Blush With Pride

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES -- To coin a phrase uttered by the actor John Houseman from the Smith Barney television commercials of the mid-1980s, Senor Buscador (Mineshaft) has really 'earrrrrned it' as he approaches his second straight appearance in an eight-figure horse race, Saturday's $12-million G1 Dubai World Cup at Meydan Racecourse. "Yeah. I mean, it's been pretty crazy," admits owner and breeder Joey Peacock, Jr. Peacock, a resident of San Antonio, and his family have been in the horse business for the better part of 5 1/2 decades, but...

In this continuing series, we examine the past winners of significant filly/mare races by the lasting influence they've had on the breed. Up today is the GI Kentucky Oaks, second only in stature at Churchill Downs to the GI Kentucky Derby. The Derby isn't alone as the oldest continuously held major sporting event in the U.S. The Oaks is right there with it, having been held every year, without interruption for wars or pandemics, since racing first began at Churchill in 1875 when the Louisville oval was known as the...

In this continuing series, we examine the past winners of significant filly/mare races by the lasting influence they've had on the breed. Up today is Keeneland's GI Central Bank Ashland S., the first Grade I of the year for 3-year-old fillies. First run in 1936--also Keeneland's first year--for 3-year-olds and up, the Ashland was named for the plantation home of Kentucky statesman Henry Clay. It had a predecessor, the Ashland Oaks, which was inaugurated in 1879 at the old Kentucky Association Racetrack and was a very different race. Perhaps it's...

Darrell Brown, who owned and operated Stonereath Farm in Bourbon County, Kentucky, for four decades, has passed away. He was to turn 88 years old next month. Born Dec. 14, 1934, to Joseph and Ona Brown in Oklahoma City, Brown grew up during the Oklahoma dust bowl and attended school in a one-room schoolhouse in Mustang, Oklahoma, before proceeding to public school and the University of Oklahoma. He flew in the Air Force during the Vietnam War, delivering helicopter blades to Da Nang and also transporting caskets back to the...