Saturday's racing surely came extremely close to perfection for any lover of the Thoroughbred. The highlight, inevitably, had to be American Pharoah's majestic display at Belmont, which finally quenched America's thirst for a Triple Crown winner. However, there were no grounds for complaint earlier in the day at Epsom, when the exciting Golden Horn maintained [...]

Thanks to the TDN, I am able to tell you that the pedigrees of the exciting GI Kentucky Derby and GI Preakness S. hero American Pharoah and the highly regarded Japanese Derby winner Duramente are both worthy of the Werk Nick Rating of A+++–the treasured “Triple Plus.” Of the year's other recent Classic winners, the [...]

There was a time when France's studs housed some of the world's finest stallions, but then the mighty dollar stepped in. In a matter of years the likes of Riverman, Lyphard, Nureyev, Caro, Arctic Tern, Irish River and Green Dancer had all joined the exodus from France to the U.S. Inevitably this succession of body [...]

In a tomayto-tomahto situation, the word dynasty is pronounced differently on each side of the Atlantic. But however you pronounce it, a pair of dynasties made their presence felt in the first of the year's male Classics in the U.S. and Britain. [...]

There's never a good time to lose a high-class stallion, but the demise of High Chaparral late last year following colic surgery, is now beginning to look even more unfortunate. [...]

Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum numerous triumphs in the British classics include two in the G1 2,000 Guineas–with the future Derby winner Nashwan in 1989 and Haafhd in 2004. A third 2,000 Guineas success must now be a possibility after two of his colts dominated the G3 Greenham S., a seven-furlong race which has been won [...]

Thanks to his graded stakes-winning treble with Untapable, Race Day and Divining Rod, the U.S.'s highest-priced stallion Tapit now enjoys a lead of over $1.4 million over Candy Ride in the race to be America's leading sire for a second time. There were also notable successes for War Front and Medaglia d'Oro, the other American [...]

There are, of course, many different routes to the GI Kentucky Derby, but which of the numerous trials have proved the most reliable pointers to Derby success over the last 20 years? Well, if you are a fan of Afleet Alex's son Materiality, you will be reassured to know that the GI Florida Derby has [...]

There was nothing unusual about the Southern Hemisphere half of Dubawi's extraordinary sequence of group successes last Saturday. The Emancipation S. success of Catkins was the third Group 2 victory of the year for this Australian mare and the Group 3 South African win by Amber Orchid also came on turf. Incidentally, these two mares [...]

Only a couple of weeks ago, Bill Oppenheim reminded us of 2005's remarkable crop of new stallions, featuring Tapit, Medaglia d'Oro, Speightstown and Candy Ride. At a time when the top stallions commanded such fees as $500,000 (Storm Cat) and $300,000 (A.P. Indy and Kingmambo), it is worth remembering that two of these newcomers were [...]

When Pioneer of the Nile retired to stud, his fee was no higher than $20,000 (and was soon to fall to $15,000). Even so, Churchill Downs on the first Saturday in May seemed likely to become embedded in the DNA of his best progeny. Pioneer of the Nile had himself made it to the GI [...]

“And the winner is…” is a phrase we hear a lot at this time of year, including in some pretty esoteric categories of the movie industry. So forgive me for introducing a new award for the best broodmare daughter of Unbridled's Song. [...]