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

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!