All Equine All The Time

When Bob Baffert and Juddmonte decided to buy a gray colt out of Bubbler (Distorted Humor) at the Keeneland September Sale in 2014 they obviously knew he had all the looks to be a talented racehorse but it is doubtful they knew how talented he was. Typical young horse problems delayed Arrogate (Unbridled’s Song) from starting until April of his 3-year-old year for the Baffert barn, forcing him to miss the Triple Crown series. Starting in a six furlong maiden at Los Alamitos, the colt was only three quarters of a length from a win with the Congrats gelding (at that time still intact) Westbrook winning the race and future multiple graded stakes winner Accelerate (Lookin At Lucky) in second. Arrogate had the racing game figured out after that race and no one would beat him to the line for over a year after that start. He won a maiden at Santa Anita nearly two months later by 4 ½ lengths over a field that included future Grade 2 winner Giant Expectations (Frost Giant) before B...

California Chrome One of only three Kentucky Derby winners this century to race past his 4-year-old season, California Chrome became the all-time highest earner outside of Japan on Saturday when he won the $6-million winner’s share of the Dubai World Cup purse and boosted his earnings to $12,532,650. The winner of 12 of 21 races, the California-bred son of Lucky Pulpit was under the radar as a 2-year-old, winning only three of his seven starts but has quickly risen to be one of the most popular active racehorses in the world after dominating the Kentucky Derby trail in 2014 and winning two legs of the Triple Crown. California Chrome was only a neck short of adding the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Classic to his resume at the end of that year, finishing third to Bayern (Offlee Wild) before closing the season with a Grade 1 win on turf in the Hollywood Derby. His 2015 seasons was derailed a bit when, after a pair of seconds including the Group 1 Dubai World Cup, he went on an ambitious cam...

Honor Code One of the best-bred stallions to retire to stud anywhere in the world in 2016, Honor Code made A.P. Indy’s (Seattle Slew) final crop a truly memorable one.  Racing for the partnership of Lane’s End Racing and Dell Ridge Farm, Honor Code made his debut at Saratoga in late August of his 2-year-old year. Racing from what would become his customary back-of-the-pack position, he made easy work of the field when winning by 4 ½ lengths for trainer Shug McGaughey with John Velazquez aboard.  Honor Code earned a Grade 1 placing in his second start finishing only a neck behind Havana (Dunkirk) in the Grade 1 Foxwoods Champagne Stakes with Javier Castellano, who would be come his regular jockey, aboard . The Grade 2 Remsen really showed Honor Code’s mettle when the colt went head-to-head with Cairo Prince (Pioneerof the Nile) in the stretch, who passed him at one point . Honor Code battl ed back to win by a nose to put both horses in Kentucky Derby conversations. ...

Declaration of War From War Front’s (Danzig) second crop, Declaration of War helped to set his sire on a fast track to European success when the Coolmore partners bought into the horse after his 2-year-old season. Declaration of War started his career in France for breeder Joseph Allen where he made two starts as a 2-year-old, winning both by a combined 11 lengths under Christophe Soumillon. It looked like he was on the fast track to classic success but Declaration of War was sidelined nearly all of his 3-year-old year with his first start of that season coming in September. When he returned back to the track, Coolmore had joined his ownership group and he was based at Ballydoyle with trainer Aidan O’Brien. His first start back was a fourth by four lengths to Famous Name (Dansili) in the Group 3 Refuse to Bend Solonaway Stakes but he got back to his winning ways three weeks later when dropped out of the group stakes level. A run six days later in the Group 3 Diamond Stakes gave him...

One of the most exciting new sires of 2016 is Ireland’s Gleneagles (Galileo), whose bloodlines and race record make an attractive package for breeders. Standing for €60,000 ($65,640U.S.) in his first season, Gleneagles is one of three new stallions at Coolmore Stud’s Irish base and brings a serious race record with him to the farm. The colt finished fourth of 10 in his debut at Leopardstown on June 6, 2014 but from there lit up the European turf. He broke his maiden against 10 others at the Curragh at the end of June before spending the summer adding the Group 2 Futurity Stakes and Group 3 Tyros Stakes to his resume. The season culminated for the colt in the Group 1 National Stakes at the Curragh by 1 ½ lengths, his fourth consecutive victory. Unfortunately for the colt’s record, he drifted a little in the Group 1 Prix Jean-Luck Lagardere at Longchamp on Arc day and French racing rules required that he be disqualified to third behind Full Mast (Mizzen Mast). However, ...

Bayern in 2015 Making his mark on the 3-year-old division in 2014, Bayern (Offlee Wild) won from seven furlongs to 1 ¼ miles during his career with graded stakes victories coming at four different distances. The son of Offlee Wild made his debut on Jan. 4, 2014 by 3 ¼ lengths at Santa Anita and followed that up with a 15 length victory in an allowance a little over a month later. His first loss came in the Arkansas Derby in April, his first attempt at stretching past a mile, but the ridgling didn’t disgrace himself when finishing third. Three starts later he got his first graded stakes victory in the Grade 2 Woody Stephens when winning by 7 1/2 lengths and followed that up with a Grade 1 victory in the Haskell Invitational to give trainer Bob Baffert his seventh victory in the race. After a bad run in the Grade 1 Travers Stakes, Bayern faced a tough field of 3 - year -o lds including dual-classic winner California Chrome (Lucky Pulpit) in the Grade 2 Pennsylvania Derby. O...

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 ...