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A well-deserved retirement

12/30/2014

The Lewis family has announced that Serena's Song has been retired from broodmare duty and will be pensioned at Denali Stud, where she has spent her life since retiring from racing. Her pensioning is well earned, for she has more than done her duty by her owners, her fans and her breed.

The champion American 3-year-old filly of 1995, Serena's Song won eight Grade 1 races at ages 2 through 4 and earned $3,286,388. Tough, sound and with plenty of attitude, she whipped males in the Jim Beam Stakes (USA-G2) in the spring of 1995, earning a Beyer speed figure of 114. She failed to stay in the Kentucky Derby (USA-G1) after setting the early pace but came back to hand the boys another beating in the Haskell Invitational Handicap (USA-G1), becoming the first filly to win the race.

Serena's Song has been no less stellar as a broodmare. Her five sale yearlings fetched a collective US$11.2 million, and Serena's Song has been a fine producer of racehorses as well. Her runners include Coronation Stakes (ENG-G1) winner Sophisticat (by Storm Cat), Grade 2 winners Grand Reward (by Storm Cat) and Harlington (by Unbridled), Grade 3 winner Schramsberg (by Storm Cat) and multiple listed winner Serena's Tune (by Mr. Prospector).

Both Serena's Tune and Sophisticat are stakes producers, and the former mare is the granddam of the highly regarded Honor Code, now back in action after being knocked off the Triple Crown trail by injury last year. Serena's Song's winning 4-year-old daughter Serena's Melody is still in training, and the mare has a 2014 filly by Medaglia d'Oro who may provide a fitting coda to her dam's record.

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Answers to Friday trivia question of 12/26/14

12/29/2014

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Our question was on the favorite treats or food items of some famous horses. Here's the lineup:

Corn on the cob -- Beldame
Oranges -- Man o' War
Chocolate sundaes -- Kelso

Pizza -- John Henry. (For the record, John Henry also liked coffee with cream and sugar.)

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The Malibu Stakes and Horse of the Year

12/26/2014

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Man. After watching the video of the Malibu Stakes, all I can think is that Shared Belief is one game little sucker. Unfortunately for him, a lot of the Eclipse Award voters have probably already put in their ballots, because that was certainly a worthy performance. He was cutting back in distance, hooked some quality speed horses, came down wide, and just plain refused to be beaten. I don't know whether he'll be Horse of the Year or not. I don't even know if he'll win his division. But as much as I love California Chrome, if I had a vote, I'd have to give Shared Belief the nod.

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Friday trivia challenge for 12/26/14, take two

12/26/2014

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Hmmm, looks like that one was a little too easy. Elaina has it already -- it's John Galbreath, who bred and owned 1963 Kentucky Derby winner Chateaugay and 1971 Derby Stakes (Epsom Derby) winner Roberto.

So, how about a second helping? Since we've all just devoured our Christmas goodies. special foods seem like a good topic. Most horses munch happily on hay and oats, with the occasional carrot, apple or sugar lump for treats, and many Thoroughbreds have a taste for peppermints. Some have had more unusual likings, though. To taste the sweet rewards of this trivia challenge, name the famous horses in the Library who enjoyed 1) corn on the cob, 2) oranges, 3) chocolate sundaes, and 4) pizza.

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Friday trivia challenge for 12/26/14

12/26/2014

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Name the first person to breed and own winners of both the Kentucky Derby and Derby Stakes, and the horses with which he or she accomplished the feat.

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Merry Christmas

12/24/2014

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Over two thousand years ago, a baby was born in Bethlehem to a poor Jewish peasant. His mother had no doctors or nurses to attend her, only a young husband who was probably just as scared as she was when the pains of birth hit in a filthy, crowded stable. A feeding trough had to serve as a cradle, providing the only place where the infant could lie and not be trampled by the beasts that shared the rough shelter. The only visitors were not happy relatives and friends but some shepherds from the nearby hills, bearing a strange tale of a vision of angels that had pointed them to the child. God, they said, had visited His people and had given them a savior at last.

That was the first Christmas. Two thousand years later, God's gift to man in the form of that child seems as strange as ever -- a child who was born to die. He never wielded any weapon but words; he never had wealth or political influence. His most devoted followers were mostly drawn from the rejects of society; the learned and powerful hated him for his scathing words against their hypocrisy and greed. Finally condemned by his own people, his sentence confirmed in one more dreary act of colonial oppression by an imperial power, he should have faded into the obscurity from which he came after he gasped out his life on a Roman cross.

He should have -- but he did not. Instead, he has become the central figure of human history. We may believe or reject the message that his disciples gave their lives to proclaim: that they had seen him risen as a living man and therefore knew that he was both the Son of God and the Redeemer who had saved them from their sins by his death. But none can deny that Jesus of Nazareth has affected more lives than all the conquerors and kings and sages of the earth put together, so that we divide time itself by his birth and give gifts in the season that bears his name. May each of you know the gift of the peace with God that he came to give.

Merry Christmas.

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Answer to 12/19/14 Friday trivia challenge

12/22/2014

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The two American horses who were voted Horse of the Year honors under two different trainers are 1) Challedon, who was trained by Louis Schaefer when he won the title in 1939 and by Don Cameron when he was voted Horse of the Year in 1940 and 2) Forego, who was trained by Sherill Ward in 1974 and by Frank Whitely in 1975 and 1976.

Special credit goes to Joanna, who noted that Henry of Navarre also had different trainers in two seasons in which he is considered Horse of the Year; however, his championships are retroactive based on the consensus of racing historians and were not voted on.

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Dortmund

12/20/2014

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Regardless of any deficiencies in the field for the Los Alamitos Futurity (USA-G1), Dortmund proved two things: he is determined and he is fast, both pretty good things to have going for you on the Triple Crown trail. How good he really is will not be answered until he meets some stiffer competition, but he has certainly passed every test set him so far.

Besides class, the other question regarding this strapping son of Big Brown is how far he will want to go. So far, Big Brown has been more a sire of milers than anything else, although his son Ground Transport is a stakes winner at 10 furlongs. The 3x3 cross to Danzig in Dortmund's pedigree also suggests "miler" more than "stayer." In current American racing, though, a miler with a high cruising speed can be a dangerous customer in longer races if given a favorable trip, so Dortmund certainly can't be counted out of the Triple Crown picture this early on that score.

The dam line is also rather ambiguous. Dortmund's dam Our Josephina was a stakes-winning sprinter but in fairness was not really given a chance to be anything else. Her sire, Tale of the Cat, scored his biggest win at 7 furlongs and is similarly bred to to Johannesburg, a champion juvenile who failed to train on. Her dam Ropa Usada (by Danzig) did not race but is a half sister to 1985 Champagne Stakes (USA-G1) Mogambo (by Mr. Prospector), another horse who was essentially a miler. The nearest confirmed source of stamina is Dortmund's third dam, 1977 American champion juvenile filly Lakeville Miss, who trained on to win the 1978 Coaching Club American Oaks (USA-G1). That's not all that reassuring, but then, Big Brown himself is really more a miler-bred type, and look what he accomplished. Like father, like son? Could be.

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Friday trivia challenge for 12/19/14

12/19/2014

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Two American horses have each been voted Horse of the Year honors under two different trainers. Name the horses, their trainers, and the year in which each trainer conditioned his famous charge to the Horse of the Year title.

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A Grade 1 for this?

12/17/2014

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On Saturday, five 2-year-olds will enter the starting gate for the US$500,000 Los Alamitos Futurity (USA-G1). That's right -- five colts for Grade 1 black type and a piece of half a million.

I realize that most of the top juveniles have already been put away for the winter, but awarding Grade 1 brackets for a race like this is an embarrassment to the grading system. Of the five contestants, one (No Problem) upset the Grade 3 Bob Hope Stakes in his last start; another (Mr. Z) was second by a nose in the Grade 3 Delta Jackpot and was Grade 1-placed earlier in the season. The rest of the field is lightly raced, with three maiden wins and a first-level allowance among them. There are certainly some promising colts here, but you'd think that given the light credentials of this bunch, a few more trainers would have been encouraged to let their youngsters take a chance.

It's always possible that the winner will prove to be quite a nice horse. But it's also entirely possible that the winner will retire as a Grade 1 winner with nothing else to speak of on the resume. Which only goes to show that not all black type is created equal, whatever the level.

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A well-deserved retirement

Answers to Friday trivia question of 12/26/14

The Malibu Stakes and Horse of the Year

Friday trivia challenge for 12/26/14, take two

Friday trivia challenge for 12/26/14

Merry Christmas

Answer to 12/19/14 Friday trivia challenge

Dortmund

Friday trivia challenge for 12/19/14

A Grade 1 for this?

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