Spring Waltz and My Girls!

Here is a photo by Bob Coglianese of the lovely Spring Waltz, a 2003 filly just like my lovely Violet. She won the Grade 2 Rampart Stakes by 9 furlongs over the weekend of March 8, 2008. In the Daily Racing Form, her jockey, Javier Castellano, said "There was no question that I was concerned with getting stuck behind horses on the final turn. We had to squeeze through a little bit, but she's got a big heart. As soon as we made it through, she hit another gear and took off."

She'll be entered in the GII Louisville Breeder's Cup the same weekend that Sugar Swirl will be in the Humana Distaff. Both these horses are Frank Stronach Girls. Spring Waltz record so far is 9: 6-3-0, so she's quite the tough one! Her parents are Silver Charm out of Relaxing Rhythm by Easy Goer.

My girls, of course, share many relatives, including Hasty Road, War Admiral, Tom Fool, Princequillo, and Nasrullah!

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

Somethinaboutlaura and My Girls!

Today's blog is about Somethinaboutlaura, a young lady who raced only in California her entire career. She just retired at the end of March at the age of 6 and was booked to Stormy Atlantic. Her final career record was 34: 18-4-5 with earnings of over $1,129,000. She was born on March 1, 2002 by Dance Floor out of Crystals of Ice by Its Freezing. Over her career, she had 14 stakes wins and 9 wins in added-value races. She won several important stakes races twice, including the Campanile, A Gleam Invitational, and Pacific Heights Handicap. She was great over all surfaces and distances, racing on dirt, turf, and synthetic surfaces and at distances ranging from 5 1/2 furlongs to 1 1/16 miles. The girl deserves some pasture time with a beautiful foal by her side, that's for sure!

My Violet shares a little splash of Nasrullah, Princequillo, Discovery and Man o'War with her, among many other relatives. You can see a resemblance between my sweet Vi and Somethinaboutlaura. Happy retirement, girl! Enjoy your pasture and herd time. Make some beautiful fast, resilient, weight-carrying, flexible horses! Make winners like yourself, who can win stakes races on dirt, turf, and synthetic. What a talented girl!

Smart Strike's Big Year!

Smart Strike, a Canadian stallion out of Mr. Prospector and Classy 'N Sweet by Smarten is a retired 1992 stallion who really had quite a big year in 2007! Two of his children, Curlin and English Channel, really made him proud. Curlin won two Eclipse Awards for 3-year-old male and then Horse of the Year! English Channel won Eclipse Turf Male! And on September 30th, Smart Strike's three kids, C, EC, and Fabulous Strike all proved G1 winners at Belmont. So, with progeny earnings in 2007 alone of $9,122,430, he became #1 General Sire in North America for 2007.

He is the first stallion to produce Champion Turf and Champion Dirt kids in the same year, since the inception of the Eclipse Awards in 1971.

And, of course, his stud fee increased for 2008! His fee in 2007 -- $75,000. His fee in 2008 -- $150,000! Way to go, boy! Well done! More carrots for you, sweet thing!

In his own racing career, he won 6 of 8 starts, but took a thrashing from Cigar in his last start. He then was preparing for the Breeders' Cup, but suffered a fracture and retired early. My girls are related to this good boy through Nasrullah, Count Fleet, Turn-To, Princequillo, and Discovery among others!

The photo is from his stallion page. You can learn more about him at the following links:
http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/stallion-directory/stallion.aspx?stallion_no=1365869
or
http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/breeding-news/2007/October/15/Smart-Strike-joins-six-figure-stud-fee-club.aspx
or
http://www.ntra.com/blog.aspx?blogid=9&year=2008&month=1&day=23
or
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_Strike

The fine line between happiness and mania

In the January 9th, sports section of the New York Times, they had a moving story about a 40 year-old African-American woman, Sylvia Harris, who is working as an apprentice jockey in her first full year of riding at the Hawthorne Race Course near Chicago Midway Airport. This woman was raised in California where she dreamed of becoming a veterinarian. But manic depression emerged when she was 19 years old and she has been battling homelessness, broken relationships, problems with mothering, poverty, and struggles with sanity ever since. She tried to join an art school, but her car was stolen and she eventually ended up jobless and homeless. A ministor helped her articulate her lost dreams -- something with horses -- and got her a job as an exercise rider and groom in Ocala, Florida. That was in 2005, and she has worked hard and diligently to become a jockey since.

She ran her first race at Arlington Race Track in August and is just now beginning to get some regular jobs and regular attachments to particular horses. In this case, Wildwood Pegasus, has become her regular mount who she has led to a win!

She says that, "There's a fine line between being happy and being manic. I can't start thinking that I'm going to win the Kentucky Derby. There are times when I need a reality check." She is struggling to become a jockey at such an advanced age, work as an apprentice, and maintain her sanity and contact with her children. May God bless her struggles.

In this photo, she is riding to victory in early January on Rob Why Tee. My girls are related to these two horses. Rob Why Tee's grandsire on his dam's side is Secretariat!. My girls share Eight Thirty, Menow, Nearctic, and Discovery, among others with him. He was born on March 15, 2003 (a week after Violet) and sold for $17,000 at the Keeneland Sales. Wildwood Pegasus's sire is Fusaichi Pegasus and also has Seattle Slew on the mom's side. My girls share Nasrullah, Case Ace, and Princequillo among others!

Breaking News! Amazing Results in the Black Gold Stakes!

News from the Fairgrounds in New Orleans is good! Amazing Results won the tradition-rich $60,000 Black Gold Stakes by 1 length this Saturday. Here you see a photo by Lou Hodges Jr. of the winning jockey, Julien Laparoux, placing a wreath on Black Gold's grave after his win! Amazing Results has Secretariat and Northern Dancer on his sire's side and Buckpasser and Nasrullah on his dam's side.

The Fairgrounds is the third oldest track in the United States, having opened in 1872.

In other news from the Fairgrounds, trainer Greg Sacco says that he likes being at Barn 34. His nervous filly, Sicilian Soul, settled right down once she moved into Barn 34. She likes it because the barn has stalls facing each other, so she can see her buddies. She settled down right away, quit pacing her stall, and gained weight! He thinks that she's ready to get out in front and run like a queen now!

Giacomo -- 2005 Kentucky Derby winner!

Giacomo won the 2005 Kentucky Derby as a 50-1 longshot, breaking from behind a wall of horses in the stretch to make a barnburning firelit 70-yard dash into history! His final record before he retired to Adena Springs Stud was 16: 3-2-5.

But his real longshot was surviving at all. He was born in 2002, a year when Kentucky suffered a huge epidemic of mare reproductive loss disorder. At his farm, 25% of the foals were aborted or were stillborn. All told, Kentucky lost 2,500 horse fetuses. But Alice Chandler, his mom, knew he was a tough guy!

Now, I got this from Two Minutes to Glory: The Official History of the Kentucky Derby. Donnie Snellings, the stallion and yearling manager at Giacomo's farm knew he was a tough one. He said, "He was a tiny little thing. But every time I tried to go get him, he'd take off all the way to the other fence. He was loose for three days. I saw a lot of the backside of Giacomo. I knew early he could run long."

His sire and dam are Holy Bull and Set Them Free. And he even has Ta Wee "Beautiful Girl" in his background. My girls are related to him through Better Self, Turn-To, Nasrullah, Questionnaire, Bull Dog, Pharos, Whisk Broom, Teddy, and Intentionally.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=PDeItSF72Gs

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.

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

Sanfoin and My Girls!

Sainfoin was the 1890 Epsom Derby winner. He started 11 times and won 4. He was a successful stud who produced the English Triple Crown winner, Rock Sand. And he's felt very strongly in thoroughbred lineage. My girls are related to him through his best connections. Violet carries him multiple ways, especially through Nasrullah whose Nearco has Sainfoin and whose Mumtaz Begum has Sainfoin's full sister, Sierra. Of course, Violet also has Rock Sand. Both Hailee and Violet carry Sainfoin through his daughters, who were bred to Fair Play and produced our darling Man o' War! Sainfoin was pretty studly because he was a 3X3 cross to Stockwell!

Shuvee and My Girls!

These photos are from Braulio Baeza's webpage. He was very lucky to have ridden some of the best horses in history, including Shuvee, a 1966 filly who rocked out in racing! Her parents were Nashua and Levee by Hill Prince. Much of what I'll write about her here is from the Blood Horse's Top 100 Thoroughbreds of the 20th Century series. She earned #70 for her impressive deeds.

Here are the first words written about her in this history book, "She looked like a stallion, ate like a stallion, and trained like a stallion. Best of all, Shuvee could race like a stallion too." Nice, real nice. I bet she'd be annoyed because she probably thought of herself as a sweet ol' big girl! She grew to 16.1 hands and was a monster-sized girl!

Anyway, she won amazing races by huge margins. She liked to swing from behind and then just leap into the lead. She won the Filly Triple Tiara -- the Triple Crown for girls in 1969, and then was voted Champion Older Mare in 1970 and 1971. Ron Turcotte rode her to a second straight victory in the Jockey Club Gold Cup -- no other filly or mare has won that race ever, let alone twice! Her big competitors at the time were Gallant Bloom and Process Shot.

Her trainer, W.C. "Mike" Freeman, said of her, "Boy, she was tough. You couldn't make her back off the feed tub or anything. She'd eat anything you put in front of her. And she needed more training than any filly I saw!" Her owner dad said, "She never took a bad step in her life and never had any physical problems at all through her racing career. Real extraordinary mare -- for a big filly, particularly. Never bucked her shins. Just a real freak!" This strange praise was indeed remarkable because she had a long 4-year racing career (1968-1971) and was a big horse, so it would have been easy for her to hurt those long legs! Her final record was 44: 16(15), 10(6), 6(4)! She was such a talented girl that she could run great at any distance -- 8 furlongs to 2 miles!

When she retired, she died fairly young in 1986 due to complications in foaling. She died a champion! She was inducted into the National Racing Hall of Fame in 1975, the Aiken Training Center Hall of Fame upon its opening in 1977, earned 2 Eclipse Awards for Champion Older Mare in 1970 and 1971, and the Filly Triple Crown! No wonder she's #70 of the top 100 racehorses of the 20th century!

My girls are related to Shuvee most immediately through Nasrullah, Princequillo, Ultimus, and Sir Gallahad!

You can read more about this champion mare at the following links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuvee
or
http://www.racingmuseum.org/hall/horse.asp?ID=136
or
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuvee_Handicap

Vikki's Take on My Red Girl!

My friend, Vikki, came to visit the stable in September. I had just given my girl a bath on this blazing hot day and let her out in the pasture.

So, she did what she always does when there are cameras -- she vogued! She cantered around the pasture in her nameplate sale halter, snorting, gallivanting, and putting on her imitation of Nasrullah, Secretariat, Swing On, Rags to Riches, and Count Fleet. You can just see her royalty rippling along her! What a sweet beautiful girl. I love this photo and appreciate Vikki's talent! Thank you!

Breaking News! Broodmare sets World Record Auction Price

The Keeneland Breeding Stock Sale is underway, beginning November 5th and running through the 19th. On the very first day, sales are up by 30% over last year, with intense international interest. 194 horses sold on the first day, for an average of $526,186, and a median of $272,500. 28 horses sold for $1 million or more. The first day brought $109,064,000. Can you imagine what the total sale will bring?! And this sale comes on the heels of the Fasig-Tipton Sale which ended Sunday. It too ended up 30% over last year's sales.

But a world record was set for a 5 year-old mare, Playful Act, who was in a bidding war between Coolmore Stud and the ruler of Dubai, Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum's Darley Stud. She sold for $10.5 million!!! The mare was held by Hill 'N Dale Bloodstock and she had recently aborted a Kingmambo foal. I once went to Hill 'N Dale to see a live cover in their famous breeding shed! Tom Hall kindly took Carla and me to this big event!

Playful Act's parents are Sadlers Wells and Magnificient Style. Sadlers Wells' dad is Northern Dancer, the Kentucky Derby winner from 1964. And MS' dad is Silver Hawk. She has lots of Native Dancer in her pedigree, and she even has Shenanigans, Ruffian's mom. So, you know, she's a very good girl!

My girls are related to her lots of ways, but some of them are through Nearco, Bold Reason, Nasrullah, Turn-To, and Pocahontas. I hope that beautiful Playful Act becomes a big fat Blue Hen who produces nothing but her beatiful self as a living gift through the ages!!

Mumtaz Begum, Mumtaz Mahal and My Girls!

Violet is related to the mother-daughter team, Mumtaz Mahal and Mumtaz Begum, the granddam and dam of Nasrullah, respectively. MB won her maiden race and then another small race, but was put to stud as a 3-year-old. She was barren the first season, produced Sun Princess her second season, and Nasrullah her fourth season!

Her mom was called the "famous flying gray filly" and was the fastest horse England had ever seen up to that point, except for her dad, The Tetrarch! She was scorching. She beat horses when she was carrying 28 pounds more than they were. She "raced the field off its feet" routinely. She liked to canter way way out front at the end of her races, romping and skipping 10 lengths ahead. She was bred by Lady Sykes of Sledmere Stud and sold for a record high to the Aga Khan. She became one of the most influential mares of the 20th century, and certainly was a foundation mare for the Aga Khan. Her final race record was 10: 7-2-0 and her babies were awesome. She passed away in France at the age of 24. Here's a picture of MM, but look at the Thoroughbred Pedigree link for a picture of her sleek, thin, svelte daughter MB, mom of Nasrullah!.

These girls were all that and a bag of chips. They are true Blue Hens! You can see their suaveness in my lovely Violet!
http://www.tbheritage.com/Portraits/MumtazMahal.htm#MumtazBegum
or
http://www.bloodlines.net/TB/Bios/MumtazMahal.htm
or
http://thoroughbredchampions.com/biographies/mumtaz.htm
or
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumtaz_Mahal_(horse)

Seattle Slew and My Girls!

Seattle Slew was the 10th of 11 Triple Crown Winners and the last surviving one until he passed on the 25th anniversary of his Kentucky Derby win in 2002. He's a fabulous fellow. He was foaled at White Horse Acres from Bold Reasoning and My Charmer and was purchased as a yearling for $17,500 by two couples, Karen and Mickey Taylor (he was a 4th generation logger) and Sally and Jim Hill (he was a vet). They called him Seattle Slew, with the latter being a play on slough, which is a waterway to transport logs! Anyway, right away Seattle Slew began winning for them, so Mickey told his wife, "If we can keep this horse in one piece, I'll never have to cut down another tree!"

Well, he was the only horse to win the Triple Crown undefeated. He had a little pre-race "War Dance" on his tippy toes to show his eagerness. His final record was 17: 14(9)-2(2)-0. He earned Champion 2-year-old and 3-year-old honors and the Eclipse Horse of the Year Award in 1977. Some say he should have won again because they gave it to Affirmed, even though Seattle Slew had twice beaten him handily. Anyway, sour grapes and who needs it! After all, Seattle Slew was also voted Champion Older Male in 1978, and Champion Broodmare sire in 1995-1996. He was inducted into the National Museum and Racing Hall of Fame in 1981. And he was voted #9 of the Top 100 racehorses of the 20th century. He was the father of more than 100 stakeswinners, including A.P. Indy. He is grandpa to Rags to Riches, and one of his daughters produced the leading thoroughbred money earner of all time, Cigar (John Henry's friend from the Kentucky Horse Park).

He stood for 17 years at Three Chimney Farms and carried a fee of $125,000. In 2000, he needed spinal cord surgery to relieve compression, so he began a philanthropy serving Spinal Cord Research at Pullman's Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine to honor his own team of surgeons. When he became ill in his later days, they moved him to Hill 'N Dale, so he could have more privacy from the bustle of the breeding barns at Three Chimneys. And when he passed, his mom and dad and other people who loved him were there. He is buried at Hill 'N Dale, you can see his grave in these photos.

Violet is related to him primarily through Nasrullah and Princequillo.

http://www.racingmuseum.org/hall/horse.asp?ID=134
or
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattle_Slew
or
http://www.spiletta.com/UTHOF/seattleslew.html

Kentucky 2007: Claiborne Farm's Stallion Barn!

Here it is, that slice of history, the stallion barn at Claiborne Farms. Claiborne Farms is probably the best thoroughbred farm in the history of American horses. It started in Virginia when a Hancock was recovering in the home of the Harris family in Ellerslie from his three Civil War injuries as a Confederate soldier. He married one of their daughters, and his son, A.B. Hancock, Sr. loved the breeding, racing and selling of horses.

He travelled to Kentucky to judge horses and met Nancy Clay, a lady whose family owned what would become Claiborne. They married and then in 1910, both her parents died within 4 days of each other. Arthur Boyd and Nancy ended up at Claiborne Farms and though they initially focused on tobacco, corn, cattle and sheep, they eventually turned to thoroughbreds 24/7!

A.B. Hancock, Sr. bred more than 138 stakeswinners, A.B. "Bull" Hancock, Jr. bred more than 111, and Seth Hancock, the third generation and the fellow now in charge, bred more than 138! Collectively, Claiborne bred more than 400 stakeswinners and is still going strong! Claiborne has been on the leading sire list in North America 28 times, including 15 years straight in 1955-1969! The fabulous Hancock family led the breeder's list 10 times, and foaled 17 Horses of the Year!!

During one magical moment of their history, Bull Hancock formed a very special productive friendship with the New York banker, William Woodward, Sr. They brought Blenheim to the States, and Bull also brought Nasrullah.

Kentucky 2007: Bold Ruler's Grave

Here is Bold Ruler's grave. He was bred and owned by Mrs. Henry Carnegie Phipps' Wheatley Stable, and Mrs. Phipps loved him dearly and even had a St. Christopher's medal braided into his forelock before his races. He was foaled at Claiborne Farms, the same night as the fabulous Round Table. In fact, Bold Ruler's career took place in the company of the most amazing mega-crop of racers and sires.

He's lucky he even had a race career because he was plagued by accident, injury and illness. When he was a baby, he cut his tongue very badly and almost broke a leg in a water trough. Through his career, he suffered back, leg, rheumatoid injuries, and at the end of his career, it was discovered he'd been running with a large splint fracture for some time, probably in great pain!

But when he did retire, he retired as a champion. He was voted the #19 race horse of the Top 100 of the 20th century by Blood Horse magazine. He was inducted into the National Museum and Racing Hall of Fame in 1973, the year his kid Secretariat won the Triple Crown. He even has a race named after him, The Bold Ruler Handicap, run each year at Belmont Park. His final record was 33: 23-4-2, and he beat some major horses in his life. At 3, in 1957, he was voted 3-year-old Champion and Horse of the Year! The latter award was pretty impressive given his competition! He beat Iron Leige in the Preakness Stakes, and beat both Gallant Man and Round Table in the Trenton.

He was beat by Iron Leige in the Kentucky Derby, but here's what his rider, Eddie Arcaro had to say about that miss: "He was so full of run that he could have gone right on past Federal Hill, and I should have let him do that, but it wasn't until then that I realized I was fighting him too hard. Then he was empty. I had discouraged and confused him by fighting him when he wanted to run." So, that's why it felt good to let Bold Ruler run like a king in the Preakness and win.

When he retired after his splint bone injury, he became one of the most important studs ever. He led the sire list 8 years, including 7 consecutive years. He has 11 champions among his offspring. He was by Nasrullah and Miss Disco by Discovery. He passed that strength and speed in the 1970s to 7 of the 10 Kentucky Derby winners in his male line. His descendanta include Secretariat, Seattle Slew, Spectacular Bid, Foolish Pleasure, and Ruffian. He was the sire of 82 stakeswinners, and broodmare sire of 6 Champions and 121 stakeswinners. In fact, he led the American sire list more times than any other sire of the 20th century, and sired more stakeswinners than any other stallion except for his dad, Nasrullah. He had a 22% stakeswinner percentage. And let's not forget that he is the dad of the horse most think is the very best racer of this century -- Secretariat!

On July 12, 1971, he was euthanized after a strong battle with cancer. Bull Hancock said of him, "You can pick the Bold Rulers out by their conformation. I see the same musculature as Nasrullah. They all had an extra layer of muscle beside their tail running down to their hocks. It is a good sign when you see it on a Bold Ruler. It means strength and speed."

Something sweet about him is that even though he was a big old macho sexy stud colt, he was sweet with his mom. Whenever she came down to lead him to the winner's circle, he would lean his face down for her to hold his lead line and he would walk like a sweet old pony, all proud to be with his mom. I think that's nice.

I got help for this Blog entry from the 1999 Thoroughbred Champions book by Blood Horse and from the Unofficial Thoroughbred Hall of Fame website. You can read more about Bold Ruler and see photos, and even see film footage of his amazing Preakness Stakes win at the following links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bold_Ruler
or
http://www.diamondjfarms.com/boldruler1.html
or
http://www.aro.co.za/aroHorseProfiles/BOLD%20RULERUSA1954.htm
or
http://www.spiletta.com/UTHOF/boldruler.html
or
http://horseracing.about.com/library/pics/blboldruler.htm
or
http://www.racingmuseum.org/hall/horse.asp?ID=34
or
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6PuKjzWATs

Kentucky 2007: Princequillo's Grave

Here is the grave of Princequillo, also an important sire in Violet's family tree and a grandpa of Secretariat! You'll recall from my earlier blog that Princequillo had quite an interesting career. He really had poor breeding with a pedigree "crammed with plodders" and his first three dams "sired by proven failures." So, there is really no explanation at all for why he was such an important stud who sired 479 foals and produced a 13.4% stakeswinner rate. He led the sire list in 1957 and 1958 and has been a leading broodmare sire 8 times since 1966. One of his most important fillies was the lovely Somethingroyal. And one of his most famous colts was Round Table, the Horse of the Year in 1958 and 3X Turf Champion.

Princequillo's dad was Prince Rose the Triple Crown winner in Belgium who was nationalized he was beloved so, and so he would never be allowed to leave that country. But in World War II, they were intent on protecting him, so they sent him to France where he was killed by artillery fire. By then Princequillo had been bred by an American in Paris who worked for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and had chosen the lovely Cosquilla as the dam, and our little hero was a gangly underfed weanling ensconced in New Orleans.


He had a checkered, spotty race career and ended his career with most thinking that he was well-below the best. At one point, he was claimed in a stakes race for $2,500. He ran in New Orleans which I think is cool, as well as other places. There were a few conflicts in his life about who actually owned him, and there were fights between his trainer (who was mad at the owner for never paying his training bill) and the owner (who was mad at the trainer for not showing up for work at the stables on Sundays). Despite this, Bull Hancock told his dad when he saw Princequillo win the Saratoga Cup at 3 that "This is one horse we've got to have."


And that was that -- the poorly bred, spotty record, better at longer distances, stamina horse -- made it to Claiborne Farms where he and Nasrullah formed the heart and foundation of the top of the thoroughbred lines in the United States. You go, sweet Princequillo!


Again, information for this entry are from Abram S. Hewitt's Sire Lines and Horse Racing's Top 100 Moments both from the 2006 publishing year of Eclipse Press.

Kentucky 2007: Nasrullah's Grave

Here is the grave of a very important stud to thoroughbreds and to my sweet Violet. Nasrullah was born in 1940 and passed at Claiborne Farms in 1959. His race record was 10 : 5-1-1 and he sired 105 stakeswinners out of 425 foals for a total percentage of 25%! He was a leading sire in England in 1951 and then a led the sire list in the United States 5 times (1955, 1956, 1959, 1960, and 1962).

But he was a nasty old goofball as a race horse, and people still speculate about whether that was because of his wicked temper or his strange British training . Phil Bull, a famed handicapper who wrote about Nasrullah in the Best Horses of 1943 said, "Last year, I regarded Nasrullah as head and shoulders above the other colts of his age. I gave him a long and rather enthusiastic write up, and I fear that, in spite of his having failed in each of his classic ventures, in spite of his bad temper, his mulish antics, in spite of his exasperating unwillingness to do the job, etc., etc., I fear that I am going to give him another write up. I know he doesn't deserve it, but I can't help it." And then he praised him some more, though he said that if Nasrullah's daddy, Nearco, found out how bad his kid was, it would really impact his fertility!

His habit was to fight with his jockey in the saddling area, fight afterwards, run swiftly, but then pull up and fling his head when he would pull into the lead. Some thought that it was because he had been trained by the British method of letting him follow a lead horse for his workouts, so he would be relaxed and feel like he was in a herd -- So, he didn't like to be out front! Anyway, he was a total nasty pistol about fighting his jockeys and quitting a race once he took the lead, as you can see in his final record.

There's a funny story about an exchange between a gentleman and Nasrullah's trainer, Frank Butters, at the Newmarket Heath. It was during World War II, and Nasrullah's jockey had joined the Army. The gentleman said to Butters, "Have you heard that Charley Smirke has been decorated with the Victoria Cross." "Really?" said the dignified Butters. "What was he decorated for?" "Charley stopped a German tank." "I am not surprised," observed Butters. "When he was riding for me, he could stop anything!"

Nasrullah was a big old tank of a horse, 16 1 1/2 hands and strong and sound. He came from the "best sire line in England and the fastest female line." And he produced some amazing babies over his lifetime, including Bold Ruler, Noor, Nashua, Jaipur, Red God, and On-and-On. I am sure you recognize some of those names from Violet's family tree!

Anyway, A. B. Hancock purchased him for his syndicate and brought him to Claiborne in 1951. Some of the best horses ever were by crossings of Nasrullah's sons and Princequillo's daughters! But that crossing ended up with a sort of nasty limerick about Nasrullah: "Match Nasrullah through a son, and Nasrullah though a daughter, To make it really blister, match Nasrullah through his sister."

Ummm, now that I think on it, Violet has both Nasrullah and Nasrullah's half-sister, Sun Princess who produced Royal Charger, a very successful sire by Nearco and also a member of Violet's family tree! So...I guess Violet is part of the history of this dirty little limerick!! Yay!

So, you can bet that on that August morning, I was proud to be standing before this gravestone!
I used the following sources for this blog entry: Abram S. Hewitt's (2006) Sire Lines and Horse Racing's Top 100 Moments (2006), both by Eclipse Press in Lexington.

Kentucky 2007: Blenheim's Grave

Here's is Blenheim's gravestone. He is among the many important stallions who lived at Claiborne Farms. He was purchased by the Aga Khan even though he only topped out at 15.3 and was straight in his front pasterns! As a 2 year-old for the Aga Khan, he raced 7: 4-3-0. And then ended his race career with a 10: 5-3-0 record.

As a sire, he was fabulous. He produced Mumtaz Begum the dam of Nasrullah. In 1936, the Aga Khan sold him for $250,000 to the American syndicate headed by A.B. Hancock, Sr. of the wonderful institution, Claiborne Farms. Among his greats, Blenheim sired Whirlaway (1941 Triple Crown Winner), and Jet Pilot (1947 Kentucky Derby winner). In the United States, Blenheim lives through his Nasrullah and Mahmoud lines. And in Europe, he lives through Crepello and Alycidon!