Grazen

Many involved with the sport probably know little about trainer Librado Barocio. But that could be about to change. His small stable has been on fire as of late and it recorded a milestone when Lovesick Blues (Grazen) upset his better known rivals to win the GI Bing Crosby Stakes Saturday at Del Mar. For the trainer who has been training off and on since 1999, it was his first Grade I win. How did it feel? That was among the questions our team asked Barocio when he joined us...

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 besides, both having won Grade IIs, top billing should strictly be reserved for a prize contested the same day at a higher tier. Actually the GI Bing Crosby Stakes had the potential to enrich Bernardini's...

The Chosen Vron (Vronsky), who defended his title in the GI Bing Crosby Stakes and won five of his six outings in 2024, has been named the champion California-bred older male and champion Cal-bred sprinter. He will be recognized along with the other divisional champions during ceremonies to be held Monday, Mar. 3, at the Le Meridien Hotel located across the street from Santa Anita. Trained by Eric Kruljac for a partnership that includes himself, Sondereker Racing LLC, Robert S. Fetkin and Richard Thornburgh, the chestnut gelding also added the...

Let's acknowledge straightaway that this cursory look at some (and only some) of the major regional programs can represent little more than a gesture of respect. As a rule, after all, we're talking about stallions that serve an almost exclusively local market, and those that do so best will have a corresponding local reputation that scarcely needs amplifying. Moreover the same caveats apply, here, as to our recent survey of Kentucky options: namely, that the one or two we single out are purely subjective picks; and, above all, that you...

Shocking Grey (Grazen), winner of Saturday's Sunshine Millions Filly and Mare Turf Sprint at Santa Anita, sold for $170,000 to Francoise DuPuis, agent for Rockingham Ranch to top Tuesday's California Thoroughbred Breeders Association Winter Mixed Sale. A 6-year-old out of the Unbridled's Song mare Seoul Unbridled, Shocking Grey was from the Checkmate Thoroughbreds consignment for the dispersal of Valpredo Farms. From the same consignment, her half-sister, a yearling by Corniche, sold for $75,000 to Gayle Van Leer, agent. In total, 83 horses sold for $1,228,200 averaging $14,780 with a median...

The picture of consistency, Alice Marble's only off-the-board finish in her career came on debut in Oct. 2020 when she found the synthetic at Golden Gate not to her liking. Never worse than third over both dirt and turf in California since, the 6-year-old has contested two straight stakes races at Santa Anita--finishing third to Big Summer (Mr. Big) in the Sunshine Millions Filly and Mare Turf Sprint S. Jan. 7 and winning the Spring Fever S. On the dirt Feb. 19. Happy whether this race stayed on the turf...

Grade I winner Fun to Dream (Arrogate) was crowned California-bred Horse of the Year at the CTBA Awards dinner held Monday night. The 4-year-old filly, who is out of the Maria's Mon mare Lutess, was bred by Connie Pageler and trainer Bob Baffert and is owned by Paegler and Natalie J. Baffert. The gray filly was also named Cal-bred champion 3-year-old filly and sprinter, and her dam was named Cal-bred broodmare of the year. "I did this, it was a crazy thing, I called Garrett O'Rourke at Juddmonte and I...

After our exhaustive survey of Bluegrass stallions, good manners demand at least a browse through the alternatives available elsewhere in North America. But this must be a very different exercise, and a pretty unsatisfactory one too. The Kentucky market is entirely coherent, with hundreds of stallions clustered within a few miles of each other at fees to suit all budgets. Regional stallions, in contrast, serve regional mares. If you're in Ohio, you're not going to van a mare down to Too Much Bling (Rubiano). If you're in Texas, equally, you...