Dialed In

Salomon Del Valle's Gunnevera (Dialed In--Unbridled Rage, by Unbridled), a winner of a trio of graded stakes and runner up in a quartet of Grade I/Group 1's through a career that spanned four seasons, has been retired from racing. Stud plans have yet to be determined. Victorious three starts at two, including the GII Saratoga Special S. and the GIII Delta Jackpot, the Antonio Sano trainee took the next season's GII Xpressbet Fountain of Youth S. before finishing third in the GI Florida Derby. Later that summer, he won Gulfstream's...

We often talk of stallions who have had to earn their stripes. And there's no doubt that Dialed In has uncomplainingly completed every drill necessary to get his first Grade I insignia stitched onto his uniform, by Get Her Number in the American Pharoah S. at Santa Anita a few days ago. By the time the son of Mineshaft set up shop in 2013, his qualifications as favorite for the 2011 Derby had rather faded from memory. He had run down Shackleford (Forestry) in the GI Florida Derby, but their...

Arnaldo Monge and trainer Rey Hernandez's Finnick the Fierce (Dialed In), a 50-1 shot on the morning-line for the GI Kentucky Derby, has been scratched from the 1 1/4-mile classic. The one-eyed gelding, third in the GI Arkansas Derby, was seventh last out in the GII Toyota Blue Grass S. at Keeneland July 11. "Because he's blind on the right eye, he carries himself a little funny," Monge said. "And we always knew that. But ever since he arrived, the vets have been keeping an eye on the horse and...

A colt by The Factor (hip 129) and a son of Dialed In (hip 141) breezed the quickest eighth and quarter, respectively, during Thursday's first of three breeze shows for next Tuesday and Wednesday's Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's March 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale. Consigned by GOP Racing Stable Corp., hip 129 covered a furlong in :9 4/5 despite starting his breeze well out into the track and finishing it close to the fence. A $22,000 KEENOV weanling RNA and $17,000 OBSOCT yearling, the Maryland-bred is out of SW and GSP...

Right, that's enough ranting for now. In the course of this series, I've repeatedly professed bewilderment and alarm over the damage to the Thoroughbred gene pool threatened by a witless stampede towards unproven newcomers, and the no less puerile impatience with which they are promptly abandoned. But we won't revisit those complaints today. Embarking on this final instalment, dealing with those stallions talented or lucky enough to have come out the other side with a viable stud career in Kentucky, we'll just offer one simple consolation. Because if you're one...