All Equine All The Time

Last weekend was a big one for racing on both sides of the Atlantic as the first major classic races of the year took place in England and the United States. As is usually the case, the classics weren’t the only stakes races on their respective cards with 20 blacktype events taking place over the three days of racing between Churchill Downs and Newmarket. As is often the case in these weekends, some pedigrees looked familiar no matter where you were so s it back and enjoy the show as we take you through some of the bigger points of the weekend. Sire Lines – First, let’s get the overall numbers out on the table. Sixty horses sired by 48 different stallions placed finished in the top three in the stakes over the weekend with those 48 stallions hailing from seven different sire lines. Not surprisingly, Northern Dancer led everyone with 28 placers, including six winners (21.4%), followed by Mr. Prospector with 14 (six winners – 42.8%), and A.P. Indy with seven – including two win...

Fast Company (Overbury Stud photo) The 2016 Irish 1,000 Guineas seems to be a sort of ushering in of a new era of stallions with four of the nine stallions’ first European foals being aged six or younger. While there are no first crop stallions represented in this year’s race, second-crop sire Fast Company is looking for a victory in this race after he found moderate success here last year when his daughter Devonshire finished third behind Teofilo’s Pleascach. Fast Company’s sire Danehill Dancer was given one win in this race with his daughter Again in 2009, the same year his son Mastercraftsman won the Irish 2,000 Guineas. In some ways it may be hard to believe that Galileo has the most racing aged crops any sire in the 1,000 Guineas but in other ways, his first crop being only 13 years old seems young with how much influence the stallion has had on the European Thoroughbred in that time. His success is on full display in this race with the stallion siring three of the e...

Zoffany's Illuminate has Danzig on both sides of her family. While Galileo took a step back and let War Front shine as the sire of the most QIPCO 2,000 Guineas entries, the stallion made sure to keep a firm hold on the QIPCO 1,000 Guineas this weekend. The 18-year-old Sadler’s Wells (Northern Dancer) son has three daughters competing in this Sunday’s race but that is only the tip of the iceberg for the stallion with sons Sixties Icon and Teofilo also having a runner apiece. Galileo is also represented in the broodmare sire category with his daughter Beyond Compare throwing the Jim Bolger runner Turret Rocks. In all, six of the 16 runners in this fillies’ classic can find Galileo in their pedigrees. Sadler’s Wells’ sons Montjeu and Barathea also have entries in the race with Montjeu’s Motivator siring Midweek and Barathea as both a damsire and the sire of a damsire in the race. But Sadler’s Wells family is far from the only line dominating the pedigrees of this year’s 1...