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...

War Front After a classic-heavy month around the world, Ireland takes its place in the spotlight this weekend with the Irish 2,000 and 1,000 Guineas. The 2,000 Guineas attracted a small field of six for Saturday’s race but Galileo isn’t the man in charge with multiple runners here. U.S. sire War Front has the most runners with two in the field with four other stallions also having entries. Galileo – Galileo only has one runner here but it’s a good one with his son Churchill winning the Qipco 2,000 Guineas three weeks ago and now going for the Irish equivalent. He also has one grandson in the race, sired by Teofilo. Galileo has had a decent amount of representation in classics as a broodmare sire the last few years but neither he or his sire, Sadler’s Wells, have any daughters with runners here. War Front – War Front (Danzig) has been a huge hit in Europe and this year has sired the most Irish 2,000 Guineas runners of any sires. Not surprisingly, both War Fronts are owned ...

With England’s 2,000 Guineas taking place tomorrow, the field is set for the race with 10 3-year-olds ready for their chance at glory. The field is the smallest this century but one thing it can boost is that some of the best pedigrees on both sides of the Atlantic will be represented in this weekend’s English classic. Man o’ War – Leave it to the sire line created by one of the most famous racehorses of all time to ruin Northern Dancer’s party. Not surprisingly, nine of the 10 Guineas runners are from Northern Dancer’s male line but the single hold out is Al Wukair (Dream Ahead), who comes from the In Reality (Intentionally) branch of Man o’ War’s sire line just like Irap (Tiznow) in the Kentucky Derby. The Man o' War line only has a few branches still out there so seeing it in both of this weekend's male classics is big.  Young Sires – There is a talented group of young stallions coming up around the world right now and the 2,000 Guineas is another example of that. F...

If one wants to find a successful Mr. Prospector son, they need to look no farther than multiple Group 1 Machiavellian. Bred in Kentucky, Machiavellian was the first foal out of the impressive and blueblooded group stakes winning Halo mare Coup de Folie. Raced in Europe for Stavros Niarchos after selling as a yearling for $825,000, Coup de Folie returned to the United States at the end of 1985 for her first breeding season. Bred in the spring of 1986 she delivered a dark bay colt, later named Machiavellian, in January 1987. Machiavellian was sent to France as a yearling and joined Francois Boutin’s string for his racing career.  Debuting in early August 1989, he won his first start by two lengths over another Mr. Prospect son in Jade Robbery. Machiavellian then reeled off two straight Group 1 wins in three weeks when winning the Prix Morny Agence Francaise on Aug. 20 followed by the Sept. 10 Prix de la Salamandre. His season ended after the second victory but it was still ...

Northern Dancer. Photo courtesy of WikiMedia Commons When Northern Dancer won two legs of the U.S. Triple Crown 52 years ago, it was obvious that the little bay horse was something special but it took years to realize just how special he was. Today, Northern Dancer is found in pedigrees around the world with his influence on full display in this weekend’s Irish 2,000 Guineas where every horse entered comes from his sireline. Overall, of the 13 sires and broodmare sires in the 2,000 Guineas as of Thursday, 10 of them can trace their male line directly to Northern Dancer. Northern Dancer can thank his son Sadler’s Wells with a large assist from grandson Galileo for a lot of the representation in this race. Galileo has the distinction of having runners in the Irish 2,000 Guineas as both a sire and as a broodmare sire with one other runner by one of his sons giving him a total of four runners in this race as a sire, broodmare sire or grandsire. Galileo has absolutely dominated...

European Horse of the Year Giant's Causeway has a unique distinction this year With England’s 2,000 Guineas taking place on Saturday, everyone now has a good idea who will be lining up in Newmarket with trainers entering 17 3-year-olds earlier this week. The list may get smaller in the upcoming days but one thing nearly guaranteed: some of the best pedigrees on both sides of the Atlantic will be represented in this weekend’s English classic. Possibly the biggest surprise is that super-stallion Galileo (Sadler’s Wells) is the sire of only one horse on the current entry list. But he still won’t be forgotten in this year’s 2,000 Guineas as he is the grandsire of two entries and the damsire of two others. That of course helps his sire Sadler’s Wells, who is represented by seven horses in the race. In addition to Galileo’s contributions, Montjeu is the damsire of one run while Doyen is the other damsire on Sadler’s Wells list in this race. War Front is a fitting name for the U...