Pending the outcome of this weekend's final Classic preps, the GI Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn and the GI Blue Grass S., due to be run for the last time on the synthetic Polytrack surface at Keeneland, there are California Chrome Benoit likely to be three contenders vying for favoritism in the GI Kentucky Derby in [...]

From the point of view of immediate practical application, the trouble with year-end sire statistics is that often the horses which you think look the best, and which the numbers confirm are the best, are all booked up by the time the statistics are published. We can't promise some of the sires we're reviewing today [...]

It really was true, as a lot of people have commented, that the results on Dubai World Cup night had a very international tint to them, with the notable exception of U.S. participation. Japan had a massive turf double in the nine-furlong $5-million G1 Duty Free, won by Just A Way (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}), [...]

One of the things which struck me in the aftermath of the latest crisis to hit American racing, last week's PETA/New York Times undercover expose of life in trainer Steve Asmussen's barn, is how reactive this business is (including this columnist: I'm reacting). Dozens and dozens of people from dozens of organizations have spent thousands [...]

Gainesway Farm's Tapit, who retired for a $15,000 fee in 2005, was the Leading North American freshman sire of 2008, when Stardom Bound won three Grade I races, including the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, and Laragh added the GI Hollywood Starlet. He stood for $35,000 in 2009 (foals of 2010), in which year it became [...]

by Bill Oppenheim This coming Saturday, June 7, is the biggest day of the racing year so far, because that is the day we find out if California Chrome (Lucky Pulpit) becomes the 12th Triple Crown winner, or the 12th to make the race and fail in the 36 years since Affirmed followed Secretariat and Seattle Slew [...]

Last week we previewed North American and European sires who went to stud in 2011, had their first foals in 2012, their first yearlings in 2013, and have their first 2-year-olds this year. In the context of evaluating stallion prospects, horses go to stud with their achievements fresh in breeders' minds. Breeders are evaluating the [...]

There were a total of 45 North American and European stallions with first foals 2012 (F2012), which had nine or more yearlings sell in their first crops at the 2013 yearling sales, and which now are the 2014 class of freshman sires. Now that the Winter Mixed sales are finishing–Goffs today and tomorrow wraps them [...]

The yearling market has been centered in Ireland the last two weeks, and solid increases have been the theme. Tattersalls Ireland's three-day sale at Fairyhouse last week was not entirely comparable to the previous year's two-day sale, but, with nearly 100 more horses sold, the gross was up by more than 25%, and the average [...]

By Bill Oppenheim Horses will be shipping in tomorrow, and beginning to show Friday, for the biggest yearling sale of all, Keeneland September. They are gearing up for 13 days of selling over a 14-day period beginning next Monday. Last year Keeneland September heralded the beginning of a significant recovery in the Thoroughbred business, as [...]

From the point of view of immediate practical application, the trouble with year-end sire statistics is that often the horses which you think look the best, and which the numbers confirm are the best, are all booked up by the time the statistics are published. We can't promise some of the sires we're reviewing today [...]

I know, there are plenty of people who say a 'good gamble' is an oxymoron, but when you think about the level of financial gambling involved in sire selection, there has to be some relativity included in the equation. One of the best applications of the APEX figures is to try to decipher which stallions [...]