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Neko Bay Tallies Stallion Credentials

Many breeders anticipate that Giant's Causeway will become a powerful sire of sires. Paired with the sire-producing Missy Baba family genes, recent graded winner Neko Bay is likely to attract interest as a sire prospect.

Fly By Phil Scores Big Win for 2nd-Year Sire

Multi-million dollar yearling Act of Duty apparently saved his talent for his progeny, as Fly By Phil's New Years Day win made him the first second-crop sire with a graded stakes winner.

Breeding Pattern Hits Mark: M One Rifle

MAHUBAH'S CORNER, by Avalyn Hunter
Fred Hooper's unique Florida bloodlines pair with distinctly California stock in an equine East-meets-West story.

Great Runner, Grand Bloodlines, Good Ba Ba

MAHUBAH'S CORNER, by Avalyn Hunter

Three times is impressive in any race; Good Ba Ba's three-peat in the group I Hong Kong Mile was an even greater feat because it came against some of the world's best racehorses.

Roman Ruler: Rewriting the Inbreeding Rule

Alan Porter addresses the emerging acceptance of Mr. Prospector inbreeding--while discussing the emergence of juvenile standout Rule, whose sire Roman Ruler is a Mr. Prospector double carrier.

The Usual Q. T. Hot in California

MAHUBAH'S CORNER, by Avalyn Hunter

Winner of both the Oak Tree Derby (gr. IIT) and Hollywood Derby (gr. IT) in November, this Unusual Heat gelding typifies the best of California breeding.

American Lion: Tiznow/Storm Cat Cross Roars

PORTER ON PEDIGREES, by Alan Porter
Most discussion of Tiznow as a sire of stakes winners focuses on how well his foals do when they've had some time to mature. When crossed with Storm Cat's precocious line, though, his juveniles are unbeatable.

Medaglia d'Oro has a Passion for Gold

MAHUBAH'S CORNER, by Avalyn Hunter

A win in the group I Criterium de Saint-Cloud sets up Passion for Gold as an early favorite for the French classics next year-and also validates Medaglia d'Oro as a sire who can produce top colts along with his abundance of black type fillies.

Sire and Pedigree Notes - Breeders' Cup 2009

PORTER ON PEDIGREES, by Alan Porter

Alan Porter recaps the 2009 Breeders' Cup with pedigree observations about the sire lines, dominant female families, and inbreeding of the 14 winners.

Claiborne Happy to Accept Blame

MAHUBAH'S CORNER, by Avalyn Hunter

With Claiborne bloodlines on the top and bottom, Fayette Stakes (gr. II) winner Blame has a pedigree many generations in the making.

April Pride Illustrates Parallel Pattern

PORTER ON PEDIGREES, by Alan Porter

A globetrotting sire and an all-American dam have strikingly similar pedigrees that combined to produce recent graded winner April Pride. Breeding analyst Alan Porter discusses how his "parallel pattern" theory is evident in the filly's pedigree.

Jackson Bend Takes Florida

MAHUBAH'S CORNER, by Avalyn Hunter

Inspiring hope for small breeders is juvenile standout Jackson Bend, whose durability and precocity combined are traits this Florida homebred inherited from both sides of his pedigree.

Points and Promise: Second-Crop Sires On Top

PORTER ON PEDIGREES, by Alan Porter

That this is an exceptional crop of second-year sires is not exactly news any more. Still, the point was hammered home again October 10 when two second-season horses were represented by grade I winners.

Luck Tends to Strike

MAHUBAH'S CORNER, by Avalyn Hunter

A multi-generation affinity of his female family with Mr. Prospector-line sires might have championship repercussions as Lookin At Lucky prepares for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile this fall.

Toccet Racks Up Big Wins

PORTER ON PEDIGREES, by Alan Porter

With dual scores in the British Columbia classics, Toccet's progeny have made the stallion a hot second-crop sire.

Storm Cat Leaves a Market in Transition

MAHUBAH'S CORNER, by Avalyn Hunter

It seems appropriate that the once-perennial leading commercial sire, Storm Cat, bow out while the Thoroughbred market redefines itself.

Byerly, Back in Business

The first race on a Sunday card at Ontario's Fort Erie Race Track is an unlikely source of inspiration for a pedigree review. But the two horse, best by a length in that race Sept. 13, was a local gelding making a small mark in history.

Dublin Elicits High Hopes for Young Sire

MAHUBAH'S CORNER, by Avalyn Hunter

By first-crop sire Afleet Alex and from the successful family of Sunday Evening comes Dublin, winner of the historic Three Chimneys Hopeful Stakes (gr. I).

Icon Project: Yet Another Filly Standout

PORTER ON PEDIGREES, by Alan Porter

It seems 2009 would be a year for filly phenoms, and they're all the result of young, distance-loving sires.

D'wildcat, Smarty Jones 2YOs Take Saratoga

Strong pedigrees link Saratoga's first two juvenile stakes winners of 2009 - but will genes be enough to keep Backtalk and D'Funnybone in stakes contention after their 2-year-old campaigns?

Monitor Closely Adds to Dream Year for Sire

PORTER ON PEDIGREES, by Alan Porter

Oasis Dream (GB) was considered a mildly-successful sire after his first two crops reached the track. An explosive year including the emergence of recent group II victor Monitor Closely (IRE) guarantees Oasis Dream more respect in Europe and internationally.

Bullsbay Confirms Tiznow/Turkoman Affinity

MAHUBAH'S CORNER, by Avalyn Hunter

Stamina influence Tiznow again matches with a speed-oriented Turkoman-line mare. Whitney Handicap (gr. I) winner Bullsbay joins Colonel John as elite runners bred on the cross.

Second-Crop Standouts

PORTER ON PEDIGREES, by Alan Porter

The weekend brought a couple of new players to the 3-year-old scene and also underlined just how strong the second-crop sires are.

Funny Moon Bred on Miler-Over-Stamina Model

MAHUBAH'S CORNER, by Avalyn Hunter

Funny Moon's big win in the grade I CCA Oaks exemplifies an American breeding pattern of miler speed over stoutness.

Misremembered Scores for Breeder Bob Baffert

PORTER ON PEDIGREES, by Alan Porter

Already in the news for his move to Lane's End, Candy Ride also figures in to the first progeny black type for an 18-year-old mare and the first stakes win as a breeder for Bob Baffert.

Sariska's Pedigree Combines Speed, Stamina

MAHUBAH'S CORNER, by Avalyn Hunter

A female-line descendent of the top sire-producing mare Selene, Sariska adds the group I Irish Oaks to her impressive record. Here is an example of a stamina-oriented damline infused with raw speed.

Sophomore Standouts Best Elder Rivals

PORTER ON PEDIGREES, by Alan Porter Holiday weekend racing featured 3-year-old sprinters Munnings and Zensational, who both captured prestigious graded wins over older horses.

Fame and Glory Across the Pond

MAHUBAH'S CORNER, by Avalyn Hunter

Montjeu has enjoyed considerable success as a sire of Classic horses. Irish Derby winner Fame and Glory adds to his sire's tally-while also tying in this year's theme of German bloodline influences.

Grazen Is New Benchmark for Alydar Line

PORTER ON PEDIGREES, by Alan Porter

California homebred Grazen's first graded win is more proof that Benchmark is the true heir to Alydar's male-line legacy.

Emergent German Thoroughbred Bloodlines

MAHUBAH'S CORNER, by Avalyn Hunter

The German Thoroughbred is a stouter, more stamina-oriented version of the breed in England, France, or the U.S. The possibilities for outcross - and just plain high quality - make German bloodlines sought after in the West.

Classic Parallels

PORTER ON PEDIGREES, by Alan Porter

Similarities in the pedigrees of Summer Bird (by Birdstone) and Gabby's Golden Gal (by Medaglia d'Oro) provide some insights into the bloodlines of their young sires.

Belmont Contenders: Pedigree Profiles

Insight into the pedigrees of this year's Belmont contenders is only a click away. This easy-to-read report includes pedigree analyses from Alan Porter and Avalyn Hunter. Order your copy today and separate the contenders from the pretenders.

Royally-bred 'Leopard' Eyes Queen's Plate

MAHUBAH'S CORNER, by Avalyn Hunter

Canadian-bred A.P. Indy colt Eye of the Leopard just broke his maiden in mid-May, but his classy pedigree makes him a good bet in upcoming Canadian Classics.

Bribon Breaks Through

PORTER ON PEDIGREES, by Alan Porter

It would have been hard to predict that Bribon would achieve his most prestigious victory at age 6 on American dirt when he made his juvenile debut in a seven-furlong event at Saint-Cloud in France.

'Big Horse' Boost for First-Crop Sires?

MAHUBAH'S CORNER, by Avalyn Hunter

Thanks to Mine That Bird and Rachel Alexandra, respectively, both Birdstone and Medaglia d'Oro have achieved the distinction of becoming Classic sires with their first crops. But how much of a boost will it really give them?

Preakness Contenders: Pedigree Profiles

Insight into the pedigrees of this year's Preakness contenders is only a click away. This easy-to-read report includes pedigree analyses from Alan Porter, Avalyn Hunter, and Tom Hall. Order your copy today and separate the contenders from the pretenders.

Mythical Power on Display

PORTER ON PEDIGREES, by Alan Porter

If one was inclined to follow the form book literally, there had to be few better bets in a stakes race May 9 than Mythical Power in the Lone Star Derby (gr. III).

The Stars Aligned

MAHUBAH'S CORNER, by Avalyn Hunter

The first Saturday in May is a red-letter day on the American racing calendar Derby Day. But it is also an important day in European racing as the European Classic season kicks off with the Two Thousand Guineas. This year's Guineas was won by Christopher Tsui's Sea The Stars (IRE) and was quite as memorable for the connections of the winner as for the winner himself.

Kentucky Derby Contenders: Pedigree Profiles

Insight into the pedigrees of this year's Kentucky Derby presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) contenders is only a click away. This easy-to-read report includes pedigree analyses from Alan Porter, Avalyn Hunter, and Tom Hall. Order your copy today and separate the contenders from the pretenders.

Porter on Pedigrees: Godolphin's Derby Duo

Alan Porter takes a closer look at Desert Party and Regal Ransom, the pair of Dubai-based horses in this year's Kentucky Derby.

Mahubah's Corner: Unrivaled

For Sunday Racing Co., life could not be better. The partnership heads into the Derby with a colt that was not only sired by one Derby winner but is half-brother to another - talk about pedigree. And that colt won his final pre-Derby race impressively April 19 to establish himself as the probable favorite for the big race.

Porter on Pedigrees: Papa Clem

One of the great uncertainties in evaluating the prospects of this year's Kentucky Derby contenders is weighing all-weather form. And it has been brought into particularly sharp focus by the efforts of two horses that have run behind the West Coast's dominant 3-year-old, Pioneerof the Nile.

Taking Revenge

MAHUBAH'S CORNER, by Avalyn Hunter

Leading Kentucky Derby candidate I Want Revenge is an outcross within 5 generations, partially due to the Argentinian breeding of his dam, but also because of Stephen Got Even's unusual pedigree.

Armed and Ready

PORTER ON PEDIGREES, by Alan Porter

Well Armed's runaway victory in the Dubai World Cup was due to a combination of factors, including his improvement with age and an affinity for 10 furlongs on dirt.

Mahubah's Corner: Hold Me Back

With his victory March 21 in the Lane's End Stakes (gr. II), WinStar Farm's homebred Hold Me Back answered one big question but raised three more. Whether he has the class to be competitive with this year's better 3-year-olds is no longer in doubt.

Porter on Pedigrees: Friesan Fire

In the metal-working technique called "brazing," two metals with disparate properties are joined by a third that is sufficiently similar to both to create an effective union.

A Horse of a Different Color

MAHUBAH'S CORNER, by Avalyn Hunter

When White Beauty arrived into the world in the spring of 1963, what she portended to breeder Herman Goodpaster was trouble. At the time, The Jockey Club did not accept "white" as a color for registration, and there was serious doubt as to whether a pure Thoroughbred could be white.

Continuing Down a Quality Road

PORTER ON PEDIGREES, by Alan Porter

Foals from the first Elusive Quality crop conceived after Smarty Jones's heroics have come to hand earlier. Even though they've only just turned 3, five of their number are stakes winners. Prominent among them is Fountain of Youth winner Quality Road.

Mahubah's Corner: What a Pear

MAHUBAH'S CORNER, by Avalyn Hunter

What a Pear has just served notice that Stardom Bound will have competition in the sophomore filly division this year.

Mahubah's Corner: Sibling Rivalry

MAHUBAH'S CORNER, by Avalyn Hunter

The recent debut of Nicanor, full-brother to Derby winner Barbaro brings up the question, 'How often do siblings come even close to measuring up to a top horse's talents?'