thoroughbred

 Grade I winner Next Question (Stormy Atlantic--Seattle Stardust, by Slew City Slew) was euthanized Jan. 16 at Old Friends at Cabin Creek due to complications from a paddock accident. He was 12. Next Question initially retired to Old Friends at Cabin Creek in 2014, where he lived for one year before returning to his owners, Three Diamonds Farm, for a second career. He returned to Old Friends at Cabin Creek in November of 2019. Trained by Michael Trombetta, Next Question captured the 2012 GI Nearctic S. and retired with a...

Frank Conversation (Quality Road) was represented by his first foal Jan. 17, when Looksgoodfromhere (Freud) foaled a chestnut filly at Saratoga Glen Farm, who owns and bred the filly. Frank Conversation stands in New York at Rockridge Farm.

GI Preakness S. victor Cloud Computing (Maclean's Music) sired his first foal, a colt born Jan. 9 at McMahon of Saratoga Thoroughbreds in New York. Bred by Howard Nolan Jr., the dark bay colt is out of the young Girolamo mare Best Manners, whose dam is three-time black type winner India Halo (Arg).

Coolmore has agreed to purchase a 50% interest in last year's G1 Prix du Jockey Club winner Sottsass (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}), who stays in training this year with trainer Jean-Claude Rouget. The news was first reported by Paris-Turf. Bred by Ecurie des Monceaux out of Starlet's Sister (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), Sottsass was a €340,000 purchase at the 2017 Arqana August Yearling Sale by Peter Brant through Michel Zerolo's Oceanic Bloodstock. Racing in the green silks of Brant's White Birch Farm, Sottsass won at second asking at two. He took the...

 When Michelle Crawford came across the 25-year-old blue hen Tizso (Cee's Tizzy), a full-sister to Hall of Famer Tiznow, in the Keeneland January catalogue, she immediately knew she had to have her. The longtime Standardbred owner/breeder, who operates Crawford Farms in Durhamville, N.Y. with her husband Al, wanted to ensure that the mare received the retirement she deserved. "I started going through the catalogue and she was number 90, so I didn't get very far before I said that is it, she is the one I'm getting," Crawford said from...

A newly developed virtual reality experience that allows users to experience horse racing through the eyes of a jockey or harness driver is available to attendees of the Pennsylvania Farm Show.  The 360-degree virtual reality experience--using real video filmed during actual Thoroughbred and harness races in Pennsylvania--allows individuals wearing a virtual reality headset to look left, right, and behind them as they race against other horses toward the finish line. To complete the Thoroughbred racing experience, users can even experience the simulated virtual reality race while riding on an Equicizer,...

Bucking a nationwide trend, the number of mares bred in Pennsylvania in 2019 was 686, an increase of 12.5% over 2018.  It was the third straight year that the number of horses bred in Pennsylvania has increased. Overall, the number of mares bred in 2019 in the U.S. declined by 3.5%. The growing popularity of the Pennsylvania program is a direct result of the establishment of the Racehorse Development Fund Trust in 2017. The trust guaranteed that the government could no longer raid the Horse Racing Development Fund, which funneled...

Lane's End will host an open house next week in conjunction with the Keeneland January Sale. The event will run Jan. 13 through Jan. 17 with stallions available for inspection from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. In addition to stalwarts like Candy Ride (Arg) and Quality Road, the farm's new addition for 2020 Catalina Cruiser will be available for viewing.

Sioux Nation (Scat Daddy-Dream the Blues {Ire}, by Oasis Dream {GB}), a winner of the G1 Phoenix S. at The Curragh for Aidan O'Brien and Coolmore, sired his first foal on Jan. 4. The bay filly, a half-sister to three juvenile winners, is out of Italian listed heroine Samaden (Ire) (Ad Valorem). "I'm very happy with the foal," said Irish breeder Richie Fitzgerald of Ballinasisla Stud. "She has class, is correct and moves well." The Coolmore sire, who also triumphed in the G2 Norfolk S., stood for €12,500 in 2019...

We are all familiar with the flash-in-the-pan stallions who blaze a trail with their first crop of runners only to sink with relatively little trace in ensuing seasons--a situation doubtless exacerbated by fleeting whims of a commercial market. For the sires whose debutants took to the track in 2019, the results achieved were important in regard to continuing or boosting their appeal to breeders booking mares for the 2020 season, but of even more importance is what happens now that their first crops are of the Classic age. When Dubawi...

The New York Racing Association's 2019 all-sources handle was $2,108,126,369. Also, for the first time in history, the Saratoga meet generated more than $700 million in all-sources handle at $705,343,949. Inclement weather forced the full cancellation of seven race days and partial cancellation of six cards during the year. As a result, there were 217 race days in 2019 at NYRA tracks with average daily handle of $9,714,868 compared to 2018 when 219 days of racing resulted in a daily average of $9,650,267. The 2019 season featured 2,000 races at...

A native of a small farming community in South Africa, Lere Visagie grew up a long way from the U.S. Thoroughbred industry. Today, he sits at the helm of one of New York State's leading stud farms, as the owner/operator of Rockridge Stud in Hudson, New York, which was established just seven years ago. While his is still a relatively new farm, Visagie said his goal is to improve the stallion market in New York through the growth of Rockridge's stallion division. This year, Rockridge welcomes two new Grade I...