The preps are done, as of today we're 2 1/2 weeks out from one of the most open-looking editions of the GI Kentucky Derby in recent years. The win by Classic Empire (Pioneerof the Nile) in last Saturday's GI Arkansas Derby makes him one of three more or less joint favorites as of now (with [...]

This is a refrain usually reserved for handicap races with 20 runners, but welcome to the 2017 GI Kentucky Derby. I would agree with correspondent T.D. Thornton's ranking of the top three (click here), and pending this weekend's GI Arkansas Derby, they figure as the first three favorites come Derby Day: GI Xpressbet Florida Derby [...]

In the wake of Arrogate's terrific run in the Mar. 25 G1 Dubai World Cup there was a good deal of chat in the press and on social media to the effect “who's the greatest? Arrogate or Frankel–or other?” While Arrogate is a superstar, there is always an inclination to get carried away with the [...]

Once again this year, sires with their first potential Classic crops of 3-year-olds (referred to as “second-crop” sires as their second crop [of 2-year-olds] have now reached racing age) are competing to muscle their way into breeders' consciousness, and some are succeeding; quite a few, in fact, so much so that at this early juncture [...]

At the two major 2-year-old in training sales held this month in Florida–Fasig-Tipton in Miami Mar. 1 and OBS in Ocala last week–a total of 62 2-year-olds (24 at Fasig, 38 at OBS) were listed as sold for $400,000 or more. Obviously the only way a consignor can lose money selling a $400,000 2-year-old is [...]

Curlin retired at the end of 2008 with record earnings for a North American-trained horse of $10,501,800. California Chrome broke his record last year, and retired after the GI Pegasus with new record earnings of $14,752,650. After winning the Pegasus, 'TDN Rising Star' Arrogate now has earnings of $11,084,600; if he wins the G1 Dubai [...]

It's been pretty hot down south so far in 2017, literally as well as figuratively. It's been a while since we turned the APEX focus to the Southern Hemisphere, so it seems like a good time to take a fresh look. As always, The Jockey Club Information Systems (TJCIS) has supplied the APEX numbers as [...]

APEX Ratings, as you know, do not consist of just one or even a few indexes–there are 17 different APEX indexes, ranging from class (A Runners, B, C, ABC Runners) to region (NA, EU, JP) to age (2yo, 3yo, 4yo, 5yo+), all developed with the aim of assisting racehorse owners and breeders in their decision-making [...]

You've heard of course of one of the new features of contemporary life: the pop-up Event. I'm slightly altering the definition (which is somewhat hazy anyway) to suit our purposes, but essentially The Stronach Group's Jan. 28 GI Pegasus World Cup (the old GI Donn H.) at Gulfstream Park can be described as horse racing's [...]

Well, they should be the top two, shouldn't they, since they are the most expensive stallions, respectively, in Europe and North America, although Darley's Dubawi, now at £250,000, is marginally more expensive than Gainesway's Tapit, at $300,000. In 2015, Tapit gave Coolmore's world number one, Galileo, a real scare in terms of the numbers of [...]

Even given the pressures of the commercial marketplace, in real life, the most critical year in many sires' careers is the year their first 4-year-olds run. There are a few reasons for this: their oldest foals are then at an age where they've been given every chance to get good; also, they have now three [...]

We interrupt our regularly scheduled program (APEX ratings) to note the stark contrast, detailed in the Weekly Sales Ticker, between the desultory figures at Keeneland's January Sale and the continuing upward trend of the Magic Millions Book 1 Yearling Sale in Queensland, which grossed A$134 million, up almost A$20 million (+16%) from last year, and [...]