Res Nova -- Violet as a Little Baby!

Okay, so here is a photo taken in 1984 of one of Violet's baby relatives, Res Nova by Blushing Groom out of Track Robbery. The handsome gentleman is Doug Prather, a world famous photographer who, like our own Barbie Valentine, takes photos which just capture the sweet spirits of horses. Anyway, I just love this photo because it's probably a lot like what little Violet looked like as a foalllll wtih her ginger baby coat and white socks and sweet expression. I sure wish I had a photo of my own Violet as a young thing!

Quite a Bride and My Girls!

Here is a photo of Quite A Bride taken by Vanessa Ng in 2006 when QB was a young thing. She is a Florida-bred thoroughbred, just like Violet and was born a handful of days after Violet, on March 12, 2003. They are very closely related, as you can tell in this photo.

QB is a turf girl. She has a solid career with a 18: 10-1-4 record, and setting a new Churchill Downs track record on turf at 8.5 furlongs timed at 1:40.70. In late January of this year, her 5th year of racing, she won easily against Nashoba'sKey who was a finalist for the 2007 Eclipse Award for Turf. In this race, the $500,000 Sunshine Million Filly and Mare Turf race at Santa Anita track, she stalked behind the pacesetter SomethinaboutLaura until she was ready to let it roll. NB never really was a contender. She now has $878,881 in earnings!

As her jockey Garret Gomez said, "She placed herself well, like she does in all her races. In the middle of the turn, she hit another gear and I said, 'Let's go.'"

Her parents are Stormy Atlantic and Wise Bride by Blushing Groom. So, Blushing Groom is QB's grandsire on her dam's side and is V's great-grandsire on her sire's side. What's also cool about QB is that because of the Stormy Atlantic parentage, she also has Secretariat, Seattle Slew, Northern Dancer, and Moccasin in her. What a powerful girl!

Ginger Punch and My Girls!

Ginger Punch was born on April 23, 2003, just a month after my own girl, Violet. She is owned by Frank Stronach, the magnate who owns Adena Springs. Her parents are Awesome Again and Nappelen by Bold Revenue. She is 4 years old and just this past month won an Eclipse Award for Champion Older Female! Then on January 26th, a few days later, she won the Sunshine Millions Distaff by 6 3/4ths lengths! Last fall, she won the 2007 Breeders' Cup Distaff by wading through the mud, mud, mud at top speeds!

Among her other major wins were the First Flight Handicap, Go For Wand Handicap, and Ruffian Handicap! Her current record is 15: 8-5-1 with total earnings of $2,176,679. The World Thoroughbred Racehorse Rankings for 3 year old and up mares and fillies ranks her at #7 in the world, and our gal Rags to Riches is #1!

She's got a little One Countin her background, but here's the super cool thing -- she and Violet both have Blushing Groom in their heritage! In fact, he is the great-grandpa on both their sire's side! I think that shows just how super Violet is -- Blushing Groom and then Cherokee Run's nearest and dearest relatives on her sire's side! Just wonderful! I hope Ginger Punch has a great year!

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

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

Blushing Groom wins Poule d'Essai des Poulains

Here is a photo of Violet's great-grandpa, Blushing Groom. He is an amazing horse who raced in England and France before settling into a stud career from 1978-1992 in the U.S. at Gainesway Farms. When he was 2, he won 4 Grade 1 races, and then by the time he was 3, he had won 7 races, including the one that you can watch at the link below, the Grade 1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains! His final record was 10: 7-1-2, and because of his talents, he was voted the Champion 2- and 3-year-old racer in France, and the Champion Miler in Europe. In 1985, he was 3rd on the French sire list, 4th on the British sire list, and 5th in the U.S. He was on the world-leading sires list! He died in 1992, put to sleep after a 4-year battle with cancer. He sired 13 foal crops, 512 foals total, 411 starters, 294 winners, and 92 stakes winners, a very high percentage!!!! His kids have earned $30,874,725!!


Enjoy the race below. You see him just blaze away with those cute white socks just like my little ol' Violet!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=I9xJGkRACO0
You can also see a painting of him posted at the Aga Khan's webpage. Blushing Groom raced for him!
http://www.agakhanstuds.com/history/hors.asp?hcode=197400013

Better than Honour and my girls!

Better than Honour is related to Violet and Hailee, and, of course, is the mom of the 2006 Belmont Stakes winner, Jazil, and the 2007 Belmont Stakes winner, Rags to Riches!. Right now, she is an 11 year-old mare who has foaled five children out of Mineshaft, Seeking the Gold, A.P. Indy, and Storm Cat. Jazil's sire is Seeking the Gold, and Rags' sire is A.P. Indy. Better than Honour was purchased as a yearly at a July 1997 sale. Her trainer, John Kimmel said, "She was a gorgeaus filly by Deputy Minister out of a Kentucky Oaks winner (Blush with Pride). She was the most expensive yearling filly to sell. At that time, they had the summer and fall sale. The fall usually was a little less quality than the select Keeneland horses. She was the best of what was there. She was a beautiful horse physically with tremendous pedigree. She turned out to be a good racehorse." She had an 8-race career and won the Demoiselles Stakes! Her grandpa on her dam's side is Violet's great-grandpa, Blushing Groom!

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!!!

Rags to Riches enters Belmont Stakes!

Violet's cousin, Rags to Riches, will run in the Belmont Stakes this Saturday! She'll be one of 22 fillies who has tried to win over its more than 100 years. The last filly to win was 105 years ago -- only two fillies have ever won, Ruthless in the very first and then Tanya a few years later! So, there will be 7 horses running, with Curlin and Hard Spun the favorites. Violet and Rags share the same great-grandpa, Blushing Groom. And Rags has Secretariat and A.P. Indy. A.P. Indy is the first stud to successfully produce a baby from the Eclipse Horse of the Year Azeri who just had her first filly this spring and who is now bred to Storm Cat! Anyway, Violet and I will be rooting for her gal cousin!

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!

My picks for the Kentucky Oaks 2007!

As I've mentioned before, I first fell in love with thoroughbreds in 1973 when I was sitting in my living room with my family, reading a book, and someone nudged me and said, "Who do you think will win the Derby?" I looked up and Secretariat was striding out, looking like Secretariat. I was hooked. Now this is the first year that I share a descendant of Secretariat as part of my family! So, watching this year's Oaks is very exciting! Here are my choices:

1) Rags to Riches; 2) Cotton Blossom; 3) Dreaming of Anna. These are the three filies most closely related to Violet. They are related to her many different ways, but the big selling point is that they all share Blushing Groom! I like Dreaming of Anna because she has a NOLA trainer and a big earning record of $1,225,040 6:4-1-1. She is a 5-1 favorite, but has not run since February and has not won this year! Cotton Blossom has nice associations too with Traffic Court and some Dixie sorts of relatives. Cotton Blossom has a 7:3-2-1 record, $386,780, and has Barbaro's jockey who won the Eclipse Award. Her breeder likes thoroughbreds, but also Paints, Quarter Horses, and Arabs! And then Rags to Riches is the very favorite at 5-2 with a 4:3-0-0 record and $330,000. She's won everything she's been in this year! But I'm not thrilled with her because her trainer has two other horses in the race and the jockey had substance abuse problems in 2002. But, I'm still picking her for first because she looks the most like my beautiful Violet!!! Rags to Riches even has Violet's weird sexy splashy white blaze. She's the one for me!

Serena's Song and My Girls!

My girls are related to Serena's Song, the 1995 Eclipse Award winner for Champion 3-year-old filly of the Year! Her track record was 38: 18-11-3 and she earned $3,283,388 on the track. Among her wins, she took the Mother Goose, Haskell Invitational Handicap, Beldame Stakes, Hollywood Starlet Stakes, Santa Anita Oaks, Gazelle Handicap, Oak Leaf Stakes, Las Virgenes Stakes, Santa Monica Handicap, Santa Maria Handicap, Jim Beam Stakes, Black-Eyed Susan Stakes, and Landaluce Stakes. Her owners were Robert and Beverly Lewis, trainer Wayne Lukas, and jockey Gary Stevens. She was inducted into the National Museum and Racing Hall of Fame in 2002. She retired from the track to a life as a broodmare at Denali Stud near Paris, Kentucky. So far, she is the dam of 7 foals, 6 to race. She has had 5 winners so far. Her winning children include Grand Reward and Sophisticat sired by Storm Cat, Serena's Tune (a winning filly!) sired by Mr. Prospector, and Harlington sired by Unbridled. She is related to my girls in multiple ways, including Blushing Groom who is the sire's sire of Serena's Song. They also share (among others) Blue Larkspur, Sir Gallahad, Gainsborough, Teddy, Plucky Liege, Mahmoud, Hyperion, Man 'O War, Frillery, Broomstick, Nearco, Bulldog, Discovery, Whisk Broom, Sweep, and John P. Grier. Here's a photo of Serena's Song and one of her babies. You can read more about her and see more photos of her very beautiful children at the following links:

http://horseracing.about.com/library/weekly/aa022600a.htm

or

http://horseracing.about.com/library/pics/blserena1.htm

or

http://www.finalturngallery.com/Storm-Tides-album?page=1

or

http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/stallion-directory/stallion.aspx?stallion_no=6091773

or

http://www.hillndalefarms.com/stallions/grand-reward.shtml

or

http://horseracing.about.com/library/weekly/aa090800a.htm

or

http://www.denalistud.com/photoalbum.shtml

or

http://www.racingmuseum.org/hall/horse.asp?ID=377

Invasor and the 2007 Dubai World Cup!

On Saturday, March 31st, 2007, Invasor won the $6 million Dubai World Cup -- the duel in the desert!! He earned $3.6 million for his first place effort for the Sheik Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum who had purchased him for his Shadwell Stable for the sum of $1.4 million. Invasor was born in 2002 in Argentina and was the winner of the 2005 Triple Crown in Uruguay. He won the 2006 $5 million Breeder's Cup, as well as the Pimlico, Suburban Handicap, and Whitney Stakes. Out of 12 starts, he has won 11. His only loss occurred in the UAE when he came in 4th. He has earned the U.S. Horse of the Year, and the Eclipse Award for Champion Older Horse. His jockey is 18-year-old Fernando Jara, and his trainer is the New York-based Kiaran McLaughlin. Of his latest win in Dubai, his owner said, "I am over the moon. I've had a lot of good horses, but Invasor's one of the top horses that I've owned ever. It was great how he won in America. It's best when he wins here." So, of course, Violet and Hailee are related to this champion runner. His grandsire on his sire's side is Blushing Groom, which is the great-grandsire on Voilet's sire side. They also share War Admiral and Man o' War among many other connections! You can read more about this champion at the following links:

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

or

http://www.ntra.com/stats_bios.aspx?id=17932

or

http://www.shadwellfarm.com/news/

Dreaming of Anna -- Kentucky Oaks Contender

The Kentucky Oaks is run every Friday before the Derby and has run since 1875. The Oaks has a purse of $500,000. This year, one of the early contenders is Dreaming of Anna, pictured here. Do you see a resemblance with Violet? I hope so! They are heavily related. Blushing Groom is Dreaming of Anna's grandpa on her sire side, and Violet's great-grandpa on her sire's side! Dreaming of Anna has won many races so far, including the $2 million Breeders Cup for Juvenile Fillies last year. She is owned by Frank Calabrese who named her after his sister, Anna Andersen, who passed away at age 48 from cancer. Dreaming of Anna earned the 2006 Eclipse Award for Champion 2 year-old filly and not only is she expected to be a potential winner of the Oaks, she is scheduled to breed with Storm Cat for the 2007 season! Lucky girl! She is related to both Violet and Hailee, of course, and is profoundly related to Violet through shared pedigrees with the following relatives (among many): Blushing Groom, Count Fleet, War Admiral, Man 'O War, Nasrullah, and Princequillo. You can read more about this classy little filly at the following link -- where you can watch a few videos of her as well:

http://www.ntra.com/content.aspx?type=news&style=purple&id=21701

Barbaro passes, January 29, 2007

Co-owner Gretchen Jackson: "Certainly, grief is the price we all pay for love."

Today, Barbaro was euthanized at the New Bolton Center of the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, after 8 months of intensive treatment for an injury sustained in the 2006 Preakness Stakes. Prayers to his family of owners, riders, caretakers, grooms, veterinarians, fans, companion animals, and equine friends.

Sweet Hailee and Violet are related to this big-hearted champion. Violet shares his family through her Blushing Groom, Nearco, Nasrullah, Man 'O War, and Black Toney lines. Hailee is part of his family through Man 'O War and Black Toney. But we are all part of God's family.

May God care for his darling creation. Barbaro, 2003-2007.