Breaking News! War Pass and Cool Coal Man have big weekend!

Here are photos of War Pass and Cool Coal Man taken this past weekend as they won their races. Both horses are owned by Robert LePenta and trained by Nick Zito, so the whole family is very happy. War Pass earned his 5th win in 5 starts in his 3 year-old debut in a $60,000 allowance race in Gulfstream Park. He is the 2007 Eclipse Award winning 2-year-old colt Champion and a top contender for the Kentucky Derby this spring. He won the Breeder's Cup Juvenile last October. So far, he's earned $1,433,400 for his dad. He won his spring debut by 7 1/2 lengths!

His trainer said, "He broke like a rocket." His parents are Cherokee Run and Vue by Mr. Prospector, so he is closely related to Violet, especially on her dad's side. Dame Francesca is War Pass's grandma, and Cherokee Run's dad is Runaway Groom! He also has Nasrullah, War Admiral and Count Fleet.

Cool Coal Man is also a contender for the Kentucky Derby and here you see him edging to a win in the $350,000 G2 Fountain of Youth race shortly after his brother, War Pass, won his allowance race.

Both horses are fabulous, truly fabulous. So, no wonder their dad said, "Right now, you'd have to say we're over the moon!" He is excited about his boys!

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

Runaway Groom wins 1982 Travers!!

On Monday, I reported that Violet's grandpa, Runaway Groom, had passed on June 8th, 2007. I thought you might like to see the video of his amazing win at the Travers Stakes in 1982, and the way he beat three U.S. classics winners in one fell swoop, including a horse who was about to become Horse of the Year. It was the first and only time in American Racing History that a horse beat the Kentucky Derby winner, Gato del Sol, the Preakness Stakes winner, Aloma's Ruler, and the Belmont Stakes winner and Horse of Year, Conquistador Cielo, all in one single race!!! What a macho boy, Violet's grandpa was! And all in the year that yours truly was graduating from high school! Check out the video!!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=fdBzg-B_1Ms

or

http://www.championsgallery.com/runaway_groom.htm

Violet's Beautiful Grandpa Euthanized on June 8

Violet's grandpa on her sire's side is Runaway Groom, a 1979 stallion born in Ontario, Canada who had an illustrious career. He was euthanized at his home at Dr. Tom Simon's Vinery near Lexington on June 8, 2007. He lived at The Vinery, working as the king of stallions since 1991. His racing career was 18:6-5-1, and among his achievements, he won the Travers Stakes, and 2/3rds of the Canadian Triple Crown, including the Prince of Wales and Breeders Stakes. He was the 1982 Champion 3-year-old male in Canada and was elected to the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 2001. He sired 123 stakes horses, 72 stakes winners, and 31 graded stakes winners, including millionaires Wekiva Springs, Down the Aisle, and Najran who currently holds the American record for a mile (1:32 1/5). Runaway Groom sired not only Violet's Groomstick, but the fabulous Cherokee Run.


When he passed, he was 28 years old and had been pensioned from his siring duties since late February. When his caretakers realized that he was uncomfortable, even with medication, they decided to euthanize this champion. His Stallion Manager who cared for him for over a decade said, "Runaway Groom was a great horse with a great personality. Even at his age, he was the toughest horse in the barn to handle. He was the King around here, and he knew it. We are all saddened by his passing -- it's truly the end of an era." He is now buried in the Courtyard of the Stallion Complex at the Vinery.

I invite you to view the youtube link below. It shows this dear stallion at the age of 27, just last year, when he was sassy, gorgeaus, sexy and still the man about the walk! You can also read more about him at the other links as well.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=SEKUkIacsAE
or
http://www.championsgallery.com/runaway_groom.htm
or
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Runaway_Groom
or
http://www.canadianhorseracinghalloffame.com/thoroughbred/2001/Runaway_Groom.asp
or
http://www.reines-de-course.com/runaway_groom.htm

My picks for the Kentucky Derby 2007!

Here are my picks for this Saturday's Derby! 1) Stormello; 2) Zanjero; 3) Liquidity; 4) Curlin. My top 3 picks are all 30-1 longshots, but I think they are just lovely. Stormello has Blushing Groom, as well as Stormy Atlantic as the sire. Stormy Atlantic has Hail Atlantis who has a grand-dam of Moccasin through Flippers. Here's what's cool about that -- Blushing Groom is of course Violet's relation AND I saw Stormy Atlantic in the breeding shed last year in 2006 when Tom took Carla and me on a shed run one early morning in April! Also, what's cool is that he is ridden by a jockey from Maurice, LA who used to run at Evangeline Downs (I've been there -- it's where I told this young boy which horse I had picked to win and he looked up at me and said, "Not today.") Zanjero is related to Violet even more with Runaway Groom, Dame Francesca, War Admiral and Princequillo. He also has a splash of Secretariat. And Liquidity has the wonderful Blushing Groom! It'll be so wonderful to see my first Derby with my family running! Here's a photo of Stormello -- all red and pretty like my Violet!

Violet's Grandpa, Runaway Groom! -- Canadian Triple Crown Winner!

Violet's grandpa on her daddy's side is Runaway Groom, a 1979 sire who currently is at stud at the Vinery in Lexington, Kentucky. His 2007 stud fee is $12,500! He is 28 years old, and when he raced, he raced 18, won 6, placed 5, and showed 1. He won the Breeders Stakes, Travers Stakes, and Prince of Wales Stakes. The latter two were Grade 1 Stakes. In fact, by winning the Queens Plate, Prince of Wales and Breeders Stakes at Woodbine, he became the Canadian Triple Crown Winner! He has so-far foaled over 1,000 babies with 22 foal crops, with 139 stakes horses, 54 graded stakes horses, and 13 record setters. Four of his children have become millionaires on the race track. His son, Violet's daddy, Groomstick is #6 of Runaway Groom's top 10 race-earning children. He is considered a precious, if under-appreciated stud. Currently, he is ranked #20 nationally as preferred stud, and in Kentucky he is currently ranked #13. Last year's 2006 breeding season, he finished with the national rank of 78! Not so bad!!! There are a million different ways to rank him though -- producer of dirt track horses, milers, sprinters, etc. In 2006, he was often in the Top 5 on many of these lists. And he is very popular as a stud in New York, Florida and the Southeast region. See how sexy he is in his racing photo?! What a hottie! So, he is 28 years-old and there are some experts who perceive him as very precious. One Reines-de-Course pedigree analyst said that "Nasrullah-line sires are precious to us at this point in the history of breeding." Specifically, of Runaway Groom, this analyst said, "If you're lucky enough to have some of this bloodline, do work it properly and try to keep it alive. It's really pretty precious stuff." You can read more about him and his famous children at the following links:

http://www.stallionregister.com/sr_sire_page.asp?refno=781553&origin=BHonline

or

http://www.vinerykentucky.com/stallion_progeny.asp?id=12

or

http://www.reines-de-course.com/runaway_groom.htm

and take a look at one of his boys, a 2000 stud named The Lady's Groom. He's hilarious because he looks like the boy version of my very girly Violet!!

http://www.canmorfarms.ca/theladysgroom.htm

or you can even watch him winning the Travers Stakes at the following link. After he won the Canadian Triple Crown, his owner sent him to America to kick some butt here. It's very exciting because he is in last place the entire race and then suddenly comes from behind in the last turn -- he beats the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont Stakes winners for that year! They were all entered in that race. What a stud muffin!

http://www.championsgallery.com/runaway_groom.htm

You can also read about him at the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame! They are very proud of him. So, hey you, Elena. Violet's grandpa can be a trick question for the "Dead or Canadian" game!

http://www.canadianhorseracinghalloffame.com/thoroughbred/2001/Runaway_Groom.asp