TrueNicks : Announcements, Auctions and Sales

Free Auction Pages Now Available for the April Two-Year-Old in Training Sales

aporter — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 01:49:00 GMT

View the TrueNicks pedigrees for juveniles by subscribed stallions in the Keeneland April and OBS Spring sales....(read more)

Saratoga Yearling Sales Catalogs Now Online

brogers — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 18:16:00 GMT

The glorious Saratoga race meeting is now underway -- which means that the highly successful Fasig Tipton Saratoga Select and New York-bred yearling sales are just around the corner. TrueNicks has you covered!...(read more)

TrueNicks Auction Guide: Fasig-Tipton July Sale

aporter — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 13:55:00 GMT

Plan to attend the Fasig-Tipton yearling sale later this month? Check out TrueNicks scores here!...(read more)

Identify Thoroughbred Mares Carrying Foals With Promise

sgillies — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 17:48:00 GMT

For Keeneland's January breeding stock sale, the team at TrueNicks identifies several broodmares whose produce records reveal promising patterns, based on the nick ratings of their previous and current matings....(read more)

Freshman Report Card for Keeneland April Sale

admin — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 12:04:00 GMT

Alan analyzes first-crop sires of 2-year-olds represented at the Keeneland April sale in a featured article in The Blood-Horse Data Digest (preview below). If you'd like to follow along in the Keeneland catalog while reading, it's available here.

Coming into the Keeneland April 2-year-olds in training sale, TrueNicks turns its eye on the freshman sire class of 2008. Below are notes on all hips by freshman sires that rate B+ or higher.

Graded stakes-winning sprinter Canadian Frontier (Gone West - Borodislew, by Seattle Slew) will be hoping to enhance his sire's considerable reputation as a sire of sires. He has an A+ rated daughter in Hip 10, a filly out of the Desert Wine mare Desert Victress. She is rated on the basis of the Gone West/Desert Wine cross that has also produced grade I winners Maryfield and Celtic Melody. She is half sister to graded winner Desert Digger (by Mining, who is from the same Mr. Prospector line as Canadian Frontier). The dam is half sister to four stakes winners, including the multiple graded winning sprinter Explicit.

One of horses who looks sure to be in the thick of the fight for the freshman sire race is Lion Heart (Tale of the Cat - Satin Sunrise, by Mr. Leader)... Download the free Data Digest to continue

TrueNicks Top 10 for OBS March

admin — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 17:03:00 GMT

Topping the charts is hip #308, a colt from the second crop of Zavata (TrueNicks, SRO), out of the Pine Bluff mare Fair Miss, a half sister to Irish stakes winner Steaming Home, from the family of Corporate Report. Bred on the Phone Trick/Pine Bluff cross that has also produced stakes winners Who's Happy and Call Me Wild, this colt is also inbred to Mr. Prospector.

A couple of breeders seem to have had crystal balls in operation, as they sent Wild Again mares to Tapit, a son of Pulpit. This is rather opportune, since Pulpit now has Kentucky Derby prospect Pyro out of a Wild Again mare. The mating also gives the second highest variant score of the OBS March horses. The first of these is hip #160, a filly out of stakes-placed Wild and Icy, already dam of the stakes-placed Storm Boot daughter Ice Storm Coming. A half sister to stakes winner Native Russian, Wild and Icy is out of Native Paster, a stakes winner who set a new world record for 6 1/2 furlongs. Not long after comes hip #169. She has an even closer connection to Pyro, as her dam, the stakes winning Your Call, is three-parts sister to the dam of Pyro.

Hip #290 is a Florida-bred filly by Trippi out of Drymytears, a daughter of Pentelicus and half sister to $445,700 earner Castlebrook. There have already been two stakes winners by End Sweep (sire of Trippi) and a son out of Pentelicus mares, and this one has a clever twist, as both Trippi and Pentelicus are bred on a Mr. Prospector/In Reality cross. Trippi has another representative in hip 66, a filly out of the Cox's Ridge mare Sennen Cove. This half brother to stakes winner and graded stakes-placed Ensign Ray is bred on the same cross as Trippi's juvenile star Green Vegas.

That extremely consistent racehorse sire, Alphabet Soup (TrueNicks, SRO), is represented by hip #38, a colt. The dam, Rain Symphony, is a Fappiano mare who is half sister to the dam of Japanese stakes winner Red Chili Pepper (by Fappiano's son, Unbridled). The third dam, Mellow Marsh, is a stakes winning half sister to Exclusive Native. This is a product of the Alphabet Soup/Fappiano cross that has also produced multiple listed winner Tempus Fugit, listed winner Show Me Your Glory, and stakes winner Alpha Saphire.

One of the fanciest pedigrees in the sale is that owned by hip #389, a filly from the first crop of Smarty Jones (TrueNicks, SRO) out of the grade I winning La Gueriere. She is half sister to the multiple graded stakes winner Lasting Approval, and to two stakes-placed horses. Smarty Jones is a son of Elusive Quality (TrueNicks, SRO) and that horse has the hugely promising current English 3-year-old Raven's Pass and stakes winner Calendar Girl, out of mares by Lord at War (ARG), the broodmare sire of this one.

Hip #68 is a colt who is by a stallion not on everyone's radar, Black Mambo. A son of Kingmambo, he is a $1.1 million yearling who is three-parts brother to Lemon Drop Kid. This colt is half brother to this year's LeComte Stakes (gr. III) runner-up Izzie's Halo. The dam, a half sister to stakes winner Stormy Venus, is out of a sister to Serena's Song.

One of the most-sought sires at stud today is Distorted Humor (TrueNicks, SRO). He is sire of hip #95, a filly out of Sugar Walls Babe, who is by Private Terms out of Sugar Walls. That mare, a daughter of Lyphard, is a sister to the French One Thousand Guineas (Fr-I) winner Pearl Bracelet. This filly is bred on the Distorted Humor/Private Account cross that has also produced graded winners Go Rockin' Robin and It's No Joke, and stakes winner Star By Design.

The top ten TrueNicks horses are rounded out by hip #456, a filly by Dixie Union out of the A.P. Indy mare Open Flirt. This filly is closely related to stakes winners Jena Jena and Win With a Wink, who are both by Dixie Union's sire, Dixieland Band, out of the granddam of this filly. She is bred on the Dixie Union/A.P. Indy cross that has also produced graded stakes winner High Cotton and two other stakes winners, including Fierce Wind, recent winner of the Sam F. Davis Stakes.

A listing of all A++ and A+ TrueNicks horses in the sale is included in the most recent BloodHorseNOW.com Data Digest, which is available free to TrueNicks.com readers: Download the PDF here.

Keeneland January Preview: Day Seven

admin — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 10:01:00 GMT

Alan Porter has been asked to preview each day of the Keeneland January horses of all ages sale. His comments appear on BloodHorseNOW.com, including a special page in that publication’s daily PDF newsletter, which is distributed each day at the salegrounds.

As part of Alan’s notes, he has provided a Top 10 list of the short yearlings offered each day, and another Top 10 list of the sale’s “carried foals”–all according to their TrueNicks variant score.

Here’s a free preview: Keeneland January: Day Seven.

Check in each day for the most current Top 10 lists and commentary.

Keeneland January Preview: Day Six

admin — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 10:01:00 GMT

Alan's Day Six preview: Keeneland January: Day Six

Keeneland January Preview: Day Five

admin — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 18:01:00 GMT

Alan's Day Five preview: Keeneland January: Day Five

Keeneland January Preview: Day Four

admin — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 22:01:00 GMT

Alan's Day Four preview: Keeneland January: Day Four

Keeneland January Preview: Day Three

admin — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 18:01:00 GMT

Alan's Day Three preview: Keeneland January: Day Three

Keeneland January Preview: Day Two

admin — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 13:01:00 GMT

Alan's Day Two preview: Keeneland January: Day Two

Keeneland January Preview: Day One

admin — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 13:01:00 GMT

Alan's Day One preview: Keeneland January: Day One