Majestic Prince -- 1969 Derby Winner!

Majestic Prince won the 1969 Kentucky Derby and was the first horse in history to win both the Derby and Preakness without any losses. His final record was 10: 9(6), 1(1), 0. He retired after problems with osselets. He beat Arts and Letters in both the Derby and Preakness, but then ran with tendon problems and came in second in the Belmont Stakes to his same competitor -- no Triple Crown!

His trainer was Johnny Longdon, the jockey who rode Count Fleet to a Derby win, and thus the only person to both train and ride Derby winners! He was an Albertan, just like Majestic Prince's owner. His jockey was Bill Hartack and MP was his fifth and final Derby winner! MP was inducted into the racing hall of fame in 1988 and was elected #46 of the Top 100 racehorses of the 20th century.

My girls are related to him through Discovery, Case Ace, Man 'O War, Whisk Broom, Royal Charger, Alibhai, and Mahmoud. You can read more about this fabulous gentleman at the following links:
http://www.racingmuseum.org/hall/horse.asp?ID=7
or
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Majestic_Prince

Gamely and My Girls!

My girls are related to Gamely, a 1964 Claiborne filly out of Bold Ruler and Gambetta. Gambetta's parents are My Babu and Rough Shod which I think are tremendously cool names. Anyway, this young filly started racing at age 3 and raced for 3 years. Her total record was 41: 16-9-6, and she won the Princess Stakes, Test Stakes, Alabama Stakes, Santa Maria Handicap, Santa Margarita Handicap, Wilshire Handicap, Inglewood Handicap, Beldame Stakes (twice), Santa Monica Handicap, and the Diana Handicap. She even once came in second in the Californian to Dr. Fager.

Not surprisingly, she earned the 1967 Champion 3-year-old filly award, and the 1968 and 1969 Champion Handicap Mare! She was inducted in the National Museum and Racing Hall of Fame in 1980. She passed away at the age of 11 because of a ruptured stomach, after bearing two foals, both to Round Table.

My girls are related to this Claiborne filly through many relatives, including Nasrullah, Discovery, and Sweep.

Traffic Court, Ace Card, and Violet!

Violet is related to at least two Kentucky Broodmares of the Year. The Kentucky Broodmare of the Year award is an elected honor chosen by the Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association. Traffic Court (1954 Broodmare of Year) is the daughter of Discovery and Ace Card (1952 Broodmare of Year), is the daughter of Case Ace. In the case of Traffic Court, her dad, Discovery, had the most amazing race record, but he became even more famous, if possible, as a broodmare sire. He produced Geisha dam of Native Dancer, Miss Disco, dam of Bold Ruler, Good Thing, dam of Bed 'O Roses, and Violet's own Traffic Court, dam of Violet's Hasty Road Co-Champion 2-year-old Colt of 1953 and Preakness Stakes winner, dam of Traffic Judge, a major stakes winner, and dam of Intentionally, a major sprinter. Discovery's owner, Alfred G. Vanderbilt, used to joke about his breeding strategy for race winners, "just breed any sire to a Discovery mare." Violet's Ace Card is bred to Count Fleet to produce One Count who was bred to War Admiral's Wee Nip. I've mentioned that before, but it's so cool that it bears repeating! Anyway, not only does she have these two fine Kentucky Broodmare of the Year mares in her heritage, she's related to many of the Broodmares of the Year through her sire connections, including Princequillo, Bubbling Over, Blue Larkspur, Blenheim, One Count, Count Fleet, War Admiral, Dark Star, and Blushing Groom! She also has some connections through the dam line, but I'm just pointing out the boys for now! Here's a photo of Traffic Court's daddy, Discovery! You can read more about the Kentucky Broodmares of the Year at the following links:

http://www.tbheritage.com/HistoricDams/AmBroodmareofYear.html

or

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

A Pony Takes Rolex by Storm!!!

This weekend is Rolex at the Kentucky Horse Park! I am sorry to be missing it, but have to focus on work for now! This year is a special Rolex because for the first time in history a PONY is competing in this major Four Star event!! Theodore O'Connor is being ridden by Karen O'Connor, a U.S. Olympian and spouse to David O'Connor, Olympic Gold Medalist and President of the United States Equestrian Federation. Theodore O'Connor's pet name by Karen is Theadorable. He is only 14' 1 3/4", so he is officially shorter than my sweet Hailee! He was 7th after the dressage test and he is 9th now, after the cross country. I hope he kicks butt tomorrow at the stadium jumping competition. I can hardly believe that he managed the huge, maximum-sized jumps of the cross country. And they say that this year's cross-country is much longer than any previously! Karen says of Teddy, "He doesn't know he's small. He thinks anything is possible!" What a good pony! I believe that Hailee could produce such fabulous kinds of ponies too! Anyway, he is 3/4ths thoroughred and a dash of Arabian and Shetland. And guess what? No surprise. He is heavily related to Violet and Hailee. He has Count Fleet, Reigh Count, Fair Play, Teddy, Discovery, La Troienne, Plucky Liege, Nasrullah, Sir Gallahad, Bend Or, and Questionnaire in his blood lines, to name a few of their relations. He even has Honest Pleasure in his background, an indirect relation to my girls! You can read more about this macho, history-making pony at the following links:

http://www.oconnoreventteam.com/horses_teddy.html
or
http://www.sportponiesunlimited.com/Sportponies_Unlimited_Connor.html
or
http://pets.webshots.com/album/500898533mACuGZ
or
http://www.horsetalk.co.nz/news/2007/04/185.shtml

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

Violet's Discovery!!

Violet is related to a gentleman whose nicknames included "The Iron Horse" and "The Big Train." Discovery earned $195,287 during his track life, with a 63-27-10-10 record. Among his starts, he won The Brooklyn Handicap and Whitney Stakes three times (1934, 1935, 1936), with the latter he won twice by 10 lengths! He won the Detroit Challenge Cup by 30 lengths, and also won the Arlington Handicap. When he was running, he carried an average of 31 lbs. He was voted U.S. Champion Handicap horse twice! And he won the 1935 Horse of the Year! That latter achievement was amazing because he was named Horse of the Year in the same year as Omaha won the Triple Crown. It was the first and only time in history that a Triple Crown winner wasn't named Horse of the Year. Not surprisingly, Blood Horse voted him #37 of the Top 100 race horses of the 20th Century. He was inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame in 1969. Turf Historian, John Hervey, said of Discovery, " There is no other horse in the entire range of Turf history, American or foreign, that ever attempted to do anything so tremendous or came anywhere near Discovery in doing it so successfully." He has a race named after him, "The Discover" which was originally run at Belmont Park and is now at Aqueduct. This grandson of Fairplay, born in Lexington, had a 21 year stallion career and is so very famous for producing amazing daughters. Among his kids are Bail Bond, Conniver, Dark Discovery, Geisha (dam of Native Dancer), Miss Disco (dam of Bold Ruler), My Recipe, and Traffic Court (dam of Hasty Road). Violet shares in this rich pedigree through Traffic Court who bore Hasty Road (winner of the Preakness Stakes). Hasty Road's child Third Martini was bred to War Admiral and Count Fleet's grandchild, Three Fingers, to make Three Martinis, great-grandpa on her damsire side! You can read more about Discovery at the following links:

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

or

http://www.racingmuseum.org/hall/horse.asp?ID=59

or

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