Storm Cat

Observations on the European Racing Scene turns the spotlight on the best European races of the day, highlighting well-bred horses early in their careers, horses of note returning to action and young runners that achieved notable results in the sales ring. Sunday's Observations features the half-sister to an American multiple Grade I winner.  13.57 Naas, Mdn, €18,000, 2yo, f, 5f 205yT DRAMATIC (Medaglia D'Oro) was a $1.5-million purchase by Coolmore at the 2022 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale and becomes the latest Aidan O'Brien juvenile to come out to play....

It almost feels like he's on the other end of some celestial phoneline, listening in and smiling. Because somehow Marty Wygod seems to have arranged things so that family and friends, since mourning his loss in April, could be consoled by an afterglow of the same vitality that had sustained his 84 years. First a colt gifted to his daughter Emily Bushnell and longtime racing adviser Ric Waldman took them to the GI Kentucky Derby; and now another graduate of his program has assisted its transition with a $2.4 million...

On the 15th anniversary of the passing of Vincent O'Brien, his successor at Ballydoyle, Aidan O'Brien, extended his record at Epsom to 10 wins in the Derby. Vincent O'Brien's daughter and son-in-law Sue and John Magnier were not at Epsom on Saturday but several of the late, great trainer's grandchildren were in the winner's circle to greet City Of Troy. Their own family is now so strongly enmeshed with the man who shares their grandfather's surname but is no relation to the creator of Ballydoyle. Just like City Of Troy,...

Emily Bushnell and Ric Waldman's Resilience (c, 3, Into Mischief--Meadowsweet, by Smart Strike) punched his ticket to the GI Kentucky Derby for Hall of Famer Bill Mott in an eventful renewal of Saturday's GII Wood Memorial S. at Aqueduct. Last out Aqueduct maiden winner Society Man (Good Magic), off at boxcar odds of 106-1, was second. Another longshot Protective (Medaglia d'Oro), a maiden of two starts, was third at 38-1. The race was marred by a spill in the stretch when the Uriah St Lewis owned/trained-longshot Deposition (Constitution) appeared to...

Forestry (Storm Cat--Shared Interest, by Pleasant Colony), winner of the 1999 GI King's Bishop S. at Saratoga and sire of GI Preakness S. winner Shackleford and fellow GISWs Discreet Cat, Forest Danger and Diplomat Lady, passed away at the age of 27 in Paraná, Brazil on Wednesday. One of the longest-lived and most successful sires in all of South America, Forestry died due to health problems caused by old age, according to Dr. Joaquim Antunes, chief veterinarian of Haras São José da Serra. Bred by Robert S. Evans in Kentucky,...

Pearling (Storm Cat--Mariah's Storm, by Rahy), the dam of triple Group 1 winner and stallion Decorated Knight (GB) (Galileo {Ire}), passed away this week, Imad Al Sagar's Blue Diamond Stud announced on Tuesday. The 17-year-old, who was set to return to Frankel this season, foaled a Frankel (GB) filly this week, the stud confirmed to the TDN. "Very sad to lose Pearling this week," the stud tweeted. "She was one of the first mares to join Blue Diamond and gave us a true star in Decorated Knight. She leaves a lasting...

Since 2004, we've shined the spotlight on over 1,500 'TDN Rising Stars' worldwide, recognition given to a horse early on its career who has done something so impressive on the racetrack that our team believes they will go on to become graded stakes winners.  A horse is designated as a 'Rising Star' by the TDN staff after a careful and comprehensive review of many factors--including the quality of the field, margin and time of victory, pedigree, sales price and more. Over the years, it has become a badge of honor...

A stroll down the 500 block of East Maxwell Street in Lexington, Kentucky brings you to the awninged door of Black Swan Books. If your pursuits are less catholic, then Mike Courtney's seemingly endless maze of heaving shelves can accommodate even the most scrupulous bibliophile of rare Kentuckiana and equine sport culture. Say, you're looking for a past volume on the two-time Horse of the Year Secretariat, then copious choices await. More recent works like William Nack's Secretariat: The Making of a Champion (2002) and Lawrence Scanlan's The Horse That...

The Thoroughbred is certainly more versatile than we sometimes give it credit for. There is always the capacity to surprise, particularly when it comes to predicting stallion success. For instance, despite examples showing otherwise, it remains tempting to box sires as 'dirt' and 'turf' and 'American' and 'European' when actually some of them will prove capable of crossing the differing racing jurisdictions quite easily. Had all breeders and buyers remained on 'the straight and narrow', the chance to appreciate the likes of Scat Daddy, Medaglia d'Oro, More Than Ready and...

The 2023 Secretariat's Legacy calendar will celebrate the Triple Crown winner's daughter Terlingua, who set six stakes records on the racetrack and then produced the great stallion Storm Cat. The 2023 edition is the sixth annual fundraising calendar honoring Secretariat and his descendants. The first five calendars in the series, which started with the Living Legends theme honoring the remaining Secretariats, have raised $28,000 for equine charities over the years. "I am very grateful to all the racing fans--especially Secretariat fans--who have supported both the Living Legends calendar series and...

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 TVG Del Mar Debutante S., a race with a surprising amount of repercussion on the sport. First run the year before Queen Elizabeth II took the throne, the Del Mar Debutante has seen 72 winners, with D. Wayne Lukas and Bob Baffert together combining for more than a quarter of those visits to the winner's circle. It's been run on Polytrack; it's been...

Most of us have voted early, and voted often, when it comes to the biggest impact recently made by a new stallion--and now, it seems, we've celebrated his official inauguration. Because a Classic winner for Gun Runner rounds out the narrative that so excited everybody last year, when his first juveniles showed such startling speed and precocity relative to his own Horse of the Year campaign, around two turns as a 4-year-old. Sure, Gun Runner himself managed to win his first two (of three) juvenile starts, and then added the...