend of March 8, 2008. In the Daily Racing Form, her jockey, Javier Castellano, said "There was no question that I was concerned with getting stuck behind horses on the final turn. We had to squeeze through a little bit, but she's got a big heart. As soon as we made it through, she hit another gear and took off."

She'll be entered in the GII Louisville Breeder's Cup the same weekend that Sugar Swirl will be in the Humana Distaff. Both these horses are Frank Stronach Girls. Spring Waltz record so far is 9: 6-3-0, so she's quite the tough one! Her parents are Silver Charm out of Relaxing Rhythm by Easy Goer.

My girls, of course, share many relatives, including Hasty Road, War Admiral, Tom Fool, Princequillo, and Nasrullah!

Nashoba's Key and My Girls!

Here is a photo of Nashoba's Key ridden to victory by Garrett Gomez, March 9, 2008, in the Santa Margarita Handicap. It's an AP Photo by Benoit. In the other photo, she is resting in her stall at Del Mar. This mare was born on March 26, 2003, the same month as Violet, but she didn't begin her racing career until she was four years old because her owner and trainer thought she needed the time to grow into her big old self. They knew she would be special.

So, when she first raced in January 2007, she proved their wisdom. She won 7 of her first 7 starts. She won really important California graded stakes under a 17 year old jockey, Joseph Talamo. After terrific wins, she came in 4th in the Breeders Cup when she got trapped on the rail in 6-inch deep wet turf and then in January 2008, she came in second to Quite a Bride in the Sunshine Millions Filly and Mare Turf. Since then, she was returned to Garrett Gomez to ride and that's when she just polished off the competition in the Santa Margarita Handicap earlier in March. She now has a record of 10: 8-1-0. Last year, she lost the Female Turf Eclipse Award to Lahudood, but she pulled a hat trick, by winning the California-Bred Champion Turf Horse, Older Female, and Horse of the Year! She's great on synthetic and turf tracks!

They've decided to give her a small vacation to give her a rest for her second chance at the Breeders Cup. Her trainer, Carla Gaines, says, "She hasn't had a day off the track since her first start on January 13, 2007. Any horse that's doing well, it's tempting to keep going and going, but I want to have a horse that has had some time off and is ready to strike at the Breeders' Cup. The NTRA notes of her that she has "determination to match talent."

And that determination must be a part of her larger personality. In an interview with Larry Stumes for the San Francisco Chronicle, Carla Gaines noted, "She's not really crazy about us. She could do without humans except at feed time. She's just a viper. She's reached out and grabbed a few people and tried to remove one of their appendages. I think a lot of really good filies have the same attitude. She's got a ton of class, loves what she does, and is very, very competitive."

Her parents are Silver Hawk out of Nashoba by Caerleon. Her dad is turning out to be a tremendous sire of turf ladies! And her mom only raced 5 times, but won 4 -- so mother and daughter are true champions at ending up out front! In her pedigree, she has Nijinsky, Nashua, Round Table, and Northern Dancer. My girls are most immediately related to her through Hail To Reason, so they share many relatives, including Nasrullah, Princequillo, and Nearctic.

You can read more about this resting, but getting ready girl at the following link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nashoba's_Key

Somethinaboutlaura and My Girls!

Today's blog is about Somethinaboutlaura, a young lady who raced only in California her entire career. She just retired at the end of March at the age of 6 and was booked to Stormy Atlantic. Her final career record was 34: 18-4-5 with earnings of over $1,129,000. She was born on March 1, 2002 by Dance Floor out of Crystals of Ice by Its Freezing. Over her career, she had 14 stakes wins and 9 wins in added-value races. She won several important stakes races twice, including the Campanile, A Gleam Invitational, and Pacific Heights Handicap. She was great over all surfaces and distances, racing on dirt, turf, and synthetic surfaces and at distances ranging from 5 1/2 furlongs to 1 1/16 miles. The girl deserves some pasture time with a beautiful foal by her side, that's for sure!

My Violet shares a little splash of Nasrullah, Princequillo, Discovery and Man o'War with her, among many other relatives. You can see a resemblance between my sweet Vi and Somethinaboutlaura. Happy retirement, girl! Enjoy your pasture and herd time. Make some beautiful fast, resilient, weight-carrying, flexible horses! Make winners like yourself, who can win stakes races on dirt, turf, and synthetic. What a talented girl!

Smart Strike's Big Year!

Smart Strike, a Canadian stallion out of Mr. Prospector and Classy 'N Sweet by Smarten is a retired 1992 stallion who really had quite a big year in 2007! Two of his children, Curlin and English Channel, really made him proud. Curlin won two Eclipse Awards for 3-year-old male and then Horse of the Year! English Channel won Eclipse Turf Male! And on September 30th, Smart Strike's three kids, C, EC, and Fabulous Strike all proved G1 winners at Belmont. So, with progeny earnings in 2007 alone of $9,122,430, he became #1 General Sire in North America for 2007.

He is the first stallion to produce Champion Turf and Champion Dirt kids in the same year, since the inception of the Eclipse Awards in 1971.

And, of course, his stud fee increased for 2008! His fee in 2007 -- $75,000. His fee in 2008 -- $150,000! Way to go, boy! Well done! More carrots for you, sweet thing!

In his own racing career, he won 6 of 8 starts, but took a thrashing from Cigar in his last start. He then was preparing for the Breeders' Cup, but suffered a fracture and retired early. My girls are related to this good boy through Nasrullah, Count Fleet, Turn-To, Princequillo, and Discovery among others!

The photo is from his stallion page. You can learn more about him at the following links:
http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/stallion-directory/stallion.aspx?stallion_no=1365869
or
http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/breeding-news/2007/October/15/Smart-Strike-joins-six-figure-stud-fee-club.aspx
or
http://www.ntra.com/blog.aspx?blogid=9&year=2008&month=1&day=23
or
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_Strike

The fine line between happiness and mania

In the January 9th, sports section of the New York Times, they had a moving story about a 40 year-old African-American woman, Sylvia Harris, who is working as an apprentice jockey in her first full year of riding at the Hawthorne Race Course near Chicago Midway Airport. This woman was raised in California where she dreamed of becoming a veterinarian. But manic depression emerged when she was 19 years old and she has been battling homelessness, broken relationships, problems with mothering, poverty, and struggles with sanity ever since. She tried to join an art school, but her car was stolen and she eventually ended up jobless and homeless. A ministor helped her articulate her lost dreams -- something with horses -- and got her a job as an exercise rider and groom in Ocala, Florida. That was in 2005, and she has worked hard and diligently to become a jockey since.

She ran her first race at Arlington Race Track in August and is just now beginning to get some regular jobs and regular attachments to particular horses. In this case, Wildwood Pegasus, has become her regular mount who she has led to a win!

She says that, "There's a fine line between being happy and being manic. I can't start thinking that I'm going to win the Kentucky Derby. There are times when I need a reality check." She is struggling to become a jockey at such an advanced age, work as an apprentice, and maintain her sanity and contact with her children. May God bless her struggles.

In this photo, she is riding to victory in early January on Rob Why Tee. My girls are related to these two horses. Rob Why Tee's grandsire on his dam's side is Secretariat!. My girls share Eight Thirty, Menow, Nearctic, and Discovery, among others with him. He was born on March 15, 2003 (a week after Violet) and sold for $17,000 at the Keeneland Sales. Wildwood Pegasus's sire is Fusaichi Pegasus and also has Seattle Slew on the mom's side. My girls share Nasrullah, Case Ace, and Princequillo among others!

Indian Blessing and My Girls!

Indian Blessing, a 2-year-old filly born on April 9, 2005, is undefeated and considered one of the top fillies of her day. In her first start at Saratoga, she won by 5 1/2 lengths and was pulling away. She also won two Grade 1 stakes, the Frizette and the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies. She's an undefeated little wonder! She is owned by Hal and Patti Earnhardt who also owned and bred her sire.

My girls are related to her many ways, but primarily through the usual wonderful connections: Blushing Groom, Princequillo, Nasrullah, and Bimelech. She also has some pretty special relatives in her own pedigree, including Round Table, Northern Dancer, Nijinsky, Mr. Prospector, and Shenanigans. I hope she continues to have a strong, good life and wins at 3. And then I hope she lives in royal glory as a broodmare and herdmate in Kentucky!
http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/horse/breederscup07/news/story?id=3082681

Shuvee and My Girls!

These photos are from Braulio Baeza's webpage. He was very lucky to have ridden some of the best horses in history, including Shuvee, a 1966 filly who rocked out in racing! Her parents were Nashua and Levee by Hill Prince. Much of what I'll write about her here is from the Blood Horse's Top 100 Thoroughbreds of the 20th Century series. She earned #70 for her impressive deeds.

Here are the first words written about her in this history book, "She looked like a stallion, ate like a stallion, and trained like a stallion. Best of all, Shuvee could race like a stallion too." Nice, real nice. I bet she'd be annoyed because she probably thought of herself as a sweet ol' big girl! She grew to 16.1 hands and was a monster-sized girl!

Anyway, she won amazing races by huge margins. She liked to swing from behind and then just leap into the lead. She won the Filly Triple Tiara -- the Triple Crown for girls in 1969, and then was voted Champion Older Mare in 1970 and 1971. Ron Turcotte rode her to a second straight victory in the Jockey Club Gold Cup -- no other filly or mare has won that race ever, let alone twice! Her big competitors at the time were Gallant Bloom and Process Shot.

Her trainer, W.C. "Mike" Freeman, said of her, "Boy, she was tough. You couldn't make her back off the feed tub or anything. She'd eat anything you put in front of her. And she needed more training than any filly I saw!" Her owner dad said, "She never took a bad step in her life and never had any physical problems at all through her racing career. Real extraordinary mare -- for a big filly, particularly. Never bucked her shins. Just a real freak!" This strange praise was indeed remarkable because she had a long 4-year racing career (1968-1971) and was a big horse, so it would have been easy for her to hurt those long legs! Her final record was 44: 16(15), 10(6), 6(4)! She was such a talented girl that she could run great at any distance -- 8 furlongs to 2 miles!

When she retired, she died fairly young in 1986 due to complications in foaling. She died a champion! She was inducted into the National Racing Hall of Fame in 1975, the Aiken Training Center Hall of Fame upon its opening in 1977, earned 2 Eclipse Awards for Champion Older Mare in 1970 and 1971, and the Filly Triple Crown! No wonder she's #70 of the top 100 racehorses of the 20th century!

My girls are related to Shuvee most immediately through Nasrullah, Princequillo, Ultimus, and Sir Gallahad!

You can read more about this champion mare at the following links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuvee
or
http://www.racingmuseum.org/hall/horse.asp?ID=136
or
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuvee_Handicap

Seattle Slew and My Girls!

Seattle Slew was the 10th of 11 Triple Crown Winners and the last surviving one until he passed on the 25th anniversary of his Kentucky Derby win in 2002. He's a fabulous fellow. He was foaled at White Horse Acres from Bold Reasoning and My Charmer and was purchased as a yearling for $17,500 by two couples, Karen and Mickey Taylor (he was a 4th generation logger) and Sally and Jim Hill (he was a vet). They called him Seattle Slew, with the latter being a play on slough, which is a waterway to transport logs! Anyway, right away Seattle Slew began winning for them, so Mickey told his wife, "If we can keep this horse in one piece, I'll never have to cut down another tree!"

Well, he was the only horse to win the Triple Crown undefeated. He had a little pre-race "War Dance" on his tippy toes to show his eagerness. His final record was 17: 14(9)-2(2)-0. He earned Champion 2-year-old and 3-year-old honors and the Eclipse Horse of the Year Award in 1977. Some say he should have won again because they gave it to Affirmed, even though Seattle Slew had twice beaten him handily. Anyway, sour grapes and who needs it! After all, Seattle Slew was also voted Champion Older Male in 1978, and Champion Broodmare sire in 1995-1996. He was inducted into the National Museum and Racing Hall of Fame in 1981. And he was voted #9 of the Top 100 racehorses of the 20th century. He was the father of more than 100 stakeswinners, including A.P. Indy. He is grandpa to Rags to Riches, and one of his daughters produced the leading thoroughbred money earner of all time, Cigar (John Henry's friend from the Kentucky Horse Park).

He stood for 17 years at Three Chimney Farms and carried a fee of $125,000. In 2000, he needed spinal cord surgery to relieve compression, so he began a philanthropy serving Spinal Cord Research at Pullman's Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine to honor his own team of surgeons. When he became ill in his later days, they moved him to Hill 'N Dale, so he could have more privacy from the bustle of the breeding barns at Three Chimneys. And when he passed, his mom and dad and other people who loved him were there. He is buried at Hill 'N Dale, you can see his grave in these photos.

Violet is related to him primarily through Nasrullah and Princequillo.

http://www.racingmuseum.org/hall/horse.asp?ID=134
or
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattle_Slew
or
http://www.spiletta.com/UTHOF/seattleslew.html

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

Kentucky 2007: Princequillo's Grave

Here is the grave of Princequillo, also an important sire in Violet's family tree and a grandpa of Secretariat! You'll recall from my earlier blog that Princequillo had quite an interesting career. He really had poor breeding with a pedigree "crammed with plodders" and his first three dams "sired by proven failures." So, there is really no explanation at all for why he was such an important stud who sired 479 foals and produced a 13.4% stakeswinner rate. He led the sire list in 1957 and 1958 and has been a leading broodmare sire 8 times since 1966. One of his most important fillies was the lovely Somethingroyal. And one of his most famous colts was Round Table, the Horse of the Year in 1958 and 3X Turf Champion.

Princequillo's dad was Prince Rose the Triple Crown winner in Belgium who was nationalized he was beloved so, and so he would never be allowed to leave that country. But in World War II, they were intent on protecting him, so they sent him to France where he was killed by artillery fire. By then Princequillo had been bred by an American in Paris who worked for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and had chosen the lovely Cosquilla as the dam, and our little hero was a gangly underfed weanling ensconced in New Orleans.


He had a checkered, spotty race career and ended his career with most thinking that he was well-below the best. At one point, he was claimed in a stakes race for $2,500. He ran in New Orleans which I think is cool, as well as other places. There were a few conflicts in his life about who actually owned him, and there were fights between his trainer (who was mad at the owner for never paying his training bill) and the owner (who was mad at the trainer for not showing up for work at the stables on Sundays). Despite this, Bull Hancock told his dad when he saw Princequillo win the Saratoga Cup at 3 that "This is one horse we've got to have."


And that was that -- the poorly bred, spotty record, better at longer distances, stamina horse -- made it to Claiborne Farms where he and Nasrullah formed the heart and foundation of the top of the thoroughbred lines in the United States. You go, sweet Princequillo!


Again, information for this entry are from Abram S. Hewitt's Sire Lines and Horse Racing's Top 100 Moments both from the 2006 publishing year of Eclipse Press.

Kentucky 2007: Nasrullah's Grave

Here is the grave of a very important stud to thoroughbreds and to my sweet Violet. Nasrullah was born in 1940 and passed at Claiborne Farms in 1959. His race record was 10 : 5-1-1 and he sired 105 stakeswinners out of 425 foals for a total percentage of 25%! He was a leading sire in England in 1951 and then a led the sire list in the United States 5 times (1955, 1956, 1959, 1960, and 1962).

But he was a nasty old goofball as a race horse, and people still speculate about whether that was because of his wicked temper or his strange British training . Phil Bull, a famed handicapper who wrote about Nasrullah in the Best Horses of 1943 said, "Last year, I regarded Nasrullah as head and shoulders above the other colts of his age. I gave him a long and rather enthusiastic write up, and I fear that, in spite of his having failed in each of his classic ventures, in spite of his bad temper, his mulish antics, in spite of his exasperating unwillingness to do the job, etc., etc., I fear that I am going to give him another write up. I know he doesn't deserve it, but I can't help it." And then he praised him some more, though he said that if Nasrullah's daddy, Nearco, found out how bad his kid was, it would really impact his fertility!

His habit was to fight with his jockey in the saddling area, fight afterwards, run swiftly, but then pull up and fling his head when he would pull into the lead. Some thought that it was because he had been trained by the British method of letting him follow a lead horse for his workouts, so he would be relaxed and feel like he was in a herd -- So, he didn't like to be out front! Anyway, he was a total nasty pistol about fighting his jockeys and quitting a race once he took the lead, as you can see in his final record.

There's a funny story about an exchange between a gentleman and Nasrullah's trainer, Frank Butters, at the Newmarket Heath. It was during World War II, and Nasrullah's jockey had joined the Army. The gentleman said to Butters, "Have you heard that Charley Smirke has been decorated with the Victoria Cross." "Really?" said the dignified Butters. "What was he decorated for?" "Charley stopped a German tank." "I am not surprised," observed Butters. "When he was riding for me, he could stop anything!"

Nasrullah was a big old tank of a horse, 16 1 1/2 hands and strong and sound. He came from the "best sire line in England and the fastest female line." And he produced some amazing babies over his lifetime, including Bold Ruler, Noor, Nashua, Jaipur, Red God, and On-and-On. I am sure you recognize some of those names from Violet's family tree!

Anyway, A. B. Hancock purchased him for his syndicate and brought him to Claiborne in 1951. Some of the best horses ever were by crossings of Nasrullah's sons and Princequillo's daughters! But that crossing ended up with a sort of nasty limerick about Nasrullah: "Match Nasrullah through a son, and Nasrullah though a daughter, To make it really blister, match Nasrullah through his sister."

Ummm, now that I think on it, Violet has both Nasrullah and Nasrullah's half-sister, Sun Princess who produced Royal Charger, a very successful sire by Nearco and also a member of Violet's family tree! So...I guess Violet is part of the history of this dirty little limerick!! Yay!

So, you can bet that on that August morning, I was proud to be standing before this gravestone!
I used the following sources for this blog entry: Abram S. Hewitt's (2006) Sire Lines and Horse Racing's Top 100 Moments (2006), both by Eclipse Press in Lexington.

Kentucky 2007: Claiborne's During!

Here is a photo of During, standing at stud at Claiborne Farms. He is very closely related to Violet. His dad is Cherokee Run who stands at stud at the Darley Stud. Cherokee Run is the 3/4ths brother of Violet's dad, Groomstick. They share the same dad, Runaway Groom, and then the same granddam on their mom's side -- Dame Francesca. During's dam is Blazing Saddle by Blade. Blade is a stud who is a Bold Ruler -- Nasrullah kid and who also has what Violet has -- the Nasrullah/Princequillo sires of sire/dam crosses that lots of horses related to Secretariat luckily have!
In these photos, you can see that During is all lazy on a cool Kentucky morning and he has to suffer the indignity of showing his racing tattoo on his upper lip! What a cutie pie!

His career record is 22: 6-3-4. He is the #2 Top Earner for his dad, right behind the filly Chilluki and right before Zanjero. At 3, he won the Swaps Stakes, Jerome Handicap, and Discovery Handicap, and took second in the Sir Barton Stakes. At 4, he won the San Fernando Breeders Stakes. So, he knows what it is to stand in the winners circles with his jockey, trainer and loving family. What a good boy. You can read about his sister, Chilukki, at the following link:
http://members.tripod.com/zetties/horseracing.html

Kentucky 2007: Claiborne's Eddington!

So, on the morning Barbie, Gummy and I visited Claiborne, we were in a group of nice ladies -- one lady who married into a Paris, Kentucky family and who had seen Secretariat at Claiborne Farms as a child and who was now bringing a friend for the tour, and two other ladies from Great Britain. We delighted in the lady's story about how territorial and powerful Secretariat was and we enjoyed the Breeding Shed.

Then our tour guide brought us to the Stallion Barn and showed us such important stalls! Bold Ruler and Round Table were born the same day and then as they stood at stud, they shared the same barn. We saw Secretariat's stall which Eddington now calls home. And then our tour guide brought out Eddington himself!! He strolled out all sweet and kind and beautiful and then when he was stood outside, it was like he had hit his mark on a stage. He got all puffy and posey and macho and sexy. He just preened like a peacock, looking all alert and powerful and vigilant. He was Stud Macho!!! You can see it in these photos! No wonder his 2007 breeding fee was $20,000! He is on his dad's Top 10 Runners by Lifetime earnings list in 9th place right behind Grindstone and Unbridled's Song.

So, Eddington was born on March 25, 2001 and his career record is 17: 6-3-6. He earned $1,216,760 on the track, and in 2004 took first in the Calder Derby, 2nd in the Pegasus Handicap, and 3rd in the Wood Memorial, Travers Stakes, Preakness Stakes, and Gotham Stakes. In 2005, he earned 1st in the Pimlico Special and Gulfstream Handicap, and 3rd in the Donn Handicap and Oaklawn Handicap. He was retired on 6/29/05 to stud duty at Claiborne after a soft tissue injury.

He has a dubious achievement as well -- his jockey, Jerry Bailey, is under a cloud. He rode Eddington at a furious pace in the Belmont Stakes and it is unclear whether he was purposefully trying to "use up" Eddington in order to rattle Smarty Jones and spoil his chance for the Triple Crown. We'll never know, but certainly Smarty Jones just blazed in that race, trying to beat the early speed of Eddington and Rock Hard Ten.

And talk about small world among thoroughbreds!! When he ran in the Belmont Stakes, he was beaten by Birdstone who won and whose grandpa is Unbridled!

Anyway, Eddington's dad is Unbridled and so he is related to Mr. Prospector, Buckpasser, and Dr. Fager. Through his mom, Fashion Star, he is related to Danzig and Secretariat. He even has, get this, a Blue Nola filly in his family tree! And, yes, of course, he is related to my girls, through many connections, but here are a few: Wild Risk, Wild Violet, Wood Violet, Count Fleet, Better Self, Bimelech, Princequillo, Nasrullah, Case Ace and Turn-To.

He is a beautiful stallion. I feel blessed to have seen him stand with pride and power.

Kentucky 2007: The Claiborne Breeding Shed!

Okay, so here it is! The Breeding Shed at Claiborne Farms -- our piece of American equine history! The motto of the good people who manage this place is "take care of the horses." And they care about being "practical and solid rather than fancy and showy." A.B. Hancock was from a pillar of equine society in Virginia, but he married into the Kentucky Clay family and began Claiborne Farms, the 2,764 acre facility that shapes our thoroughbred industry.

I will never be able to tell you how important this little black box of a place is! But here's some small statistics to give you an idea. Six of our 11 Triple Crown winners were conceived in this shed! Secretariat was a twinkle in his dad's eye in this shed. The following stallions served in this shed: Nasrullah, Princequillo, Abiorix, Double Jay, Round Table, Bold Ruler, Buckpasser, Forli, Herbager, Hoist the Flag, Secretariat, Nijinsky II, Danzig, and Mr. Prospector! I can't believe that I was standing in the room where Secretariat was made and where he later made Lady's Secret!

What confused me about the facility when we first arrived is that it was just so plain. I kept waiting for the tour guide to say, this is just the holding area, now we'll show you the deluxe shed we have. And the reason I felt that way was because Tom had taken us to a breeding at Hill 'n Dale farm and that place was just swank. The breeding shed was gorgeaus and they had this huge elegant viewing room above the breeding shed. Plus they had this really large area for the veterinarian and other staff and a large room for the washing of the mares and stallion. But Claiborne just has this shed and they use simple paper buckets to wash the horses.

And that's because of their generations of tradition. The shed is a private activity where superstars are conceived. I can hardly believe the great outcomes from such humble beginnings!

Horse Sense: Riding a Thoroughbred!

I went to Kentucky for three days in mid-August. While I was there, I visited Claiborne Farms, saw thoroughbred foals at Valentine Hall Farms, saw the granddaughter of Seattle Slew, and stallions related to Dr. Fager, Mr. Prospector, Secretariat, and Danzig. I saw the graves of the greatest stallions in thoroughbred history. I travelled past Count Fleet's large, beautiful home. It was an amazing trip.

And when I came back on Saturday morning, I got to ride my very own slice of history, my beautiful Velvet Tenderness. She was feeling good and sassy because it was a cool morning and she had spent the entire previous day outdoors, eating Ohio green grass! She was pulling and strong, and trotting large. She wasn't naughty, but she was pushing the envelope, testing her power! I was proud to be a part of her heritage, even if I need to learn how to ride with my seat more! ;)

Anway, I ordered Violet her official leather sale halter from Quillan Leather Shop in Paris, Kentucky. That store serves the farms in the surrounding communities, giving thoroughbreds their official tack with the brass name tag. A beautiful halter with a coppery "Velvet Tenderness" will be coming soon!

Here's an amazing fact from Claiborne Farms. Each year, whether they need it or not, every horse get s new leather halter with brass nameplate. They often sell the old ones for charity, but I was just so surprised by that elegant extravagance! Plus as soon as we got into the front office at Claiborne after driving through the gate, we were in this beautiful wood-panelled setting. And I saw three leather halters with brass nameplates hanging in a row right by the door. I leaned down just to take a peek and saw Nasrullah, Princequillo, Buckpasser, in a neat little row. I could just feel the little explosion in my brain. The halters of such three fine horses right there at finger's touch!

I'll post a picture of my Violet's halter when it arrives!

Miesque and My Girls!

Miesque was a 1984 filly who is owned by a Greek shipping tycoon, Stavros Niarchos. She won championships in every country she ran in. Her final record was 16: 12, 3, 1, and all of her races except one were Group 1 stakes races. She won 10 Grade 1 races!!! In France, she earned the Champion Juvenile award as a 2-year-old, and when she was shipped to the U.S., she won the Breeder's Cup at Hollywood Park, and then turned around and won it a second time the next year at Churchill Downs, at her last race! In the first Breeders' Cup, she was in a field of 14, and the second 12! She was the first race horse ever to win two Breeders' Cups back to back. When she was 3, she ended her racing year with 5 championship awards!!! She earned Champion 3-year-old filly in France and England, Champion Miler in France and England, and Champion U.S. grass mare. When she was 4, she won the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Female Turf horse, as well as France's Champion Miler and Champion Older mare. She was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1999, and inducted into the French Hall of Fame. She was voted #82 of the Top 100 Race Horse of the 20th century!

When she retired, she became an awesome broodmare. Her children are very famous. Her last foal was a 2005 colt out of A.P. Indy by Seattle Slew by Weekend Surprise by Secretariat. This 2005 foal is being trained to race at Newmarket, England! But her first baby, her first bombshell smashing success as a mom is pictured above, Kingmambo, a major stakeswinner who is now retired to stud at Lane's End Farm...and he is so special that his 2007 stud fee is listed as "private." If you have to ask, you can't afford to breed to her baby!

Of course, my girls are related to sweet little, regular-running, championship earning, good mama Miesque. They share many connections, including Nearctic, Princequillo, Hyperion, Mahmoud, Equipoise, Nasrullah, and Count Fleet.

This good mare has races named after her at Hollywood Park and in France! You can read more about her at the following links:

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

or

http://www.thoroughbredchampions.com/biographies/miesque.htm

or

http://www.racingmuseum.org/hall/horse.asp?ID=341

My beautiful Summer Violet!

A few weekends ago, my friend, Joe Jacoby, came out to Breezy Acres to meet Violet and take some photos. He is a criminologist, but a talented amateur photographer as well. He specializes in nature photography and has taken some extraordinary wildlife photos, but had never taken photos of horses before. My Violet could not have been more red and gorgeaus that day! She looked like what she was -- a daughter of Princequillo, Nasrullah, and Pensive. She showed off her beautiful red chestnut nature! And can you believe the photo -- this is among the first photos that Joe has ever taken of a thoroughbred -- and he captured her "Violetness" to steal from Owen Wilson in You, Me and Dupree. Thank you for such a lovely morning that day, Joe!!! Violet and I are grateful for the photos!

Queen Elizabeth II Visits Kentucky (Again!)

Her Royal Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, is too cool! When she came to the states this spring, she stayed in the Lexington area to visit friends and to watch the Kentucky Derby. She had a private box overlooking the finish line, so she could watch Street Sense win. Then, because she's so hip, she invited the winning jockey, Calvin Borel, to a white tie state dinner at the White House on the Monday following the Derby. How cool is that? Mr. Bush thinks of that white tie dinner as the most important of his presidency! But that's not all. HRH Queen Elizabeth visited family back in 1984. Her father, King George VI, bred Knight's Daughter, but sold her to Claiborne Farms. She had been a speedy sprinter, but he sold her. She was bred to Violet's relative, Princequillo, and the result was Round Table. Round Table raced 66: 43 - 8 -5 and earned $1,749,869. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1972, was voted #17 on the Blood Horse Top 100 of the 20th century list, was voted U.S. Horse of the Year in 1958, and Leading Sire in North America in 1972. He was U.S. Champion Turf Horse in 1957, 1958, and 1959. And he was U.S. Champion Male Handicap Horse in 1958 and 1959. He was a leading broodmare sire for a loooong time. He was amazing because he got the best traits from both his mom, the sprinter, and his dad, the distance runner. Speaking of magic, he was born on the same farm and the same day as Bold Ruler, another very important race horse and stud! Some of Round Table's important matings were with Moccasin, a very important racing filly! Anyway, back to the Queen. When she visited the States in 1984, she asked to be taken especially to visit and pay her respects to the elder statesman, Round Table. She asked to visit her family! She must have been wanting to see Knight's Daughter's baby! He died at the age of 33, a few years later in 1987 and is buried at Claiborne Farm. Anyway, you know I think the Queen is cool! When she comes to the states, she goes to visit her friends in Lexington, including her horsey friends. What a lady!

You can read more about Round Table at the following links:
http://www.racingmuseum.org/hall/horse.asp?ID=127
or
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Round_Table_(horse)
or
http://www.spiletta.com/UTHOF/roundtable.html
or
http://www.brisnet.com/cgi-bin/editorial/article.cgi?id=3729

Violet's cousin, Curlin, wins 2007 Preakness Stakes!

This past Saturday was the Preakness Stakes held at Pimlico. And what an exciting day! Street Sense was strong the entire race, as was Hard Spun, but in the last strides, the very last stride in fact, Curlin won by a whisker of a nose. Curlin has had 5 starts, 4 wins, and a third in his career. His trainer flew him home to Kentucky on Sunday and said of him, "He definitely knows he ran." Curlin was a bit tuckered out after winning. Street Sense's trainer said, "These 3 horses ran their guts out the last 2 races." He doesn't think that Street Sense will go to the Belmont now, but reflected on the loss by saying, "Winning isn't everything in this game. You don't want anybody to get beat, but there's got to be a winner." Violet is related to Curlin multiple ways, including the following: Case Ace, Nasrullah, Count Fleet, Nearctic, Blue Larkspur, Princequillo, Turn-To, Discovery, Whisk Broom, Sir Gallahad, and Bull Dog. On Preakness day, Michael Matz' horse won the Barbaro Stakes, a race which was originally the Sir Barton Stakes, but renamed to honor Barbaro. Michael Matz was Barbaro's trainer, and the Jackson's handed him the award, so it was a bittersweet moment. The day was marred though, immediately after that race, by a horse who broke his ankle, punctured his flesh, and had to be euthanized in The Dixie Stakes. Mending Fences perished that day, much like Barbaro from last year.

Street Sense wins 133rd Kentucky Derby!

Street Sense won this year's Kentucky Derby with Hard Spun, and Curlin, placing and showing. He broke 19th out of 20th and ran from behind for most of the race. His jockey, Calvin Borel, rode him tight on the rail until the final turn when four horses drifted off the rail and gave a window. Street Sense, covered in mud from the front runners, exploded through the opening, and swung fast and hard past the second and first horse. He just put tracks between him and the still strong, still fast-moving Hard Spun. He was a sight to behold and the master of the track that day! I am very happy for the Cajun jockey who won his first Derby on Street Sense. He was thrilled that he'd come that far from his Cajun bush track days! My girls are related to Street Sense in multiple ways, including the following: Nearctic, Nearco, Discovery, Whisk Broom, Teddy, Man 'O War, Sweep, Nasrullah, Count Fleet, Sir Gallahad, Blue Larkspur, Sun Princess, Hyperion, Princequillo, Wild Risk, Traffic Court, Bull Lea, War Glory, Eight Thirty, Gay Crusader, Case Ace, Rock Sand, and Hasty Road.