Barbaro

I got into racing via horses who had nothing to do with racing, as it is for many people with no family ties to rely on. Horses were a side hobby for me due to competitive swimming taking up enormous amounts of my time (a contentious topic in my house when I entered those famously stable teenage years) and my introduction to Thoroughbreds was, ironically, thanks to a mistake on my part. I had asked my instructor once what the fastest horse in the world was, as someone had erroneously...

Old Friends in Georgetown, KY, will host a retirement celebration for Hall of Fame jockey Edgar Prado on Saturday, July 15, they announced Monday. The veteran reinsman was the regular pilot for two Old Friends residents--GI Belmont S. winners Sarava (Wild Again) and Birdstone (Grindstone)--as well as 2006 Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro (Dynaformer) and 2015 Breeders' Cup Sprint hero Runhappy (Super Saver). "It's an honor to be present at Old Friends," Prado said. "They really take care of the horses after their careers, giving them the best life possible every...

Joss Saville has joined Jim and Dana Bernhard's Pin Oak Stud team as farm trainer. Saville, who will be responsible for the breaking and pre-training of Pin Oak's young horses, has served as an assistant to GI Kentucky Derby-winning trainer Michael Matz for the last 12 years. "It was a really hard decision to leave Michael. He is a true horseman and I am grateful for all the knowledge he passed along to me," Saville said. "I consider myself very lucky to have spent so long working alongside him, his...

In a tweet sent out Tuesday afternoon, Gulfstream Park announced that Hall of Fame jockey Edgar Prado has retired. With 7,119 victories, Prado, 56, is the eighth winningest jockey in the sport's history. He has not ridden since the Jan. 6 card at Gulfstream. At deadline for this story, Prado had not returned a phone from the TDN, but told the Blood-Horse that he wanted to spend more time with his family. "It was getting harder and harder and I was wasting the time that I spent with my family,...

His conversation still retains a charming French inflection, all these years later, but when Xavier Moreau first crossed the water his English was really quite rudimentary. And he remembers going into a men's clothing store in Houston and being baffled by the gigantic measurements on every single garment. An assistant wandered over. "May I help you, sir?" Moreau gesticulated. "I can't find anything my size," he said. As he recalls, the guy "was looking at me like I had come down from the moon." "Well, no, you won't find anything...

Lentenor (Dynaformer--La Ville Rouge, by Carson City), a stakes-winning full-brother to GI Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro, has been purchased from Calumet Farm by Ryan Campbell's RisenStorm Company and will stand the 2022 season at Cabin Creek Farm in Bernville, Pennsylvania for a fee of $1,000 (stands and nurses). The 15-year-old stallion, who previously stood in Indiana, is the sire of stakes-placed Uphold from 33 foals.

The concept of the super trainer is by no means a new phenomenon in horse racing, but the huge stables run by super trainers have undoubtedly changed the landscape of the sport in many ways, from the backside to the racing entries. Are super trainers bad for the sport?  Are there any benefits for an owner in using a "smaller" trainer? We asked these questions and more to a few trainers who may not be considered super trainers in terms of their stall numbers, but they have made the most...

When Roy and Gretchen Jackson purchased their 190-acre property in Chester County, Pennsylvania, in 1978, they christened it Lael Farm, the Gaelic word for loyalty. Today, more than 40 years into the couples' transatlantic forays in the world of breeding and racing Thoroughbreds, that name could hardly be more appropriate. The Jacksons, both lifelong horse people, became household names in the sport and beyond in 2006 during their months-long attempt to save the life of their GI Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro (Dynaformer) after the colt suffered what was ultimately a...

If pressed to pinpoint a single Achilles heel in the racehorse, it's probably a fair bet to assume many would zero in on the fetlock--the intricate joint mechanism that in a racehorse travelling at top speed proves especially vulnerable to system failure. Indeed, 19 of the 22 horses that suffered catastrophic musculoskeletal injuries at Santa Anita during its benighted winter-spring meet nearly two years ago had sesamoid fractures. In most cases, the prognosis for horses who suffer severe fetlock breakdowns is grim, but a procedure pioneered at the end of...

Two-time classic-winning trainer Michael Matz will judge the 86th annual Maryland Horse Breeders Association Yearling Show. Open to all yearlings eligible for Maryland-bred registration, the show has been rescheduled for 2020 and will be held Sunday, July 19 at the Maryland State Fairgounds' Horse Show Ring in Timonium. Entries are due by June 20. Based at Fair Hill Training Center, Matz is responsible for undefeated 2006 GI Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro and GI Belmont S. hero Union Rags. Matz also trained multiple Grade I-winning turf runner Kicken Kris, GI Breeders'...