They were heading up the driveway of a famous horseman when old Joe Taylor turned to young Tommy Eastham. “Hey,” he said. “This guy can be a little cranky. So if you've any questions, just wait until we get out.” Tommy nodded. “Okay Joe.” They'd only got to the third yearling when suddenly Taylor was [...]

Nothing ages us like old silk–certainly, at any rate, those of us who began on the Turf long before there was an internet. Finding footage today of the races that got us hooked will invariably restore from oblivion the colors of tycoons and aristocrats, once part of our daily lives, that have largely or even [...]

When Andrew Schwarz and his sister Wendy Schwarz-Gilder decided to turn their longstanding enthusiasm for the Turf into a deeper commitment, in 2017, the option that best matched their outlook was a modest breeding program. If that meant taking their time, patiently building each page, so be it. All they knew was that they wanted [...]

“Come on now, attention at the back!” But let's make a plea for indulgence, should any of the law lecturers at University College, Dublin, happen to find one student uncharacteristically distracted on resuming his course in September. Because whatever broad principles of contract may yet require elucidation, there are extremely good reasons why Freddie Duignan [...]

Fergus Galvin, their consignor, called it “one of the greatest pinhooks of all time.” To Blaise Benjamin and Charles Hynes, it was just another example of the way every new day at Ashford Stud brings a fresh lesson, a fresh opportunity. That might just involve quietly clocking the way one of the old hands reassures [...]

I'm not going to apologise for saying it again: in the old days, before veterinary science released the shackles, quality was locked into stallion books. To reach a top sire, you had to earn the right. In 1962, Hirsch Jacobs requested access to Swaps for Searching, a granddaughter of La Troienne, winner of 25 races, [...]

Anyone kindly persevering with this column as it gropes through the pedigree maze will by now be familiar, perhaps wearily so, with my proclivity for broodmare sires. From all that tremendous sport at Saratoga last Saturday, then, you won't be surprised that I'm going to focus on the fact that two of four Grade I [...]

The two headline acts last weekend hardly required us to hold the front page to reveal Bernardini as a pretty good broodmare sire. Obviously their late damsire is not the only reason why Sovereignty (Into Mischief) and 'TDN Rising Star' Nysos (Nyquist) have achieved elite caliber, but we've previously explored the antecedents of both. And [...]

The horse giveth, the horse taketh away. How typical that Mopotism (Uncle Mo), one of those rare commercial diamonds that oblige with a champion at the first attempt, succumbed to her animal frailty in the very week that Journalism (Curlin) excavated new depths of the toughness she had given him. At least the cruelty of [...]

The TDN always strives to remain scrupulously non-partisan and confines its occasional attention to the world of politics to such opportunities and concerns that directly affect the Thoroughbred industry. Recently, for instance, we spent time with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis as he stepped in to support the campaign against decoupling in that state. A few [...]

Taking the waters proved a fairly literal recreation through opening week at the Spa. Despite short fields and soggy turf, however, there were one or two sunbeams for those who relish a pedigree. 'TDN Rising Star' Far Bridge (English Channel) was scarcely a revelation in outclassing three rivals for the GII Bowling Green Stakes, his [...]

As noted last week, trainers can only amplify–not magnify–a horse's genetic legacy. D. Wayne Lukas was able to draw our attention to assets we might gladly replicate, but not even he could actually alter the genes available. In suggesting that he met his brief even more usefully with future broodmares than with sire prospects, this [...]