Heart to Heart

The influence of Champion grass horse and MGISW English Channel both on the racetrack and in the breeding shed cannot be overstated. After stints at Hurricane Hall, Lane's End and finally, Calumet, we sadly lost him late in 2021, but he still has an active group that continues to carry home his legacy. Who is his most successful offspring? Maybe it's Chicago's own, MGISW The Pizza Man? Or how about MGISW Channel Maker, who just added another graded trophy to his collection last weekend at the ripe old age of...

1st-Ellis, $40,000, Msw, 7-15, 2yo, 6 1/2f, 1:18.23, sy, 7 1/2 lengths. HAM SANDWICH (c, 2, Heart to Heart--Voodoo Lounge, by Pleasant Tap) didn't show much in his Horseshoe Indianapolis debut June 10, never advancing further than eighth in a 7 1/2-furlong turf contest. Over a sloppy main track Saturday in a sales price-restricted race, he was eased from the gate and had only one rival beat through a half in :46.22. Kept inside of horses around the turn, he angled through a gap at the top of the lane...

It doesn't make me mad anymore. Maybe it's just the idealism of youth ebbing away. But I have also begun to understand the virtue of markets. If people want to breed to unproven stallions, that's their prerogative. I can always buy a mare, send her to a sire of runners, and see y'all in the starting gate. If I'm right, the odds are in my favor; I get value from the market. And if I'm wrong, well, no need to be angry. Even in setting all that aside, however, it's...

When this whole thing is over, some kind of reset seems inevitable: certain priorities renewed, others revised. And perhaps, with an abrupt end looming to the relentless bull run in the bloodstock market, commercial breeders might begin to dig slightly deeper foundations for their broodmares. In recent times, they have been increasingly prepared to risk a mare's long-term viability by choosing her mates according to short-term market fads. Once that market plunges, however, it's all downside. The far-sighted breeder, as such, will surely seek to ride out the storm by...

The annual Stallion Open House at Crestwood Farm in Lexington is scheduled for this coming Sunday, Jan. 12, from 1-4 p.m. at the nursery's stallion barn located at 3758 Spurr Road. Breeders are invited to register in person for the 2020 free season raffle for each of the farm's six stallions. Food and drinks will be served in a heated tent. The newest addition to the Crestwood line-up is Heart to Heart (English Channel--Ask the Question, by Silver Deputy), champion 3-year-old in Canada in 2014 and a Grade I winner...