Yagrumo, Violet's Half-brother

Here is a photo of Yagrumo, Violet's half-brother. He was born in 1998 to Groomstick and Women in Uniform by Double Sonic. He even has a little splash of Ta Wee on his dam's side. He's had kind of a hard-working race horse's life. He is recorded as racing from ages 2 through 6, for a total of 61 races, and a career of 5-17-12. Poor tired Champion.

He raced in Puerto Rico his entire life. I can't find information about him now, but one can only hope that he's earned the right to sire children and rest on beautiful green pastures! He earned $267,342 and is owned by J.M. Stable.

He's sexy, just like my little Vi!

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

Ta Wee and My Girls!!

Ta Wee was born in 1966 and became the Champion Sprinter of 1969 and 1970! Like Violet, she was born in Florida. And her sweet name, Ta Wee means "Beautiful Girl" in Sioux.

Her career record was 21: 15, 2, 1. And this accomplishment is staggering, given that she was expected to carry weights that never before had been assigned to a filly! When she was 3 years old, she won the Fall Highweight Handicap, carrying an unprecedented 130 pounds -- a first for a filly. Then the next year, she won the same race -- this time carrying 140 pounds!! She won the Interboro Handicap carrying 142 pounds!! And that was 29 pounds MORE than the second place horse, Hasty Hitter. She beat the boys, she beat the girls, and she was relentlessly expected to carry heavy weights! Lucky for her, it was in her genes. She and her half-brother, Dr. Fager, could carry giant huge weights and still sail ahead of everyone! For her efforts, she was voted #80 of the Top 100 Race Horses of the 20th century, and inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame in 1994.

She was a hard-working girl, and when she retired from racing, she had 6 children. Five of those children were track winners, and 4 were stakes winners. She even had a foal by Secretariat who was named Tweak!. She passed relatively young in 1980.

Of course, this champion, weight-carrying, formidable girl is related to both my sweet ponies! Some of their shared relatives include Bubbling Over, Discovery, Percentage, Better Self, Bimelech, and Bull Dog!

You can see video of her winning the 1970 Interboro Handicap while carrying 142 pounds at the following links!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWafPy3XBeM
or
http://www.championsgallery.com/ta_wee.htm
or
http://www.racingmuseum.org/hall/horse.asp?ID=149