Bearing in mind that sons of Tapit landed the 2014 and 2016 editions of the GI Belmont S., with others finishing second in 2015 and third in 2016, it would seem fair to conclude that the three-time champion sire is a reliable source of stamina. It must therefore sound very contradictory to harbor a few [...]

If anyone needed a reminder of the scale of A.P. Indy's legacy, it was vividly provided by last weekend's graded stakes action for 3-year-olds, with this male line providing five of the six winners. This charge by the A.P. Indy clan was spearheaded by Tapit, a grandson of 1992's Horse of the Year. Of course, [...]

After the success of tale of Ekati's son Girvin in the GII Risen Star S., I found myself wondering whether this is going to be another example of like father, like son. When I covered Tale of Ekati's pedigree (click here) following his victory in the 2008 GI Wood Memorial S., I pointed out that his [...]

It is hard to imagine that it is now nearly 28 years since Sunday Silence provided Halo with his second victory in the GI Kentucky Derby, with his defeat of Easy Goer. Since then, of course, 1989's Horse of the Year has earned recognition as one of the great sires, so it is highly appropriate [...]

The late great Bobby Frankel, with his five Eclipse Awards for Outstanding Trainer, landed many of America's top races, but the Kentucky Derby was not among them. He had a couple of reasonably close calls for Juddmonte, with Aptitude running Fusaichi Pegasus to a length and a half in 2000 and Empire Maker being beaten [...]

When the TDN recently published a list of the most prolific sires of nominees for the 2017 Triple Crown, the top four were Tapit (with 19), Into Mischief (16), Uncle Mo (15) and Union Rags (14). Incidentally, Tapit and Into Mischief also topped the table of stallions with the most qualifiers for the 2016 Experimental [...]

On the afternoon of Arrogate's dominant display in the GI Pegasus World Cup, it was easy to overlook Juddmonte's other graded victory at Gulfstream Park, by the ex-English Suffused in the GIII La Prevoyante H. I have to declare at this point that I am not entirely impartial where Suffused and her dam Scuffle are [...]

While I'm not sure I totally subscribe to the theory that the market never lies, it is always illuminating to chart the changes in the fees charged for the higher-priced stallions. Among the many changes made between the 2016 and '17 seasons, the reductions included such notable sires as Pioneerof the Nile, Empire Maker, Distorted [...]

Not a lot happened last week, with little action among the budding 3-year-old stars, but this at least gives me the chance to pay tribute to Reynaldothewizard and Sandiva. These two hard-working Thoroughbreds are just the type that any owner would love to own. Reynaldothewizard, at the age of 11, took last Thursday's Dubawi S. [...]

It's a long uphill climb from the GIII Sham S. in January to Grade I success at the Breeders' Cup. Even so, the journey hasn't proved too perilous for some of the horses which have performed well in the Sham since it was brought forward to January in 2011. Two of the winners, Tapizar and [...]

Sunday's GII San Pasqual S. could be described as Hamlet without the Prince, after Arrogate, the forecast 1-5 favorite, was withdrawn. The cause of the withdrawal was the days of rain which had preceded the New Year, rather than the stage fright which gave rise to the Hamlet without the Prince expression. The story goes [...]

Satono Ares's victory in the GI Asahi Hai Futurity may have taken place at Hanshin racecourse, on the main Japanese island of Honshu, but a glance at the colt's pedigree immediately transported me in time and place, to the Keeneland sales complex in the late 1980s. I can still just about feel the glaring heat [...]