Brooklyn Bulldogs 12U travel team enters the homestretch

I’m on my last tour of duty as a youth baseball coach, and it ends for good next year (2010) when my team will play as 13-year-olds in the spring and summer only. In the fall, most of the guys, including my youngest son, Joe, will enter high school, and I’ll be done! From then on, [...]

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Chechen intrigue in Dubai may have affected Ascot plans

Re the post below on Ramzan Kadyrov, I got a Facebook message from Pat Cummings of Dubai Race Night that said: “Now that is an interesting status update for those who don’t know of whom you speak/write.” Maybe, if you don’t follow world events. But Kadyrov’s name has been dropped in the racing sphere, too. [...]

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The leading 2008 Japanese sire, Agnes Tachyon, is dead

Click here to read the story from The Japan Times. Click here to read more about Agnes Tachyon, an undefeated son of Sunday Silence and the sire of champion Daiwa Scarlet.

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Ramzan Kadyrov now owns US-bred Russian classic winner

Eugene Kappushev, a Russian turf editor who maintains a Russian racing website, wrote today that Chechen president Ramzan A. Kadyrov is now the owner of US-bred Russian 2000 Guineas winner Indian Jameson, a son of Airdrie Stud’s Indian Charlie. The feared Kadyrov is an associate of Chechen owner Saeedhusein Zakayev, who races the US-bred Quiet American colt Quiet [...]

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Cannonball and Ward make a case for future US raids to GB

One of the most impressive performances from Royal Ascot last week for American viewers was US-based Cannonball‘s narrow second in the Group 1 Golden Jubilee over 6 furlongs on turf. Trained by history-making American Wesley Ward, who won two stakes races at the meet, Cannonball was wheeled back in the Jubilee after finishing a fast-closing [...]

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Steve Haskin on one of THE greats: The Mighty Forego

As far as I’m concerned, the greatest horse of all time was Forego, a gelded son of Argentine superstar Forli. He was big, fast, and stayed all day long. It’s fair to say they broke the mold after he was made. Consider this: He was the champion sprinter in 1974 but also won the 2-mile Jockey [...]

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Kentucky horsemen need slots before the massacre begins

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Half-sisters to Graded stakes winners plentiful in claimers

There’s a plethora of young half-sisters to Graded stakes winners in claiming races these days, and it’s a sign that the breeding industry has cooled off considerably for short-term and long-term holdings alike. Up until a year or two ago, young half-sisters to current Graded stakes winners were much in demand in the breeding shed. Breeders and [...]

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Thoroughbred Times confirms Mine That Bird offer declined

I wrote on Tuesday (June 16) that a serious offer for Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird was in the works. On Thursday (June 18) I wrote that an offer of $2 million for half the horse had been rejected. I know another offer had also been rejected, and there was a third offer on the [...]

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Ladies and gents: John Sparkman has entered blogosphere

John Sparkman has a new blog, and just like that — voila! — he’s entered the fray running (a mile and a half) with an excellent piece on why the Triple Crown should not be changed. I particularly like this quote: “Not long after Affirmed retired, however, American training methods changed. Emphasis shifted to spacing [...]

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2009 Kentucky breeding industry is struggling vs. 2008

In broad strokes, things are not OK in the breeding world of Kentucky in 2009. One stallion manager had five mares booked to a fourth-year horse in early January, and only 20 more were added to his book as of yesterday. A sheriff’s sale recently saw a young $900,000 Red Ransom mare sell for a [...]

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Frank Mitchell: Bird’s eye view of the Kentucky Derby hero

Last Friday, Frank Mitchell had a chance to inspect Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird at Churchill Downs. Aside from blogging at bloodstock in the bluegrass, Frank measures horses for DataTrack International (Bob Fierro, president). Frank said: “Over the past 10 years of evaluating and measuring horses, I’ve developed a good sense of the mechanics [...]

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Who’s got it right here? The Jockey Club or Weatherbys?

After Stacelita won the Prix de Diane, I posted recently on her sire, the German-based Monsun. I wrote: “Altogether, Monsun is the sire of 13 Group 1 winners and at least 63 stakes winners.” The fine pedigree writer Avalyn Hunter wrote a column in The Blood-Horse recently on the same topic and stated: “Four times [...]

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The Triple Crown debate: Steve Crist versus Len Ragozin

Len Ragozin argues that the time has come for the Triple Crown format to change. Steve Crist retorts that it shouldn’t be tinkered with. Click to read Ragozin + Len Friedman, in The Rail. Click to read Crist, in Daily Racing Form.

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Include will stand 2009 SH season at Blaquier’s Biznaga

Click here to read the story from Turf Diario.

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