Darling My Darling

Before anything else, first and foremost we need to acknowledge the unfathomable legacy of Darling My Darling (Deputy Minister) as second dam of both colts denied in an agonizing three-way finish to the GI Kentucky Derby. The odds of that coincidence, for all her elite blood and performance, are best be left to an actuary. In the meantime, however, we should salvage the contrasting narratives aptly condensed, in what remains the definitive test of the American Thoroughbred, by her two grandsons. For our collective obsession with first place is such...

It very quickly became clear that the stallions launched in 2019 included an above-average proportion equipped to last the course. And the start being made by their second crop of sophomores has only reiterated that impression. Thanks to the contentious prohibition of his ban by a gaming corporation, GI Arkansas Derby winner Muth is ineligible to give Good Magic a second GI Kentucky Derby from two attempts. (Though the Hill 'n' Dale sire might yet manage that with the same mare who gave him the first one, with Mage's brother...