All Equine All The Time

Nearly a decade after her passing, Urban Sea (Miswaki) proved to still be the Queen of the Track at Epsom during Derby weekend. The 1993 Prix de L’Arc de Triomphe winner wasn’t only present in the pedigrees of many horses who won or placed in the three Group 1 races at the track on Friday and Saturday but also those who ran in said races with 15 runners between the Oaks and Derby descending from the mare. Four of the six entries in the Coronation Cup also traced back to the bluehen mare to give her an astounding 70.4 percent of the runners in the Group 1 races at Epsom. Urban Sea's 1993 Arc victory Looking at those numbers, it isn’t surprising that Urban Sea was responsible for the winners of all three races nor that in two of the races she had multiple representation in the top three. Frankel’s Cracksman was nearly beaten by Salouen (Canford Cliffs) in the Coronation Cup on Friday to get the festives started but if he would have failed to get up to the runner-up in t...

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 ...