A Monday at Warnambool probably isn't where you would expect to see a high profile yearling make his debut. Today though we see the Commands colt, Zeb Force appear for the first time. Zeb Force is by Commands out of the Zabeel mare, Zebizan making him a three quarter brother to the stakes placed Hol…
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Pedigree of the Day 25 August Grauman
Race 1 at Gosford today sees the debut of Grauman. He is by Aussie Rules out of the Falbrav mare, Takali. Aussie Rules is a son of Danehill who shuttled to Australia for four seasons to stand at Coolmore. His results, it is fair to say, have not been outstanding, with only one stakes winner to da…
Pedigree of the Day - 24 August 2013
Today we are in Sydney and our Pedigree of the Day is in the Silver Shadow for 3yo fillies. It looks a pretty decent field, but one of the most expensive youngsters running is Killcareless. By More Than Ready out of the Fusaichi Pegasus mare, Climatic, she was a $250,000 purchase who races in the …
Pedigree of the Day #9
Another pedigree to look out for today is that of Last Sight in Race 3 at Geelong. Last Sight is a 3yo colt by Fastnet Rock having his first start. We don’t have to say a lot about Fastnet Rock who is a son of Danehill, and Australia’s most expensive stallion. What is perhaps a little surprising …
Pedigree of the Day - Bonaccordo
Today’s pedigree is at Scone in Race 2. Bonaccordo is having his second start, and has a pedigree that is of interest. He is a 4yo gelding by Dubleo out of Mamma Rossa by Red Anchor. Dubleo stands at Vinery Stud and is by Southern Halo. He was a reasonably well performed racehorse, winning seven…
Pedigree of the Day 21August
Sydney Race 2 today sees a first starter in Forever Loved as our Pedigree of the Day. Forever Loved is a 3yo NZ bred who ranks among Australasian thoroughbred royalty. She is by the sire of So You Think in High Chaparral out of a Danehill mare called Diamond Like. Diamond Like won five races incl…
Pedigree of the day #6 - Rose Madder
A 4yo mare called Rose Madder has her first start at Cessnock today and is our Pedigree of the Day. She was a $500 purchase at the Inglis Easter Broodmare Sale, so it is interesting to see her at the track and we hope she proves an astute purchase. Rose Madder, named after a Steven King novel, is …
Pedigree of the Day #5 - Hugo Drax
A Monday and we head to a cold Echuca in Victoria where we find a 3yo called Hugo Drax having his first start. Hugo Drax is of interest to us for a few reasons. He is by Bel Esprit, who of course is the sire of Black Caviar, but more interestingly hails from an Exceed and Excel mare called Kurylen…
Pedigree of the day 18 August All Emotion
Today’s pedigree is at Narromine where we see a first starter called All Emotion. The 4yo mare is by Foxhound out of the Ms Foley. Foxhound was a short lived shuttle stallion by Danzig out of Lassie Dear making him a half brother to Wolfhound, and also to Weekend Surprise, the dam of AP Indy. Her…
Duran - Pedigree of the Day 17 August
Duran in Melbourne represents today’s pedigree. The 3yo colt is by Tale of the Cat out of legendary broodmare, Circles of Gold. This makes Duran a half brother (or closer) to such champions as Elvstroem and Haradasun. With such big shoes to fill, what does the future hold for Duran. Obviously co…
Pedigree of the Day 16 August Bold Flight
Today’s pedigree is another 3yo, this time a colt having his second race start at Ipswich. Bold Flight is by Red Dazzler out of Biscay Bird, and a mating that we don’t expect to bring a great deal. Red Dazzler is a son of Red Ransom who stands at Eureka Stud near Toowoomba. He has been a decent s…
Pedigree of the Day 15 August 2013
First starters are always interesting not only from a racing perspective, but also from the view of their pedigree. Today we look at a first starter at Gosford called Diamond Fund. The 3yo filly is by Snippetson, and trained by Gerald Ryan who has had remarkable success with quite a few youngsters…
US winners of the Melbourne Cup - Americain
Americain is the fifth of our US bred winners of that race. His win was impressive, as was his lead up victory in the Geelong Cup, a path also followed by the last winning US bred, Media Puzzle.
Americain was having his 19th start in the Melbourne Cup, and it became his 8th win; taking his winnin…
US Bred Melbourne Cup winners Part 4 Media Puzzle
US Bred Melbourne Cup winners Part 4
Media Puzzle
Media Puzzle is the fourth our recent US bred winners. Like our others, he did not race in the US, this time running mainly in Ireland before coming to Australia. Like Americain, Media Puzzle also had one local run before the Melbourne Cu…
US bred Melbourne Cup winners part 3 - Kingston Rule
The third of our series is the 1990 winner, Kingston Rue
Kingston Rule had a total of only eighteen starts in his career, all in Australia. He was part of a cutting edge breeding program by Kingston Park Stud, and its owners, the Haines family. Their great mare, Rose Of Kingston was sent to the U…
US Bred Melbourne Cup winners Part II At Talaq
At Talaq was also trained by Colin Hayes, who was to stand the stallion upon retirement at his Lindsay Park property.
Just as we saw with Beldale Ball, At Talaq hails from one of the classic female family of the stud book. This time it is through a mare called Preserve who is noted as largely the …
Beldale Ball - the first US bred winner of the Melbourne Cup
This is the first in a series of US bred winners of the Melbourne Cup
Beldale Ball was trained for the Cup by the late Colin Hayes. He was perhaps the first of the true imports that came over with the Cup in mind, and managed to scrape into the field with a postage stamp weight of 49.5kgs. Beldale …
Northern Dancer
Northern Dancer has proven to be the most influential sire of thoroughbreds perhaps in the history of the breed. His international success has led to a globalisation of the breed, and changed the racehorse forever.
The stallion was born in Canada in 1961, a produce of champion stallion Nearctic a…
Mustard - a legend of the Sydney turf
It was a little difficult with the conclusion of Sydney's big carnival to reflect on the fact that there was no Mustard. The grand old warhorse retired in 2012, so this was the first year that we haven't seen him since he started racing way back in 2001. In the modern thoroughbred world which sees …
Ista Kareem: A lesson from the thoroughbred
In 2009, Ista Kareem, a rising nine year old gelding joined the likes of Makybe Diva, Tie The Knot, Kingston Town, Reckless and Galilee as a winner of the Sydney Cup. While the first reaction was to suggest that the staying race was but a shadow of its former glory, to have done so would have detra…