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

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!

Kentucky 2007: Nijinsky's Grave

Here is the grave of Nijinsky, the Canadian born racer who is the last English Triple Crown winner! He was born in 1967 and passed in April 1992 from laminitis. He is noted as an "imposing, musuclar horse with anything but a gentle nature." He was purchased by an American who sent him to Ireland where he was the 2 year-old Champion in both England and Ireland. Thirty-six years passed between Bahram, another famous English Triple Crown winner and then Nijinsky's wins! And we have not had another since!

After winning his Triple Crown, he lost the Prix d l'Arc de Triomphe at the Hippodrome de Longchamp in Paris to a horse named Sassafras! I mean, really! Sassafras!. After another place and a final record of 13: 11-2-0, he was sent to spend the rest of his life siring majestic babies at Claiborne Farms! The Sun, a British newspaper, voted him "Horse of the Millenium" and he even had a movie devoted to him narrated by Orson Welles, he was so important!

He is the only sire in thoroughbred history to have colts who won the Kentucky Derby (Ferdinand) and Epsom Derby (Golden Fleece) in the same year! What's sad is that his kid Ferdinand was sent to the slaughterhouse by his Japanese owners when they decided his babies were just not fabulous enough.

My girls are related to him most immediately through Nearctic, Mahmoud, Bull Lea, Blue Larkspur, Menow, and Man 'O War. Nijinsky's parents are Northern Dancer and Flaming Page, and so he has Omaha (a Triple Crown Winner) and Omaha's dad, Gallant Fox (another Triple Crown winner) in his pedigree!

You can read more about this Canadian bred fabulous horse at the following links, and you can even see youtube footage of him winning the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes and the St. Leger!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nijinsky_II
or
http://www.canadianhorseracinghalloffame.com/thoroughbred/1976/Nijinsky_II.asp
or
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple_Crown_of_Thoroughbred_Racing
or
http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/stallion-directory/reference.aspx?doc=northerndancer
or
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmO6WttLCqQ
or
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I70rZCoHGQg

Kentucky 2007: Claiborne's Monarchos

Here is Monarchos standing outside his stallion barn at Claiborne Farm. He was beautiful and sweet -- he preened like a stallion, but also was gentle. The stallion manager let us pet him. And so he is officially the first Kentucky Derby winner I ever petted! I was thrilled.

He was born in 1998 and his record is 10: 4-1-3 and $1,720,830. He won both the Florida Derby and Kentucky Derby, placed in the Wood Memorial, and showed in the Belmont Stakes. His time in the Kentucky Derby was the second fastest in history, behind Secretariat's. He was in 10th place in a pack of 17, but managed to pick off each horse and finally put Congaree behind him at a searing pace! Of his preparatory win in the Florida Derby before the run for the roses, his jockey, Jorge Chavez said, "When I asked him, he just exploded. That was a great feeling, like I was the king."


So far, he has had 5 crops and 261 foals. Three of his crops are of racing age, with 192 foals of racing age.

His mom, Regal Band, died this year at the age of 20 at Rood and Riddle Hospital on April 9. She was suffering from a liver disorder. She was carrying an Empire Maker foal. My girls are related to his family in many ways, including Nearctic, Bimelech, Eight Thirty, War Admiral, Busanda, Bull Dog, Menow, Blue Larkspur, Turn-To, Nasrullah, Gainsborough, Case Ace, Bull Lea, Sir Gallahad, Case Ace, and Discovery.

You can read more about this sexy sweet kind stallion at the following links:
http://www.claibornefarm.com/stallions/monarchos.shtml
or
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarchos
or
http://www.kentuckyderby.com/2005/derby_history/derby_charts/years/2001.html
or
http://www.bloodhorse.com/stallionregister/sr_sire_page.asprefno=4475639&origin=BHonline or
http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/horseracing/preakness/bal-sp.derby06may06,1,3965877.story?coll=bal-sports-preakness&ctrack=1&cset=true
or
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/1315147.stm
or
http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/breeding-news/2007/April/09/Dam-ofMonarchos-dies-at-age-20.aspx
or
http://horseracing.about.com/library/weekly/aa050501a.htm

Kentucky 2007: Silent Classic and My Girls!

Barbie and Tom take care of thoroughbreds who need special care, either for injuries or senior care, for example. And they also engage in rescuing thoroughbreds too. In this photo, you see Silent Classic, a very important mare who travelled from Florida to live at Valentine Hall Farm. She was born in 1986, the year I graduated from college. Her sire is Danzig by Northern Dancer and her dam is Sweetest Chant by Mr. Leader.

She was a winner at 2 and 3, and earned $78,100. She has 11 registered foals, 9 raced, and 6 are winners. Her children include A Man of Class, Classic Boom, Creative Control, Jamies Silent Bid, Lang Pup, One Special Lady, Song of Songs, Very Classy Lady, and the filly in this photo the 2005 Silent Western. Silent Classic has had children in 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, and then 2005. She's been a productive hard-working racer and mother. Of course, she's related to my girls, in many ways, but here are a few: Nearctic, Nearco, Turn-To, Hail to Reason, Eight Thirty, Man 'O War, Whisk Broom, Blenheim, Gay Crusader, and Teddy! Doesn't she look elegant standing all relaxed and royal in her pasture with her other gal pals?!

Miesque and My Girls!

Miesque was a 1984 filly who is owned by a Greek shipping tycoon, Stavros Niarchos. She won championships in every country she ran in. Her final record was 16: 12, 3, 1, and all of her races except one were Group 1 stakes races. She won 10 Grade 1 races!!! In France, she earned the Champion Juvenile award as a 2-year-old, and when she was shipped to the U.S., she won the Breeder's Cup at Hollywood Park, and then turned around and won it a second time the next year at Churchill Downs, at her last race! In the first Breeders' Cup, she was in a field of 14, and the second 12! She was the first race horse ever to win two Breeders' Cups back to back. When she was 3, she ended her racing year with 5 championship awards!!! She earned Champion 3-year-old filly in France and England, Champion Miler in France and England, and Champion U.S. grass mare. When she was 4, she won the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Female Turf horse, as well as France's Champion Miler and Champion Older mare. She was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1999, and inducted into the French Hall of Fame. She was voted #82 of the Top 100 Race Horse of the 20th century!

When she retired, she became an awesome broodmare. Her children are very famous. Her last foal was a 2005 colt out of A.P. Indy by Seattle Slew by Weekend Surprise by Secretariat. This 2005 foal is being trained to race at Newmarket, England! But her first baby, her first bombshell smashing success as a mom is pictured above, Kingmambo, a major stakeswinner who is now retired to stud at Lane's End Farm...and he is so special that his 2007 stud fee is listed as "private." If you have to ask, you can't afford to breed to her baby!

Of course, my girls are related to sweet little, regular-running, championship earning, good mama Miesque. They share many connections, including Nearctic, Princequillo, Hyperion, Mahmoud, Equipoise, Nasrullah, and Count Fleet.

This good mare has races named after her at Hollywood Park and in France! You can read more about her at the following links:

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

or

http://www.thoroughbredchampions.com/biographies/miesque.htm

or

http://www.racingmuseum.org/hall/horse.asp?ID=341

Violet's cousin, Curlin, wins 2007 Preakness Stakes!

This past Saturday was the Preakness Stakes held at Pimlico. And what an exciting day! Street Sense was strong the entire race, as was Hard Spun, but in the last strides, the very last stride in fact, Curlin won by a whisker of a nose. Curlin has had 5 starts, 4 wins, and a third in his career. His trainer flew him home to Kentucky on Sunday and said of him, "He definitely knows he ran." Curlin was a bit tuckered out after winning. Street Sense's trainer said, "These 3 horses ran their guts out the last 2 races." He doesn't think that Street Sense will go to the Belmont now, but reflected on the loss by saying, "Winning isn't everything in this game. You don't want anybody to get beat, but there's got to be a winner." Violet is related to Curlin multiple ways, including the following: Case Ace, Nasrullah, Count Fleet, Nearctic, Blue Larkspur, Princequillo, Turn-To, Discovery, Whisk Broom, Sir Gallahad, and Bull Dog. On Preakness day, Michael Matz' horse won the Barbaro Stakes, a race which was originally the Sir Barton Stakes, but renamed to honor Barbaro. Michael Matz was Barbaro's trainer, and the Jackson's handed him the award, so it was a bittersweet moment. The day was marred though, immediately after that race, by a horse who broke his ankle, punctured his flesh, and had to be euthanized in The Dixie Stakes. Mending Fences perished that day, much like Barbaro from last year.