All Equine All The Time

Note: This New Sires blog is an updated blog first run after California Chrome’s Dubai World Cup victory in 2016. California Chrome at Taylor Made in 2015. One of only three Kentucky Derby winners this century to race past his 4-year-old season, California Chrome (Lucky Pulpit) continues to make history years after most high profile horses have been retired. In March of 2016, the horse became the all-time highest earner outside of Japan when he won the $6-million winner’s share of the Dubai World Cup purse and boosted his earnings to $12,532,650. Later that year, he became the first horse to win two Horse of the Year titles in non-consecutive years since John Henry pulled off the feat in 1981 and 1984. The winner of 16 of 27 races, the California-bred son of Lucky Pulpit was under the radar as a 2-year-old, winning only three of his seven starts but has quickly risen to be one of the most popular racehorses in the world in recent years after dominating the Kentucky Derby t...

California Chrome One of only three Kentucky Derby winners this century to race past his 4-year-old season, California Chrome became the all-time highest earner outside of Japan on Saturday when he won the $6-million winner’s share of the Dubai World Cup purse and boosted his earnings to $12,532,650. The winner of 12 of 21 races, the California-bred son of Lucky Pulpit was under the radar as a 2-year-old, winning only three of his seven starts but has quickly risen to be one of the most popular active racehorses in the world after dominating the Kentucky Derby trail in 2014 and winning two legs of the Triple Crown. California Chrome was only a neck short of adding the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Classic to his resume at the end of that year, finishing third to Bayern (Offlee Wild) before closing the season with a Grade 1 win on turf in the Hollywood Derby. His 2015 seasons was derailed a bit when, after a pair of seconds including the Group 1 Dubai World Cup, he went on an ambitious cam...

Last fall All Equine All the Time took a look at Unbridled’s Song as his last yearlings went through the ring, today I dig a little deeper into the late stallion’s impact as his final 2-year-olds get ready to go through the ring in the first major 2-year-old sale of the year.  Taylor Made photo Buyers hoping to get their hands on 2-year-old from the final crop of Unbridled’s Song (Unbridled) will get their first chance of the year on Wednesday when four of his colts go through the make-shift sales ring in the paddock at Gulfstream Park during Fasig-Tipton’s Florida Sale. Unbridled’s Song was originally slated to have five of his final foals go through the ring this week but a colt out of a half-sister to Hansen’s dam Stormy Sunday (Sir Cat) was scratched before the sales week started. But while Hansen gave that colt’s page a nice set of blacktype, the colt had the weakest pedigree of the Unbridled’s Songs so his scratch still leaves buyers with a lot of options. The str...

When looking at stallions who have influenced the U.S. Thoroughbred breed the most in the early 21 st century, Unbridled’s Song (Unbridled) has to be near the top of the list. The gray stallion, who was born in 1993, was a well-known racehorse before he became an influential sire. He went off as the favorite in the 1996 Kentucky Derby after winning three graded races before the first Saturday in May, including the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. He was retired to Taylor Made Farm, where he stood his whole career, after an injury early in his 4-year-old year. Will Take Charge Overall, Unbridled’s Song retired to the shed with five wins and four seconds in 12 career starts for $1,311,800 in earnings. While he did more than enough on the track to cement his place in the history books, his true calling came in the breeding shed. The stallion has sired three champions so far, with the latest of those three coming with Will Take Charge’s Eclipse award in 2013 as a 3-year-ol...