Larry and Sarah on O_Crunk, Crist, Super Saturday, Game

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One last look at Secretariat before sneak peeks this weekend

This was Secretariat then: This is Secretariat now: This is the Secretariat music video: Let the publicity begin.

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Kingmambo had European race record but a lot of demand

Lane’s End’s Kingmambo, the sire of 21 Group/Grade 1 winners to date (and 76 Group and Listed stakes winners), was officially retired from stud duty Sept. 28, but his phenomenal international success as a US-based sire is a reminder in today’s market that a European-raced horse can succeed here despite proclamations to the contrary. In [...]

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Maria’s Mon’s Modest Wiener is top dog in Ukraine (indeed!)

Once again, Keeneland did a terrific job of attracting foreign buyers to its recently concluded September yearling sale, but the same pat on the back cannot be given to the authorities in charge of tracking the whereabouts (and racing records) of these horses destined for foreign lands outside the major racing centers. A case in point [...]

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Johnny T.L. Jones Jr. of Walmac fame spotted at Keeneland

He’s a big man from Texas who favors a Stetson hat and cowboy boots, wears a wide grin on his weather-beaten face, and still smokes cigarettes in “retirement” in his mid-70s (Marlboro Lights, instead of the red pack, is his nod to the health police, I’m sure). On first impression, Johnny T.L. Jones Jr. has the look [...]

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Giant’s Causeway colt wins Chechen Derby at Gudermes

North Stream, the same Giant’s Causeway colt who won the Russian Derby in Moscow last month in the red, green, and white colors of controversial Chechen president Ramzan Kadyrov, added the new Chechen Derby to his resume today for the Moscow-backed leader in his own backyard—literally. A new racetrack opened this year in Chechnya’s second-largest [...]

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Analyzing the bloodstock industry by Keeneland’s numbers

Based on results so far at Keeneland September through Thursday, numbers are better versus last year, with total gross of $192,884,100 already more than the total gross from the sale last year. This is okay for breeders, who paid the highest aggregate stud fees of the decade in 2008 to produce the yearling crop at the sales now. I [...]

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Slovakia story confirms Barbara Budinszky/Overdose split

At the end of last month, after the Hungarian sprinter Overdose lost his unbeaten status in Baden-Baden’s premier sprint, I noticed that the 5-year-old horse’s longtime groom, friend, and exercise rider, Barbara Budinszky, was not a part of the team. Click here and here to read those posts. Titanilla Bod, the sports editor of a Hungarian daily newspaper [...]

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Video: Undefeated Venezuelan triple crown winner Water Jet

Meet the latest sensation from Venezuela: Water Jet, a son of the Sadler’s Wells sire Water Poet—also sire of Bambera. Undefeated in eight starts, including the Venezuelan triple crown, Water Jet (#6) is shown in the video below winning the Venezuelan Group 1 Copa de Oro de Venezuela Sunday in record time of 2:26 2/5 for 2400 meters [...]

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Video: Belle Watling winning the Latinoamericana in Chile

By Diego Mitagstein, editor, Turf Diario The dream of a nation became a reality Friday (September 17) at the Club Hipico de Santiago in Chile. Belle Watling, a true champion, was all heart to overcome two challengers in the straight, including the final charge of a Brazilian invader, to beat him by a short head in the Group [...]

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Russian buyer Raut LLC has stellar buying day Tuesday

As recently as 2008 at Keeneland September, the Russian entity Raut LLC was a bottom feeder. Raut, for instance, purchased the following Russian Group winners two years ago at this sale:  Bushwood Belle (by Yonaguska) for $2,500; Bariton (by Purge) for $9,000; Hemera (by Maria’s Mon) for $10,000; and North Stream (by Giant’s Causeway) for $45,000. The latter, however, won [...]

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My commentary in Thoroughbred Times Today on Keeneland

I wrote the following commentary in the Sept. 14, 2010, issue of the daily zine Thoroughbred Times Today, which can be obtained free by registering here. Click here to read the commentary. Click here to read the International Daily circulated on Twitter. Click here to read best-of-twitter-blogs Daily circulated on Twitter.

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Stopped at Northampton Saturday and memories still linger

Back in the mid-1980s, when I lived a while in Boston, I had the chance to visit the Northampton fairgrounds a few times. Back then, the cheapest horses from Suffolk would race on the half-mile track against a few backyard runners who were readied each year specifically for the fair races by the locals in [...]

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best-of-twitter-blogs Daily is out: posts by blogging tweeps

The best-of-twitter-blogs Daily is out! http://bit.ly/a2dQC5  ▸ top story via @ClaireNovak : courier-journal.com | Kentucky Derby Racing …

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Bloodstock news culled from Twitter: @TBAblogs, @TTimes

Read the best-of-twitter-blogs Daily ▸ today’s top stories are contributed by @TBAblogs @thethoroughbred and @TTimes ▸ http://paper.li/sidfernando/best-of-twitter-blogs.

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