Nijinsky

They call it "nominative determinism." Your name suggests your path in life: like the world's fastest man being a Bolt. On that basis, you would say that being born a Goodman raises expectation enough--without then going ahead and buying yourself a farm named Mt. Brilliant. The last year or so, however, suggests that things are playing out much as they should. Last September, TOBA presented Greg Goodman with the Robert N. Clay Award for his work in preserving horse country around Lexington from development. In April, the KTA/KTOB honored him...

While conducting a long overdue tidy-up of my office I came across a copy of the brilliant Pacemaker International magazine of June 1980. (For the avoidance of doubt, it had not been on my desk all that time.) There were some throwbacks, such as an advert for Leslie Combs II's draft of yearlings from Spendthrift, and another for Rover cars (imagine that in a racing publication nowadays!), as well as items that served as a reminder that the more things change, the more they stay the same. To this effect,...

Coolmore boss John Magnier has led the tributes to one of the sport's biggest icons, the legendary nine-time Derby-winning jockey Lester Piggott, who he labelled as "the greatest" following his death at the age of 86. Piggott rode his first Derby victory for former Ballydoyle boss, the late Vincent O'Brien, in 1968 aboard Sir Ivor. They combined to win the race four times together, including with Nijinsky (Can) in 1970, Roberto in 1972 and The Minstrel (Can), for whom the colt's owner Robert Sangster, Piggott was then contracted to ride...

The late Vincent O'Brien, a master trainer on the Flat and over jumps, is the first of his profession to be inducted to the QIPCO British Champions Series Hall of Fame. His name was announced along with three equine stars of the 1970s, Mill Reef, Nijinsky and Brigadier Gerard (GB). Marking the 10th anniversary of QIPCO's sponsorship of the British Champions Series, the Hall of Fame was launched in May with the inaugural inductees Lester Piggott and Frankel (GB). During an illustrious career, O'Brien notched 141 Group 1 wins, with...

The advent of Twitter over the last decade or so has made racing results quickly accessible to fans and observers anywhere in the world, so much so that it seems that a greater number of people in the U.S. are more familiar with European racing than ever before. Back when I was a kid, we'd have to wait for the Blood-Horse magazine to arrive in the mail to scan the 10-day old European results in the agate type in the back pages. Now, we get a video of a race...

JAMES KEOGH, GROVENDALE For me, the all-time greatest racehorse and my all-time favorite were one and the same. On the 27th of June, 1970 I attended my very first race meet at the Curragh. On that occasion I got to watch greatness in action, as Nijinsky (Northern Dancer) won the G1 Irish Derby. Even though I was just nine years of age, it was clear I had just witnessed something extraordinary. The pure ease with which Nijinsky totally demolished the Irish Classic field, under a hand ride from Irish champion...

TDN is proud to partner with the Keeneland Library and the Nunn Center for Oral History at the University of Kentucky Libraries in a very special collaboration: the Keeneland 'Life's Work' Oral History Project, a series of filmed interviews by TDN columnist Chris McGrath with significant figures in the Thoroughbred industry. The current installment, with Gus Koch of Claiborne Farm, appears here. Legends, to you and me. Immortals, paragons. But to Gus Koch, they were the flesh-and-blood companions of his daily toil: some were cherished friends; others, just a pain...