All Equine All The Time

When Tapwrit crossed the line first in Saturday’s Grade 1 Belmont Stakes, he put the 2017 Triple Crown season firmly in the rearview mirror. With the 30 races run in the series (in this blog, the series being the 27 official Kentucky Derby points races run this year and the three Triple Crown races) now behind us, I decided to look back at the 2017 Triple Crown season to see if any common themes appear. As always, it looks like the answer is yes. WinStar Farm – Over the past three years, WinStar Farm has been a powerful part of the Triple Crown. They stand American Pharoah’s sire Pioneerof the Nile (Empire Maker), they raced last year’s Belmont Stakes winner Creator (Tapit), and they stand Always Dreaming’s sire Bodemeister. Of the 27 Kentucky Derby prep races run this year, three of the winners were sired by WinStar stallions, one other was owned by WinStar Farm, and another two winners were by sons of WinStar stallion Tiznow (Cee’s Tizzy). Pioneerof the Nile A.P. Indy – ...

On Saturday, the racing world turns its eyes to Belmont Park for the final leg of the Triple Crown. The Belmont Stakes has a 12 horse field though it is missing the winners of the first two legs of the Crown and Lookin At Lee (Lookin at Lucky) will be the only horse to compete in all three legs of the series this year. But while the Belmont Stakes may not be all that people hoped for after the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes the New York Racing Association has put together an interesting 13 race card that includes 10 stakes, with all but one being graded. Ninety-four horses will enter the gate in those 10 races in a sort of mid-year Breeders’ Cup preview. So instead of focusing on just the Belmont Stakes, we did a little bit of digging into the pedigrees on display during a top notch card of racing. Stallion Numbers – Sixty-eight stallions have runners in Saturday’s stakes at Belmont Park. Of those, all but six are still active sires with two from that group pensione...

Malibu Moon The first two legs of the 2016 Triple Crown played like coming out parties for the younger generation of stallions with the 8-year-old Uncle Mo and 12-year-old Curlin siring the winners of the Kentucky Derby and Preakness respectively. But in Saturday’s Belmont Stakes, the older stallions will attempt to reclaim the classic throne. The Belmont Stakes sire list reads as a who’s who of established stallions with seven of the stallions over the age of 14. The youngest stallion to sire a runner in this year’s Belmont is nine years old with the average stallion age in the race sitting at 15 1/2 years old. The elder statesmen of this Belmont Stakes are Giant’s Causeway and Malibu Moon. The 19-year-old stallions are searching for more classic success with Giant’s Causeway already siring French classic winner Shamardal and Malibu Moon siring 2013 Kentucky Derby winner Orb. Malibu Moon comes from the most popular sireline seen in this race with the stallion one of t...

Editor's note: This blog was first run May 10, 2016 but was modified on June 10, 2017 when Irish War Cry finished second in the Belmont Stakes.  A racehorse who didn’t debut until February of his 3-year-old year, Curlin caught the attention of the racing world after winning two of Arkansas’ Kentucky Derby preps in 2007. But it was the Triple Crown that really solidified his place as a future superstar. Going into the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands with only three races under his belt, the Smart Strike son held his own when finishing third in the 20 horse field. In a bit of a twist, the Derby seemed to complete the seasoning he needed as he won a hard-fought Grade 1 Preakness Stakes over Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense (Street Cry) by a head. Perhaps the most famous of his three Triple Crown races is the one he lost by a head to the filly Rags to Riches in the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes. Curlin ended his career in November of the following year after a f...

American Pharoah Perhaps the most exciting stallion prospect to hit the market this century, American Pharoah accomplished nearly every task thrown at him including the Triple Crown. The colt, by Pioneerof the Nile, finished fifth on debut in a Del Mar maiden special weight but he was beaten by some talented colts with two of them going on to win graded stakes races and the two others placing in Grade 1 events. That debut loss may not have been an eye catcher for American Pharoah but his victory less than a month later caught the attention of everyone in racing when he pulled away to win the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity by 4 ¾ lengths. He was at the top of the conversation for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile after winning the Grade 1 FrontRunner Stakes later that month but the colt suffered a season-ending injury only a few days before the Breeders’ Cup. On the sidelines for five months, American Pharoah romped in the Grade 2 Rebel Stakes in his first race as a 3-year-old and made ...

2014 Breeders' Cup Classic winner Bayern After Bayern put in another disappointing run on Sept. 26 in the Awesome Again Stakes, the colt was retired to Hill ‘n’ Dale Farm early in the week to prepare for the 2016 breeding season. One of 19 Breeders’ Cup Classic winners to return to the track the following year, Bayern’s record of two thirds in five starts is probably most similar to Wild Again, who raced four times after his victory in the inaugural Breeders’ Cup. However, while Bayern raced in graded stakes all year, Wild Again only made one stakes start after his Classic victory, retiring with a second in the Grade 1 Meadowlands Cup. Overall, Breeders’ Cup Classic winners have combined for 33 wins in 103 post-victory starts for a 33 percent strike rate. While you expect a Classic winner to be a classy runner even if they have lost a step post-Classic, those 19 Classic winners also combined to have 41 second or third-place finishes in addition to the 33 wins for 74...