All Equine All The Time

Twenty seven starts, 10 wins, and nine other placings for £7,513,355 (€8,544,938.64/$10,066,918.96 on Dec. 12, 2017) in earnings. In very short terms that sums up the career of Highland Reel, Coolmore Ireland’s newest stallion, but misses many details. Highland Reel The son of Galileo has been a literal world traveler, traveling over 110,000 miles and visiting four continents (Europe, North America, Asia, and Australia) to race in seven different countries during his 3 ½ year career. In that time, Highland Reel won nine group stakes races (seven Group 1s) and finished second or third in eight others, including a French classic and the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, to become the highest earning Thoroughbred racehorse in European history. Highland Reel’s first success at stakes level came just three starts into his career when he ran in the Group 2 Veuve Clicquot Vintage Stakes, making easy work of the field when winning by 2 ¼ lengths. After a 284 day break, Highland Reel ...

The month of May be walking out the backdoor this week but classic fans worry not, the next two weeks are full of classic races on both sides of the Atlantic. This week two of the most important races in the world, the Epsom Derby and Oaks, take place on Friday and Saturday in England with participants from multiple countries running. While “Keeping It In the Family” has focused on one race per blog this year, this week’s observations will combine both races as they have some very interesting similarities. Note: Due to publishing date and time, the Derby entry stats reflect runners before the final entry stage. Scat Daddy was a Coolmore stallion at the time of his death. Coolmore – It’s not unusual to see Coolmore stallions dominate races around the world with the Oaks and Derby being no different. While their ace stallion Galileo (Sadler’s Wells) has seven entries between the two races (six in the Derby at this entry stage and one in the Oaks), he isn’t the only Coolm...

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...

The entries are drawn and all the Breeders’ Cup horses are on the grounds for the 2016 Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita, taking place on Nov. 4 and 5. But there’s more to the racing than just the racehorses and owners trying to add a prestigious Breeders’ Cup title to their resumes. Keep reading to find out nine facts, including a few about those chasing history, about the sires and dams represented at this year’s event By the Numbers – Ninty-eight stallions sired the 167 main body entrants in the 13 races with 112 broodmare sires also represented. Of the 98 sires at the races, there are 13 father/son pairs with Distorted Humor, Tiznow and Pulpit all having multiple sons with entries while also having their own runners. Stallions from six U.S. states and 11 countries have runners in the Breeders’ Cup races from Japan to France. Awesome Again Breeders’ Cup Winners – Eleven Breeders’ Cup winners are among the sires with runners this year. Of those 11, Ghostzapper, Unbridled’s ...

If there’s one thing racing fans can count on in this world, it’s that a big race will have multiple horses who trace back to 1964 Kentucky Derby winner Northern Dancer. This Sunday’s € 5-million ($5,621,000) Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe is no exception to that rule with 11 horses tracing back to the stallion through their sire or broodmare sire. But with Northern Dancer multiple generations back in all the runners’ pedigrees (the closest he is found in an Arc runner's pedigree is three generations back), it’s worth focusing on his sons and grandsons who make his appearance possible. Not surprisingly, Sadler’s Wells is a popular line in this race even though the stallion isn’t the sire of any of the runners. Medaglia d'Oro His son Galileo has three runners, all from the Coolmore stable, with two more sires carrying Sadler's Wells blood. U.S. stallion Medaglia d’Oro could continue his hot streak if his runner Talismanic wins the race. A son of El Prado, Med...

 David Tsui's silks (WIkimedia/Zafonic photo) Usually when I look at the pedigrees in European classic races for these pieces one stallion seems to dominate. Farther back on the page it might be Northern Dancer while in the first few generations of classic runners it's usually Sadler’s Wells but in the case of the Investec Derby at this entry stage it’s a mare whose name is seen everywhere. After a racing career that any stallion would be jealous of, Urban Sea (Miswaki) hit the ground running as a broodmare with her first son high weighted as a 3-year-old in Ireland and her first daughter placing in two classics before proving herself as a producer. But it was that third foal that has played the biggest part in her legacy as a producer so far. Galileo was Urban Sea’s first champion and classic winner and these days is making sure her line in passed on. At this stage in the Investec Derby entries, Galileo has played his part extremely well with seven runners by the ...