Andrea Branchini

Andrea Branchini provides a light-hearted response to the suggestion that the Irish Derby should be shortened, featuring an imagined conversation between two classic scholars in somewhat different fields. Yet while Cicero's questions are indeed imagined, Tesio's responses are direct quotes from his bloodstock bible Breeding the Racehorse. Marcus Tullius Cicero: Senator Tesio, what do you think of this recent querelle started by Patrick Cooper's letter in the TDN about shortening the distance of that famous Classic race in Hibernia? Federico Tesio: It is difficult to mathematically establish where speed ends...

4th-Santa Anita, Mcl, 2-17, 3yo, 1m. TIZ TOK (r, 3, Tiznow--Weekend Prospect, by A.P. Indy). Lifetime Record: 4-1-0-0, $26,568. O-Hronis Racing. B-Calumet Farm (KY); T-John W. Sadler. As a play on words under the times we live in, naming a horse by Tiznow Tiz Tok simply is masterly, no doubt about it. BEHOLDER MILE S.-GI, $501,500, Santa Anita, 3-11, 4yo/up, f/m, 1m. A MO REAY, 122, f, 4, Uncle Mo-Margaret Reay, by Pioneerof the Nile). Lifetime Record: 12-5-1-3, $692,650. O-Hunter Valley Farm; B-T & G Farm of Kentucky LLC (KY);...

4th-Kentucky Downs, $156,800, Msw, 9-1, 2yo, 1mT, 1:37.03, fm, nose. MENDEL'S SECRET (c, 2, Mendelssohn--Donnie's Secret, by Tiger Ridge) O-Turman Racing Stable, LLC; B-Hartley/De Renzo Thoroughbreds (KY); T-Michael J. Maker The name of Kentucky Downs 9-1-2022 brave post-to-post winner MENDEL'S SECRET (2yo, Mendelssohn--Donnie's Secret, by Tiger Ridge) is intriguing on many levels. It is very likely that there is a close connection with up-and-coming freshman sire MENDELSSOHN (2015 Bay Horse by Scat Daddy out of Leslie's Lady, by Tricky Creek), named after the great Romantic composer Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847). But...

1st-Belmont, $90,000, Msw, 7-3, 2yo, 5 1/2f, 1:04.38, ft, 5 1/2 lengths. LOST ARK (c, 2, Violence--Marion Ravenwood {SW, $112,598}, by A.P. Indy) is a half-brother to both GI Belmont S. runner-up Nest (Curlin), GISW, $1,130,550 and GI Santa Anita H. winner Idol (Curlin), GISW, $426,964. Sales History: $275,000 Ylg '21 KEESEP. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $49,500. O-Harrell Ventures, LLC; B-Ashview Farm & Colts Neck Stables (KY); T-Todd A. Pletcher. There is a tight connection between horse and dam in the name of Belmont 2yo winner Lost Ark. Marion Ravenwood is...

Mr. Baffert, c, 2, Bodemeister--Commandaria, by Smart Strike. Monterrico, 11-14, Maiden, 1000m. B-Sanford Robertson (KY). The one and only Mr. Bob Baffert has had quite a share of intriguingly named winners in the last few weeks. Incidentally, Baffert is himself the namesake of a brilliant Peruvian (and U.S.-bred) colt by his old alumnus Bodemeister--the 2-year-old being a fast horse who won by almost five lengths at five furlongs on his racetrack debut (from another hemisphere in more ways than one?). 8th-Los Alamitos, $54,312, Msw, 12-11, 2yo, 6f, 1:09.21, ft, 3...

"England expects that every man will do his duty" were the eloquent and terrifying orders of Viscount Horatio Nelson before the Battle of Trafalgar (1805), where the great admiral annihilated the French fleet and destroyed Napoleon's maritime ambitions forever--losing his life to an enemy musket ball in the bargain. The Oct. 2 Churchill Downs winner TRAFALGAR, a courageous come-from-the-next-county closer, has more than done his duty and is thoughtfully named. 7th-Churchill Downs, $122,699, Msw, 10-2, 2yo, 1m, 1:35.61, ft, 2 1/4 lengths. TRAFALGAR (c, 2, Lord Nelson--Southern Drifter, by Dixie...

Kudos to whoever was creative and subtle enough to name GERVAIS a horse by DISTORTED HUMOR. The winner of a handicap race at Meydan last week has just that almost risqué name. English actor Ricky Gervais is the creator of The Office, a TV program that stretched the borders of mainstream humor in the UK and in the US. Moreover, Ricky Gervais has presented the Golden Globes five times, always under the threat of being fired because of his outrageous sense of humor and his cutting, take-no-prisoner jokes. With Gervais...

The winner of the GI Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf was named by her fortunate owner after a Sardinian wine company, according to her trainer--the great James Fanshawe of Pegasus Stables in Newmarket. Among the wines that the Audarya winery produces are their versions of the increasingly popular Cannonau (red, goes well with red meats, separates the men from the boys) and old stalwart Vermentino (white, goes with seafood and cheeses, separates the female side in all of us). The winery website states that "Audarya means 'nobility of the...

6th-Pimlico, $50,120, Msw, 9-24, 2yo, f, 6f, 1:10.88, ft. WHISKEY AND RYE (f, 2, Maclean's Music--Ava G, by Afternoon Deelites) Sales history: $150,000 2yo '20 EASMAY. Lifetime Record: 2-1-0-0, $25,200. O-Mens Grille Racing; B-Alex Venneri Racing, LLC (KY); T-Hamilton A. Smith. The brave 2-year-old winning filly WHISKEY AND RYE carries another ingenious name derived from the famous song "American Pie" by Don McLean, an American singer-songwriter who had his very great day in the sun in the early '70s. "And them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye/Singin' this'll...

There are many ways in which this 2020 Keeneland September Sale is different from previous editions, but to me one is the absence of Cris Caldwell, for sure. I still expect to see him quipping from the auctioneer's rostrum or happily strolling around the pavilion--memories that lead me to reflect on the mysterious, inexplicable power of presence and personality--something Cris had in spades. A smile, a joke, a friendly gesture, that is all we can ask from a person we do not know well in a public business place. Cris...

by Andrea Branchini 6th-Gulfstream, $40,700, Alw (NW2$X), Opt. Clm ($62,500), 4-17, 4yo/up, 7f, 1:22.55, ft MIHOS (c, 4, Cairo Prince--Feline Flatline, by Lion Heart) O-Centennial Farms; B-Wayne, Gray & Bryan Lyster (KY); T-James A. Jerkens Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton. The Gulfstream Park winner Mihos runs like an Egyptian, and a very feline one at that. In the ancient mythology of Egypt, "Mihos was a lion-god and was depicted as a lion or a lion-headed man", according to Google. Keep in mind that this colt...

by Andrea Branchini APOGEE (f, 3, Malibu Moon--My Limit, by Wagon Limit) The name of Christophe Clement's recent 3-year-old winner at Tampa Bay Downs is wise to lunar science and astronomy. She is by Malibu Moon out of My Limit, and her name is Apogee, which, according to the Google Dictionary, is "the point in the orbit of the moon or a satellite at which it is furthest from the earth." Brainy, inventive name. An Italian native, Andrea Branchini now lives in Lexington, KY, where he works in the equine...