Author
Andrew Caulfield writes a weekly column for the Thoroughbred Daily News on pedigree analysis, a fascination which crystallised during the 12 years he spent as one of the principal writers at Timeform, where he was responsible for researching the pedigrees of all the two-year-olds. A former editor of The Thoroughbred Breeder, Pacemaker and The European Racehorse, he was also The Sporting Life's bloodstock correspondent for 12 years, He also wrote a weekly racing column for Japan's Gallop magazine for 20 years. More recently his principal role has been as a bloodstock consultant, primarily for Juddmonte Farms. During his 20-year association with Juddmonte, the farm’s star performers have included Frankel and Kingman, winners between them of three Cartier Horse of the Year awards. There have also been two winners of the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, three of the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf, as well as winners of the 2,000 Guineas, 1,000 Guineas, Derby, St Leger, Belmont Stakes and several French and Irish classics.
During his racing career, Storm Cat was pretty good at coming out on top in a close finish, showing the sort of spirit which was to become a feature of his progeny’s success story. He won his second start by a neck and three starts later he pushed his nose ahead of Danzig Connection’s to...
As Honor Code deprived Cairo Prince of his unbeaten record in the last stride of the GII Remsen S., I couldn=t help thinking back to what I wrote after the 2008 Remsen. In reviewing the impressive history of Aqueduct=s nine-furlong contest, I mentioned thatthe Remsen had provided five Derby winners in the space of the...
As something of a traditionalist–and an enthusiast of 2-year-old racing–I have never been an admirer of those richly endowed races whose value is often disproportionate to the quality of its contestants. Over in England these contests have become quite common, thanks principally to the various sales companies.
One of the great imponderables of Thoroughbred breeding is what Sunday Silence might have achieved had his connections stuck to their original plan of standing him alongside his sire Halo at his birthplace, Stone Farm.
That was a pretty scary statistic that the NBC team trotted out after the 30th edition of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile–that not a single horse from the 2012 Juvenile had made it to the Kentucky Derby only six months later.
Unlike their Australian counterparts, European breeders were rather slow to appreciate Danehill=s vast potential as a sire and sire of sires. Fortunately Danehill Dancer, a member of his third crop, helped change all that. In winning the Phoenix S. and National S. in 1995, Danehill Dancer became the first son of Danehill to become a...
Cheveley Park Stud is in the news at the moment, following the announcement that the Duchess Drive establishment will be home for the next two years to Galileo’s admirably talented and versatile son Intello. Intello will start his career at ,25,000 and I’m sure he is destined to shine (after all, he ranks alongside the...
At Keeneland, the GI Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup provided Kitten’s Dumplings with the opportunity to become the first American Grade I winner with 3×3 inbreeding to the 14-time champion sire Sadler’s Wells (Vagabond Shoes, winner this year of the GII Del Mar H. is inbred 2×4).
There’s an old British idiom–Ato be tarred with the same brush@–which apparently has its origins in sheep farming. But the phrase, which means to be damned by association, could also be applied to the thoroughbred industry. If the first few stallion sons of a particular sire fail to shine, you can be pretty sure that...
In the parallel worlds of horse-racing and breeding which exist in the U.S. and Europe, there are areas where there is currently no common ground. I was reminded of this by some of last week’s results, which included important victories by Tiznow’s stallionson Tiz Wonderful, a Grade I double by Macho Uno and Grade I...
The European racing and breeding worlds received two reminders over the weekend–not that any were needed–regarding the severity of the body blow they suffered with the death of Montjeu (Ire) (Sadler’s Wells) at the comparatively early age of 16 early lastyear. We were also amply reminded of the potency of the Montjeu/Mr. Prospector combination.
It was D-day again last Saturday, with the D on this occasion standing for the in-form Dansili. At the age of 17, Dansili is old enough to be making his mark in several different spheres, and that is exactly what he did three days ago.