All Equine All The Time

Breeders' Cup winner Hit It a Bomb was rated 116 When the European Two-Year-Old Rankings were released yesterday at the World’s Best Horse presentation in London, the diversity of stallions represented may have been surprising. It was no surprise that Galileo (Sadler’s Wells) led the group of sires represented on it with six 2-year-olds, all owned by the Coolmore partners, ranked. That group included Europe’s champion 2-year-old filly Minding, rated 120, who was the first filly to be rated above 119 since Six Perfections in 2002. “Minding is a very worthy favorite for the (one-mile) 1,000 Guineas,” said said Matthew Tester, the BHA Senior Handicapper. “Lumiere (a Shamardal filly rated 116) and Acapulco (a Scat Daddy filly rated 115) might have too much speed for a mile to be perfect for them, but Royal Ascot’s Commonwealth Cup is again shaping up as an exciting contest with Shalaa (an Invincible Spirit colt rated 121) looking likely to take them on”. Overall, 33 s...

Tale of the Cat in 2014 A Grade 2 winner at seven furlongs and Grade 1 placed at nine furlongs, Tale of the Cat (Storm Cat) was more than useful as a racehorse. His successful racing career turned out to be a foreshadowing of his stud career when he joined the stallion ranks in 1999, retiring to Ashford Stud in Versailles, Ky for $25,000.  By a top sire in Storm Cat and from a strong female family that includes champion Johannesburg (Hennessy) (out of Tale of the Cat’s half-sister) and Pulpit (A.P. Indy), Tale of the Cat has constantly ranked in the top 30 on the General Sires list since graduating from the crop-specific lists (where he was ranked in the top five on the first, second and third crop sires lists). While never a leading General Sire, Tale of the Cat is more often than not seen in the top 15 with his best ranking on that list being a seventh. The stallion has also done well enough with his 2-year-olds to lead the Two-Year-Old Sires list in 2003 and to rank seco...