Sky Mesa Colt’s Speed is No Surprise

Fastest work at the under tack show for Tuesday’s Fasig-Tipton Calder 2-Year-Old in Training sale was a colt by Sky Mesa (TrueNicks, SRO) out of Secondary School, by Honor Grades.

The colt — who broke the 10-second mark — is rated an A+ by TrueNicks on the basis of the Pulpit/Danzig cross, but has several other interesting pedigree features. (More…)

‘Ready’ in Two Hemispheres

One stallion who has been enjoying a great February is More Than Ready (TrueNicks, SRO). In the U.S., last week brought stakes wins for Ruff and Ready (who routed the opposition in the Shotintheheart Stakes at Gulfstream on Valentine’s Day) and Ready for Fortune (winner of the Dearly Precious Stakes at Aqueduct three days later).

Ruff and Ready, out of a mare by Notebook, is an A++ TrueNicks scorer. Ready for Fortune scores an A based on the More Than Ready/Mr. Prospector cross. This mating pattern — which gives a double of Mr. Prospector, who is also the grandsire of More Than Ready’s dam — is an interesting one as it is standing up well to extensive use, and returning good results with a wide variety of Mr. Prospector-line representatives. (More…)

Maryland Stallion Station Joins TrueNicks

A major edge that TrueNicks has is that with the comprehensive database of The Jockey Club Information Services at its service, it is able to take account of all starters and stakes winners. This will make the service of particular value to regional breeders, as the TrueNicks figures reflect the results of state-bred stakes winners.

With this in mind, we are pleased to welcome the Maryland Stallion Station – one of the flagship stallion farms in the region – to the roster of TrueNicks subscribing stallions. Breeders will now be able to get complimentary ratings for hypothetical matings with all eight of the Maryland Stallion Station sires.

That line includes a wide range of both proven and promising horses. (More…)

Harlan’s Evolving

The very promising start made by the first crop of Harlan’s Holiday gained further momentum on Monday, when the undefeated Denis of Cork took the Southwest Stakes (gr. III). Denis of Cork is the sixth stakes winner for Harlan’s Holiday, and he follows Hollywood Park’s Cashcall Futurity (gr. I) victor Into Mischief, and Sorrento Stakes (gr. III) winner Tasha’s Miracle, as Harlan’s Holiday’s third graded winner.

Following P. S. U. Grad as the second Harlan’s Holiday stakes winner out of a Mr. Prospector-line mare, Denis of Cork is an A+TrueNicks horse. Tracking the evolution of the nick is an interesting exercise in noting how nicks can develop and alter over time, and also the value in the TrueNicks program being able to update its ratings and listing of Best Horses Bred on This Cross in a matter of hours after the event. (More…)

A New Look for TrueNicks Reports

As part of the TrueNicks commitment to ongoing improvement of our product line, we are pleased to unveil a new look for the basic Hypothetical Mating and Named Foal reports (click on the report names to see samples).

The new presentation is designed to be easier to read and interpret, and includes all the same features that users have found on the reports previously.

So, what has changed? (More…)

A First for Storm Cat, and Other Observations

Here’s a mating which we think represents a first. When Ingrid the Gambler (Johannesburg — Pretty Livia, by Forest Wildcat) took the Wishing Well II Handicap Feb. 10, she became what is almost certainly the first stakes winner (in fact, the first stakes horse) by a Storm Cat-line stallion out of a Storm Cat-line mare. As students of pedigree know, the cross of a sire over a mare from the same immediate sire line tends to have a disappointing strike rate. Ingrid the Gambler is rated a TrueNicks C horse, but has other factors that help “rescue” the pedigree. One of these is a double of Mr. Prospector combined with his genetic relative, Bold Native, and another is a cross of Nijinsky II, a genetic relative to Storm Cat’s sire, Storm Bird. (More…)

Honour Untarnished

In a race that saw highly-rated ex-U.S. runners Etched and Numaany finish fourth and fifth, the Honour and Glory colt Honour Devil maintained an undefeated record with a half-length win in the Gulf News UAE Two Thousand Guineas (UAE-III). Foaled in Argentina, Honour Devil won his sole start in his native country in 2006, and in his only other career outing, he captured the trial for this race at Nad al Sheba racecourse.

Honour Devil is out of Diamond Fitz (ARG), a daughter of Fitzcarraldo (ARG). A tremendously successful sire in his own country, Fitzcarraldo — who traces in male line to the great English stayer, Alycidon (GB) — is probably best known in the U.S. as sire of the Brooklyn Handicap (gr. II) winner Seattle Fitz (ARG), who stands at Buck Pond Farm in Kentucky, and as broodmare sire of Overbrook Spinster Stakes (gr. I) heroine Miss Linda (ARG). Honour Devil’s granddam, Diamond Tilly, is an Alydar half-sister to Louisiana Derby (gr. II) winner Balboa Native.

As the attached pedigree shows, Honour Devil was an A+ rated horse by TrueNicks even before he captured his first stakes. He’s actually the second Dubai classic winner this year to have a rating in the “A’s” – following the Meydan UAE One Thousand Guineas winner, Cocoa Beach (CHI) – and both are by U.S. sires out of South American mares, which demonstrates how well the system works with international bloodstock. (More…)