Breaking News! Nashoba's Key Euthanized!

I am sad to report that the 5 year-old filly, born the same month and year as my dear Violet, Nashoba's Key was euthanized yesterday at the Hollywood Park backtrack. At 5:30am, she was in her outdoor pen, being readied for a gallop, when she kicked out so forcefully that she broke the tibia in her left hock. She is the daughter of Silver Hawk out of Nashoba by Caerleon, and she didn't start until her fourth year, when she won her first 7 starts. This year, she came in second in the Sunshine Millions in January, and won the Santa Margarita Handicap in March. She was coming off a rest break before being trained to shoot for the Fall Classic races. Her final record was 10: 8-1-0. Last year, she was, not surprisingly, a finalist for the Eclipse Older Female Award, placing second behind Ginger Punch. Rest in peace, powerful girl.

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

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!

Breaking News! Breeders' Classic Lineup Set!

This year's Breeders' Cup races will run over the course of two days and will involve 11 races, over 141 of the very best horses, $23 million in prize money, and chances to compete for the coveted Eclipse Horse of the Year Award!

They say that this year's Classic Cup is the deepest, best, most competitive ever. The eight horses registered include the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winners, the best older horse in the country, a European champion, the Kentucky Derby runner-up, and two improved 3-year-olds who might be the current best in the country!

In the picture, you see the undefeated Indian Blessing who will run in the start race of Day 2, the Juvenile Fillies. The horses you can expect to see that fabulous weekend include Curlin, Street Sense, Nobiz Like Shobiz, Cry and Catch Me, War Pass, Nashoba's Key, Dylan Thomas (winner of this year's Arc de Triomphe), Hard Spun (Derby runner up), Lawyer Ron (best older horse), Any Given Saturday, George Washington, and Awesome Gem. They expect 45,000 people to attend the October 27th card of races! The Belmont winner, Rags, won't be able to attend because of her hairline fracture. Hopefully, she has been healing well over these past weeks.
http://www.breederscup.com/