Pedigree Insights

In an exhibition of pure sprinting prowess, Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid al Maktoum's Battaash (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) brought all his power to bear on his rivals on Friday to register back-to-back successes in Goodwood's G2 King George Qatar S. Despite the contrasting ground conditions to the easy turf he encountered 12 months ago and the obvious questions posed by defeat in the June 19 G1 King's Stand S. at Royal Ascot, the bay attracted heavy support as the 8-11 favourite and was in front before he had raced two...

At the last two sales at Arqana, October and December, things got a little simpler at the former Haras de la Reboursiere et de Montaigu, or at least for those English-speaking salesgoers looking to remember the name of the popular French consignor. In October, the farm and consignment reverted to its original name and will now be simply known as Haras de Montaigu. Other changes are afoot as well at the century-plus owned family operation. Montaigu, long known for breeding its own and raising and selling for a select group...

The 17th edition of the Claiming Crown, held Saturday at Gulfstream Park, generated total handle of $10,118,000--up 0.57% from 2014 despite rainy conditions which caused four races to be taken off the turf. Gulfstream was hosting the event for the fourth year. "We're extremely pleased with the success of Saturday's Claiming Crown," said P.J. Campo, General Manager of Gulfstream Park and Vice President of Racing for The Stronach Group. "We had big fields and tremendous participation from horsemen throughout North America. We're confident the numbers would have been even more...

"There are a lot of similarities between him and his sire and the way they train. You wouldn't necessarily know they're as good as they are." So said Todd Pletcher as part of his assessment of Rock Fall after the GI Vosburgh S., in which the son of Speightstown booked his ticket to the Breeders' Cup Sprint. And that's not the only similarity between father and son. John Moynihan, bloodstock adviser to Rock Fall's owner Barbara Banke, provided some fascinating insights following a dazzling display on the colt's third start....

To the unbridled joy of Rachel Alexandra's countless admirers, the 2009 Horse of the Year appears to be making an ideal start to her broodmare career. Each of her first two foals--the Curlin colt Jess's Dream and the Bernardini filly Rachel's Valentina--were named a 'TDN Rising Stars' during the Saratoga meet in August. And now Rachel's Valentina has wasted no time in justifying this accolade, returning to Saratoga to become a GI winner in the Spinaway S. Of course the birth of Rachel's Valentina wasn't without a price. Soon afterwards...

It was another of those weeks where the action on both sides of the Atlantic threw up some highly noteworthy action. For example, there was another hard-fought round in the battle currently being staged by Galileo and Dubawi, the two heavyweights of European breeding. Dubawi appeared to have landed a near knock-out blow in the battle for the Anglo-Irish sires' championship when his daughter Arabian Queen took the Juddmonte International, to end Golden Horn's unbeaten sequence. Galileo lost his International representative with the withdrawal of Gleneagles, but he staged a...

Despite the very considerable efforts of the Sadler's Wells male line, the leading sires list in Britain and Ireland is a forceful reminder that the most dominant force at present is the male line descending from the magnificent Danzig. Thanks entirely to his sons Danehill and Green Desert, the legendary Claiborne sire has no fewer than eight grandsons among the top 18 stallions on the Racing Post's table, plus two in–form great grandsons in Mastercraftsman and Sea The Stars. While it is the Danehill branch which is responsible for five...