Comparing turf racing in the U.S. to the European variety isn't always straightforward. Whereas Europeans horses occasionally have to plough through very soft ground in Britain, Ireland, France, Germany and Italy, their American counterparts rarely tackle such conditions, with racecourses opting to switch races to their dirt tracks when the going becomes deep. When graded [...]

When it was announced that Quality Road's fee would more than double to $150,000 this year, the son of Elusive Quality had justifiably been promoted to the major league of American stallions. Only War Front, Tapit, Medaglia d'Oro and Curlin are priced above him, and Quality Road shares the same fee as Into Mischief and [...]

Judging by a list in an old edition of the American Racing Manual, taking the title of leading freshman sire has often been a stepping stone to even greater success. The list features the likes of Bold Ruler, Northern Dancer, Buckpasser, What A Pleasure, Raja Baba, Roberto, Mr. Prospector, Seattle Slew, Alydar, Danzig and Fappiano. [...]

When it comes to Japanese racing, Deep Impact has long appeared to be here, there and everywhere. In recent months the perennial champion sire has been responsible for eight of the 17 contestants in the G1 Shuka Sho, for six of the 18 runners in the G1 Mile Championship and for five of the 12 [...]

As his odds of 1-5 make perfectly clear, there was nothing improbable about Improbable (City Zip)'s victory in the GI Los Alamitos CashCall Futurity. Nor was there anything improbable about a colt of his pedigree establishing a record of three wins from three starts as a 2-year-old. His sire, the ultra-tough City Zip, won five [...]

The concept of a stallion covering his first mares as a 3-year-old is nothing new in the U.S., where the more notable examples include Raise a Native, Hail To Reason, Graustark, Saratoga Six and Malibu Moon. However, each of these went into premature retirement because of injury, unlike a spate of fast European horses who [...]

After the retirement of the sensational Frankel at the end of 2012, there was a possibility that the stars of 2013 would seem rather pedestrian in comparison. Fortunately, nature abhors a vacuum and the void was filled by several genuinely outstanding performers on the international stage. While none of them came close to matching Frankel's [...]

With its history now extending to 35 years, we've seen the Breeders' Cup Classic arguably develop into the supreme test for the American dirt horse, especially when it attracts the crème de la crème of more than one age group. As such, it should also be the perfect testing ground for the next generation of [...]

From a stallion viewpoint, the results at the recent Breeders' Cup were remarkably even-handed, with the 14 Breeders' Cup contests falling to the progeny of 14 different stallions. Several of these stallions have built enviably good records at the Breeders' Cup contests, none better than the evergreen More Than Ready. His son Roy H's repeat [...]

You'll hardly need me to tell you that Saturday was a historic day for Juddmonte Farms, with Prince Khalid Abdullah's colours being carried to victory in two of the main Breeders' Cup events. Thanks to Expert Eye in the Mile and Enable in the Turf, Juddmonte has now had seven Breeders' Cup winners with five [...]

The phrase “It's all in the genes” is often put forward as an explanation for longevity and it certainly seems to apply to Invincible Spirit, who was born as long ago as Feb. 17, 1997. His sire Green Desert was 26 when his last group winner was conceived and was 32 when he was euthanized [...]

Little more than a year ago, Bill Finley reported in these pages that Ken Ramsey was intent on transferring Kitten's Joy from Kentucky to Europe, citing the lack of interest in his star stallion's yearlings at the 2017 Keeneland September Sale. “He is the most underappreciated sire in North America,” Ramsey complained. “I am disgusted [...]