Broodmare of the Week - Arco Iris - Sponsored by Argentina Rock N' Roll

Let's start with a trivia question. Arco Iris's mom was Rainbow Writer. She has a half-sister named Roygbiv. So Arco Iris was named:

A. After the Arco Iris Lodge in Monteverde, Costa Rico

B. After Beaverton, Oregon's first charter school, Arco Iris 

C. Because in Spanish Arco Iris means "Rainbow" 

D. Named after the 1960's and 1970's influential Argentinian rock band Arco Iris. 

If you answered C you might be right, but you clearly have not read my blog before. I am guessing it is D because I imagine Homestretch Farms blares 1960s Argentinian rock when they are breaking horses. And come on, do you really want me to put up pictures of rainbows or these guys?

That is what I thought. Am I the only one who thinks this is actually an Argentinian version of Spinal Tap? This one goes to 11. 

A few things about the band Arco Iris and how they correlate to the Homestretch Farms team: 

Gustavo Santaolalla: Lead Singer (This is the Jim Penney of the Group. The front man.) 

Guillermo Bordarampe: Bass (Bryson Cooper. Keeps everything in background going smoothly.)

Ara Tokatlian: Flutes (I won't insult anybody by saying they are the flute player. There were too many flutes in Jethro Tull which I had to listen to in college.)

Alberto Cascino: Drums (Kay Cooper. The drummer of the band is the glue that holds everything together and runs the operation. She starts and ends each race just like the drummer starts and ends every song). 

Danais Wynnycka: Chorus (The horses. The background voice of the stable). 

And now that I stretched all logic to make these analogies we can move on. But one more picture first: 

That is quality stuff. At least they found razors in their career. 

Let's look back at Rainbow Writer, the dam of Arco Iris, who was both a good runner and broodmare. Rainbow Writer is by Staff Writer out of the Pinjara mare Follow the Rainbow. Rainbow Writer was purchased by Jack Fabulich for $7,500 at the 1986 WTBA Summer Sale. Rainbow Writer won over $91,000 in 56 (yes, 56) starts showing some good durability. She was ridden by Bryson Cooper and trained by Jim Penney. 

Rainbow Writer was retired in 1992 to the Homestretch broodmare band. It is safe to say she had a pretty good broodmare career. Her best horse, Edneator, is not the topic of this post, but he was Rainbow Writer's best offspring. He won over $273,000 in his career. Most importantly, Edneator won the 2000 Longacres Mile at 44-1. Edneator won 3 Stakes Races in his career. 

Rainbow Writer, who only had 6 foals, had only one other Black-Type Winner, Arco Iris. 

Arco Iris was by Basket Weave, who is an excellent Broodmare Sire in this region (Coup de Foudre and Julia Rose for instance are by Basket Weave. By the way, Coup de Foudre translates to "Cup of de Foudre" or "Love at First Sight," your pick). 

Arco Iris raced over 4 seasons earning almost $80,000. She won the 1994 John and Kitty Fletcher Stakes. She raced for Homestretch Farms for her entire career, which can be viewed here:

http://www.equibase.com/profiles/Results.cfm?type=Horse&refno=6436229&registry=T

After her career she joined the broodmare band for Homestretch. She had her first foal in 2009. By Yankee Gentlemen, I Keep Saying set a world record on Sunday running 6.5 Furlongs in 1:12.94 with splits of 22.01, 43.89, 1:06.82 and 1:12.94. You can see why she was Broodmare of the Week now. I mean 1:06.82 for 6 Furlongs. That is insanely fast. 

In 2010, Arco Iris had a colt by Delineator. Named So Legit, the now gelding has had 6 starts with 1 win and 2 second-place finishes. 

In 2012, Arco Iris had a filly by Harbor the Gold named Let it Flo. Let it Flo has only raced once in a Maiden……hold on, you want more Arco Iris photos? Ok: 

Clearly they think En Vivo should be Horse of the Year. It also appears they brought the mother of the Red Woman from Game of the Throne's to be part of the band in the late 70s. 

Back to the important stuff. 

…….Special Weight race. 

In 2013, Arco Iris had a Harbor the Gold Colt. After being barren in 2014, we are expecting an Arco Iris foal from Heatseeker in 2015. 

I am sure there is more to hear from this mare in the future. 

Always Love Your Animals, 

Will 

Top Ten Positive Things that Happened to the Washington Industry - Week 14 - Yippie-I-Ay

So many positive things in Washington racing last weekend that all I can say is Yippie-I-Ay or I can have one of my favorite commercials of all time say it for me. 

I am a vegetarian but I miss Mini Sirloin Burgers at Jack in the Box, but only because of this commercial.

Honestly, the most important thing for me that happened this week was that the Bachelorette has finally ended and I don't have to deal with the nonsense anymore. Just walking through the TV room and hearing these people talk makes me want to vomit. Can't believe my wife watches this. I am really looking forward to the Bachelor though.

But let's turn to the most important things that happened in Washington this week.

(1) Ethan's Baby - A very special victory in the Angie C Stakes as Ethan's Baby wins by 6 1/4 lengths. Ethan's Baby is by Offlee Wild out of the Broken Vow mare Hope and Vow. We will get into this pedigree more in the future.

It is nice to see success for the Hansens who have put a lot of time and money into the game. They own Scatter Creek Training Center in Tenino and that is where I have sent my horses for their early education with their trainer, Jeff Vens. They also purchased Striking Scholar as a broodmare last year  at the WTBOA Sale. Striking Scholar is the dam of Stryker Phd and Madame Pele. I wrote about this mare in a previous Broodmare of the Week:

http://militaryhawk.blogspot.com/2014/06/broodmare-of-week-striking-scholar.html

Even more special is that Ethan's Baby is named after the Hansens' son, Ethan. He's had a very special relationship with the filly since the day she was born, hence the special name.  Here is a picture of Ethan and his filly:

This is what horse racing is all about.

Thanks to Claudia Canouse and Todd for helping me get the scoop and picture on this special combination.

(2) World Record at Emerald Downs - I Keep Saying set a world record on Sunday running 6.5 Furlongs in 1:12.94 The splits were 22.01, 43.89, 1:06.82 (holy….), 1:12.94. This world record bested Sabertooth's record for 6.5F of 1:13.00 set back in 2005. More on the dam Arco Iris later this week.

(3) John Parker-a-thon- It was a John Parker-a-thon* this weekend at Emerald Downs as the owner had two winners and a very good claim. He won with Dancing with Effie in a MSW Race on Sunday (That $9,818 winning purse should go a long way in buying lunch for people) and also won with Jordan's Jem on Saturday. He also claimed Hetty for $25,000 out of an impressive win.

Here is a great story about John and his family's relationship with the excellent Loto Canada:

http://www.washingtonthoroughbred.com/magazine/SecondChances_LotoCanada.htm

It's John Parker's world, and we are just transporting in it.

*"John Parker-a-thon" is a trademark term of militaryhawk.blogspot.com. All intended or unintended uses of the phrase "John Parker-a-thon" without the express written consent of Brewer Thoroughbreds, LLC and Captain Crunch are strictly prohibited.

(4) Dancing Yodeler - The education that the Emerald Racing Club is receiving this year is as good as it can get. Along with an excellent blog keeping them informed of all things racing, they are receiving the full extent of what it means to be a horse owner. They get the OK 3rd place run, the disappointing 8th place run, the win that looked unexpected at the top of the stretch, and the frustrating second place finish that could have been a win with a good break.

In addition, the nice run by Anelina to get second and then the small injuries that all owners put up with. Racing is a roller coaster ride, but I think this scene from the movie Parenthood sums it up:

Do you want the merry-go-round or the roller coaster?

(5) Washington Hall of Fame Inductees - This year I was lucky enough to be one of the 16 people to vote for the 2014 Washington Hall of Fame Inductees. I have to admit I was a little nervous at first. Voting for the Hall of Fame is something I took very seriously. I did my research (plenty of research) and by the end of my research I was confident in my votes. I would like to congratulate the new members of the Washington Hall of Fame:

Trainer: Ben Harris
Jockey: Ricky Frazier
Male Horse: Chum Salmon (Military Hawk's old buddy)
Filly and Mare Horse: Delicate Vine
Breeder: William and Barbara Nelson, Jr. (Gunshy Manor)

(6) Sales Incentive Program - The WTBOA released the Emerald Bonus Program list for horses that go through the WTBOA Yearling Sale and break their maidens at Emerald Downs. Buy here and race here:

(7) Seattle Plan - Seattle Plan has now won 15 races at Emerald Downs which is a pretty special accomplishment. She's had 35 starts at Emerald with 15 wins, 8 places and 3 shows.

(8) Del Mar Represent!- Some horses with Emerald Downs connections ran very good over the weekend at Del Mar. Mike's Man Gold, owned by K-Swag, ran a very good second in a $32,000 claiming race. Also, Boyett, owned by Dr. Orr finished 4th in the Wickerr Stakes. Very solid performances.

(9) Washington-Bred Winners - 18 of the 25 thoroughbred races were won by Washington-Breds. Take that South Dakota.

(10) Washington Stallions - 17 separate stallions of Washington-Breds won the 18 races. The only stallion with two winners was his excellence, Cahill Road. Other stallions:

Parker's Storm Cat
Offlee Wild
Raise the Bluff
Seattle Shamus
Yankee Gentleman
Northern Afleet
Trickey Trevor
Chhaya Dance
Houseofroyalhearts
Outing
Aptitude
Good Reward
Grindstone

Always Love Your Animals,

Will

Broodmare of the Week - Soft Copy - Sponsored by the City of Enumclaw/Enumclawnics

The Youtube link below is very important.

Since we are going to the Eastside of the mountains for our Broodmare of the Week, let's make fun of those elitists on the Plateau. Yes, I am talking about Enumclaw. A place that reeks of money, liberalism and Tuesday night get togethers with the ladies at the Rainier Bar and Grill. Thank god they have their own language save these lost souls:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BinTMUwBM64

So steaming with arrogance that it was formed by volcanic mudflow (or lahar) from Mount Rainier 5,700 years ago (By the way, somebody better register the name Enumclaw Lahar with the Jockey Club soon or else it will be taken).

So sinister, that the name Enumclaw derives from the Salish Native American name for "place of evil spirits." However, I believe that by "evil spirits" they mean Jagermeister and Mad Dog 20/20.

Yes, they try to cover it up by annually hosting the Pacific Northwest Scottish Highland Games, but I can see through your charade Enumclaw. The only two good things to say about this city is that it is not Buckley (but remember you pay higher property taxes than Buckley so don't get uppity) and it is home of my favorite new pup Django:

Some pictures are just worth reposting.

Now that I have alienated 93% of my readers, lets get on with the Broodmare of the Week, the wonderful Soft Copy. Born in the Orwellian year of 1984, Soft Copy was by Staff Writer out of Castinette (Captain Courageous). Soft Copy opened a can of whoop ass on the track, winning over $313,000 (this is in the 80s, by the way), winning 8 Stakes Races and being Multiple Graded Stakes Placed. She was also 3 year-old Washington Champion Filly in Washington. Soft Copy is one of the top 100 Washington-Bred earners of all time.

Soft Copy was purchased by John Roche for $4,200 at the 1985 Washington Thoroughbred Breeders' Association Sale. John Roche, a Yakima fruit producer and distributor, purchased a real peach in Soft Copy. Not only was she the apple of Washington's eye in 1987, her produce were just as good. She did not produce one lemon, having 9 winners from 9 foals and from a spodie of stallions. Her produce won over $461,000. Orange you upset you didn't buy her? I am sure John was grapeful for buying her. She had one Black-Type Winner and 3 Black-Type Placers in her broodmare career. I would not be bored out of my gourd with a mare like this. Ok, I am done.

Two of her foals: Run a Copy (Basket Weave) and Premo Copy (Supremo) ended up becoming part of the Roche broodmare band. Run a Copy was Soft Copy's black-type winner of over $80,000:

http://www.equibase.com/profiles/Results.cfm?type=Horse&refno=4319925&registry=T

Run a Copy has 7 foals, 5 of which have raced, and 4 winners. The reason that Soft Copy is Broodmare of the Week is due in part to Run a Copy's foal Smart Copy (Papa Clem) win over the weekend. But Soft Copy got an extra lift to Broodmare of the Week when one of Premo Copy's foals, Seattle's Best Copy (Demon Warlock), also won. Pretty good weekend for this family.

A little bit more about Premo Copy. She won over $134,000 in her career and was Black-Type Placed.

http://www.equibase.com/profiles/Results.cfm?type=Horse&refno=4681648&registry=T

Premo is now famous for being the dam of Castinette Dancer (Minister's Wild Cat) who has won over $206,000 to date and several Stakes Races:

http://www.equibase.com/profiles/Results.cfm?type=Horse&refno=8383533&registry=T

She also has Premo Jewel (Cahill Road) still on the track.

Waiting in the wings for Premo Copy is a Harbor the Gold yearling filly who is Hip No. 64 in this year's WTBOA Sale. We expect that there is another Harbor the Gold on the ground for 2014 and Premo Copy was bred back to none other than Minister's Wild Cat.

Run a Copy has a yearling filly by Demon Warlock and was bred back to the sire and has a 2014 foal.

What do you call John Roche's farrier?

Peach Cobbler (Boom! Here all week).

Always Love Your Animals,

Will

An Open Letter to Holy Lute from an Anonymous Horseplayer - It's Not You, It's Me

Dear Holy Lute,

Hi, how are you? It's me, Anonymous Horseplayer. It has been a while since I have written you. I have been busy with legal crap, writing, trying to figure out what the hell is going on in The Leftovers, pedigree research, and confronting the beginning of a mid-life crisis. I hope you have fully recovered from the 8th race on Saturday at Del Mar.

Unfortunately, this letter is not the positive type I usually send you. But first, I want to talk about our past together how we got to this point.  I followed you from the beginning because your dad, Midnight Lute, was one of my favorites. In fact, I bred a mare to Midnight Lute and now I have a yearling filly by your dad. It started as a mild flirtation in the Summer of '13 when you won your second start at Del Mar. You then beat a very good horse in Fury Kapcori in the El Cajon stakes in your next start. At that point, I had serious crush on your racing career.

But then you started to get distant (or distanced) in the Breeders' Cup and the Malibu. I really needed your help on Breeders' Cup day. Earlier on the card I had all five horses that crossed the line first in the Pick 5. However, She's a Tiger was disqualified by the stewards, which pretty much ruined a really big payoff for me. I really needed you to pick up the pieces of my ripped up tickets and heart in the Dirt Mile, but you fell to pieces instead.

When you came back this year, I watched from a distance. I felt you were not happy or were having (Breathing) issues. I waited to see how you would respond to being back before I approached you again.

I felt the time was right on Saturday to continue my relationship with you. I put together a small Pick 4 ticket with you and then a few other horses in the next three legs. I got Burning Arch at 3-1, Dress Code at 4-1 and Istanford at 10-1. Just needed you to win. But again, you teased me:

http://www.thoroughbreddailynews.com/members/video/index.cfm?race_code=201407192040DMD8

(Click Flash Pan)

http://www.equibase.com/static/chart/pdf/DMR071914USA8.pdf

Could you not have put that nose down a little faster? Could you have not cut the corner a little closer? 1/2 an inch.

You see there are two things that are challenge to me in our relationship: (1) I spend a lot of time watching and figuring out races and predicting who is going to win and it hurts my feelings when I don't. Handicapping is like a chess match with that crazy IBM machine Deep Blue. The only difference is my handicapping it not going to figure out how to replicate itself and develop it's own army of Artificial Intelligence machines to take over the universe. (2) Daddy needs the scratch. Now look, the Pick 4 paid $4,350 for a $1 investment. I know if you won I probably would have received only a $1,000. But you have to understand, the very first thing I bought my wife was a Tiffany's ring so she expects the best of everything now. I have a dog that eats a Bison worth of food everyday. I have a cat whose middle name is "Luxury". And then there is the two broodmares who eat like….well, horses.

I guess what I am trying to say is that I decided to leave you. It's not you, it is me.

Also, I met someone else. Her name is Luminance:

http://www.thoroughbreddailynews.com/members/video/index.cfm?race_code=201407202033DMD8

I will always want the best for you. We will always have that Summer of 2013' in Del Mar together.

Always Love Your Animals (including Holy Lute),

Anonymous Horseplayer

Top Ten List of Positive Things that Happened To The Washington Thoroughbred Industry - Week 13

Ok, I am using some of Terra's cute foal pictures to sucker you in. These foals having nothing to do with what I am talking about today. Just tricking you into reading it. So here:

(1) Trackattacker - All I can say is holy sh1t, what a horse. Broke the Stakes record for the Emerald Express by running 6 Furlongs in 1:08.31. Won by 11 Lengths. Let's hope he continues to go along this path. Congrats to REV Racing (owner) and the Hopps (breeder). I believe this is what Trackattacker would say if he capable of being interviewed after a race:

If you want to know more about Trackattacker and his family, I have already written a post about Eclatante, his dam, which you can read here:

http://militaryhawk.blogspot.com/2014/06/broodmare-of-week-eclatante-sponsored.html

Trackattacker's half brother by Lucky Pulpit will sell as Hip No. 16 at this year's WTBOA Sale. Should be exciting to see the horse go through the ring.

(2) DiPietro Thoroughbreds - Got to spend a nice Sunday morning at DiPietro Thoroughbreds with Joseph and Rosalia. I got to look at their consignment for the upcoming WTBOA Sale. They have some very nice horses. Most importantly, it is nice to see the younger generation breeding and consigning horses to the sale. I guess Joseph doesn't really count as younger generation anymore because he recently turned 40, but at least Rosalia is still young.

The highlight of my day was meeting Django, their new puppy. He is going through a cribbing stage right now but he is so adorable and full of energy. We had numerous wrestling matches and I was able to take the WWF Intercontinental Championship belt from him. Don't feel too bad for the little guy, I left him a tennis ball to play with. Pictures of Django and Sarge:

(3) Stryker Phd - A very nice performance by this Washington-Bred. Considering nobody was closing all day, it was all the more impressive when you figure that Stryker was next to last in the early going of the race. The two front runners held on for second and third, which shows how difficult it was to close.  Hopefully, he will bring the Longacres Mile trophy back to Washington. I wrote about Stryker's family earlier this season when I did a Broodmare of the Week on Striking Scholar:

http://militaryhawk.blogspot.com/2014/06/broodmare-of-week-striking-scholar.html

(4) Great Press Coverage for WTBOA Sale and Emerald Downs - If you did not see the Bloodhorse or the Paulick Report this weekend, you missed two articles on the Emerald Bonus Program. This is a great time to buy at the sale and race at Emerald Downs. Here are links to the two articles:

http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/86264/washington-sale-establishes-bonus-program

http://www.paulickreport.com/news/bloodstock/wtboa-to-offer-bonus-program-for-yearlings/

(5) WTBOA Sales Catalog is now Online - Speaking of the sale, you can take your first look at the horses going through our sale. Please go here:

http://www.washingtonthoroughbred.com/Sales/SummerYearling&MixedSale2014.pdf

(6) John Roche - Bred 2 winners this weekend. More on these in a future post. Hint, hint.

(7)  Mylast Sweet Pea - Just as I suspected the Grindstone's are getting better as the distances get longer. Mylast Sweet Pea ran a very nice second to Ole's Miss in the Kent Handicap. She finished 3rd in the Seattle Handicap earlier this year. Mylast Sweet Pea was bred by Wayde and Elizabeth Gregory.

(8) Clemens Brook - Nice to see this mare still running good at the age of 7. She now has 10 wins at the Emerald Downs. Bred by Ramer Holtan, Clemens Brook has now won over $90,000 in her career.

(9) Washington-Bred Victories - 16 out of the 25 thoroughbred races this weekend were won by Washington-breds. This includes two Stakes wins. The other stakes race saw a Washington-bred finish second.

(10) Stallions - No stallion had more than one Washington-Bred winner this weekend, but the diversity of stallions was nice to see. There were winners by the following 16 stallions:

Devil on Ice
Petersburg
Blazonry
Papa Clem
Private Gold
Raise the Bluff
Magna Graduate
Nacheezmo
Demon Warlock
Parker's Storm Cat
Nationhood
Matty G
He's Top
Storm Blast
Bertrando
Harbor the Gold

Always Love Your Animals, especially Django!

Will

Emerald Bonus Program

http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/86264/washington-sale-establishes-bonus-program

Emerald Saturday Picks

Quick post on my picks for today for Emerald Downs. I like a few longshots. One local thing of note is that in the 8th Race at Del Mar today the full brother to local stallion Coast Guard is racing. Pick #s are the order I like them and not program numbers

Race 1: (1) Ontheshadyside (2) Big Fat Storm (Longshot) Mr. Shane the Pain

Race 2: (1) Seattles Best Copy (2) SpringSprangSpring (Longshot) Raise the Margarita

Race 3: (1) Opening a Tap (2) Inviting Roman (both of these are higher odds so no need for longshot

Race 4: (1) Duke Street King (2) Shuddle (Longshot) State Capital

Race 5: (1) Parkers Gibsongirl (12-1 on Morning Line) (2) Brats Brat (Longshot) Cool Toddy

Race 6: (1) Jack the Pirate (2) Tobiah's Journey (No Longshot)

Race 7: (1) Seventypercentcocoa (2) Kenzie Carolina (No Longshot)

Race 8: (1) Ole's Miss (2) Find Your Spot (No Longshot)

Race 9: (1) Sir Riled (2) Delineator Express

Best of luck.

Always Love Your Animals,

Will Brewer

Broodmare of the Week - Phaenna - Dam of Dancing Yodeler - Sponsored by Brewer's Night at Emerald Downs!

Emerald Downs, you shouldn't have. I realize my popularity has grown in Turkey (got 2 hits from some huge Emerald Downs fans in Istanbul this month) and some other unpronounceable former Russian states, but to name a night after me it just too much. Just one suggestion; next time name it "Will Brewer's Night." I don't want  Roy and Tammy Brewer getting a big ego and thinking it is about them. 

(Emerald Downs Photo)

Broodmare of the Week goes to Phaenna, the mom of Dancing Yodeler, who won his first race for the Emerald Racing Club. Just look at this great Winners' Circle photo: 

(Emerald Downs Photo). 

Congrats to all the new owners and to Larry and Sharon Ross. I took this opportunity to examine Dancing Yodeler's pedigree (mom and dad) so our new owners can see where this win came from.

First, let's take a look at Yodeler's mom, Phaenna. Phaenna raced 30 times, winning 10 races. She finished second 4 times and third 5 times. She won 4 Stakes races and $429,437. Pretty darn good. Another interesting fact for you fans of other sports, is that Phaenna was bred by Dr. Jerry Buss who owned the Los Angeles Lakers. Phaenna was purchased by Curt and Lila Lanning for $3,500 at a 1996 California sale. Pretty good purchase price for how much money she won. Curt and Lila Lanning kept Phaenna as a broodmare after her career was over and therefore are the breeders of Dancing Yodeler.

Since I have no idea what Phaenna is or means I looked it up on Wikipedia:

"In Greek mythology, Phaenna (Greek: Φαέννα, "the shining"), was one of the Charites (Graces).

The Lacedaemonians, say that the Charites are two, who gave them the names of Kleta and Phaenna. Her name means "Bright".

Ok, I still have no idea what it means. But I think I partied with the Lacedaemonians in college. 

Dancing Yodeler's dad is the very speedy Swiss Yodeler. Swiss Yodeler won $761,442 in his career and won the prestigious Grade 1 Hollywood Futurity. He is know for siring very speedy horses and good two-year-olds. He stands as a sire in California at Lovacres Ranch. You can see a picture of him here:

http://lovacres.com/swiss-yodeler/

A Swiss Yodeler is easier to define:

At least I found my Halloween costume for next year.

If you want to know how Dancing Yodeler got his name. It appears they took Yodeler from Swiss Yodeler and then used Dancing from Yodeler's maternal grandmother whose name was Redsand Dancer. S

Dancing Yodeler has two half brothers and two half sisters. He has two brothers from the sire Bertrando and two sisters from the sire Mr. Procrastinator. However, none of them have been as successful as Dancing Yodeler.

Some of the Emerald Racing Club will be attending a session on August 2nd about buying horse at auction. If you want to do some homework beforehand you can look at Dancing Yodeler's pedigree to get a head start. We will be talking about how to read a pedigree page and reviewing this will help:

SWISS YODELER (USA) ch. 1994		EASTERN ECHO (USA) b. 1988		DAMASCUS (USA) b. 1964 [IC]		SWORD DANCER (USA) ch. 1956		SUNGLOW (USA)		ch. 1947
								HIGHLAND FLING (USA)		br. 1950
						KERALA (USA)* b. 1958		MY BABU (FR)		b. 1945 [B]
								BLADE OF TIME (USA)		br. 1938
				WILD APPLAUSE (USA) b. 1981		NORTHERN DANCER (CAN) b. 1961 [BC]		NEARCTIC (CAN)		br. 1954
								NATALMA (USA)		b. 1957 *
						GLOWING TRIBUTE (USA)* b. 1973		GRAUSTARK (USA)		ch. 1963 [CS]
								ADMIRING (USA)		br. 1962
		DRAPEAU (USA) ch. 1984		RAJA BABA (USA) b. 1968		BOLD RULER (USA) br. 1954 [BI]		NASRULLAH (GB)		b. 1940 [B]
								MISS DISCO (USA)		b. 1944 *
						MISSY BABA (USA)* b. 1958		MY BABU (FR)		b. 1945 [B]
								UVIRA (GB)		b. 1938 *
				FRENCH FLAG (USA) b. 1977		HOIST THE FLAG (USA) b. 1968 [BI]		TOM ROLFE (USA)		b. 1962 [CP]
								WAVY NAVY (USA)		b. 1954 *
						MARCHANDEUSE (USA) dkb/br. 1966		SIR GAYLORD (USA)		b. 1959 [IC]
								MARCHE LORRAINE (FR)		ch. 1949
PHAENNA (USA) b. 1995		FRANKLY PERFECT (USA) ch. 1985		PERRAULT (GB) ch. 1977		DJAKAO (FR) b. 1966		TANERKO (FR)		b. 1953
								DIAGONALE (FR)		ch. 1959
						INNOCENT AIR (USA) ch. 1962		COURT MARTIAL (GB)		ch. 1942 [B]
								ALDOUSA (GB)		b. 1949
				FRANCA (ITY) b. 1976		VICEREGAL (CAN) ch. 1966		NORTHERN DANCER (CAN)		b. 1961 [BC]
								VICTORIA REGINA (CAN)		ch. 1958
						TUDOR GWEN (GB) br. 1969		TUDOR MELODY (GB)		br. 1956
								LUCKY GWEN (GB)		br. 1960
		REDSAND DANCER (USA) b. 1989		DESERT WINE (USA) b. 1980		DAMASCUS (USA) b. 1964 [IC]		SWORD DANCER (USA)		ch. 1956
								KERALA (USA)		b. 1958 *
						ANNE CAMPBELL (USA) b. 1973		NEVER BEND (USA)		b. 1960 [BI]
								REPERCUSSION (USA)		ch. 1966
				DANCERS FAIRY (USA) dkb/br. 1984		MR. PROSPECTOR (USA) b. 1970 [BC]		RAISE A NATIVE (USA)		ch. 1961 [B]
								GOLD DIGGER (USA)		b. 1962 *
						FAIRY DANCE (USA) b. 1975		NORTHERN DANCER (CAN)		b. 1961 [BC]
								HILL SHADE (USA)		dkb/br. 1965

This may seem confusing but just focus on the first two columns (It is like a sideways family tree). Yodeler's dad and his family is on  the top half and Yodeler's mom is on the bottom half. So blue is males and red is females. So Dancing Yodeler's father, Swiss Yodeler, was sired by Eastern Echo and his mom is Drapeau. Eastern Echo and Drapeau are therefore Dancing Yodeler's paternal grandfather and grandmother.

Phaenna's dad is Frankly Perfect and mom is Redsand Dancer making them Dancing Yodeler's maternal grandfather and grandmother. Hope this makes sense.

I wish the Emerald Racing Club the best of luck as they move forward with Dancing Yodeler.

Always Love Your Animals,

Will Brewer

Washington-Breds: Top Ten List of Great Things That Happened For Washington This Weekend

A nice night for some pedigree research and blogging on the porch. A perfect night for Logan as he found the biggest stick in the yard and got his new O Magazine:

Logan will be entered as Hip No. 666 in the WTBOA Mixed Sale, which takes place on August 26th. By Cujo out of the Mephistopheles mare Medusa, Logan is bred on the same cross as General Woundwort, Shere Kahn, The Hounds of Baskerville, Rumpus Cat and Pol Pot. A very low reserve will be set.

A conformation shot of the sire:

A perfect picture for the kids' bedrooms!

A banner weekend overall for Washington racing. Let's do a Top 10 list of things that happened this weekend:

(1) Dancing Yodeler's Victory - Nothing cooler than seeing a Winners' Circle photo that has to take place on the track because there are too many owners for the actual Winners' Circle. Even though Yodeler is not a Washington Bred, my bet is that the feeling that those new owners had will reverberate in our industry for years to come. Thank you Sophia for doing such a great job with this group.

(2) Ron Crockett Announcement - More details to come later, but Ron made an announcement at the Annual 2014 WTBOA Members Meeting on Saturday night that will help the WTBOA Sale, the buyers and the breeders in this state. It was very generous on his part.

(3) Carson's Start's Victory - Maybe a little more personal to me, but it was great to see Jean Welch in the Winners' Circle after Carson's Start won in his first start. The extra bonus was to also see Dr. Bud Hallowell right next to Jean. It was fantastic.

Abraaj is starting to come alive. He has had 4 winners since July 1. Abraaj stands at El Dorado Farm:

http://www.eldoradofarms.net/abraaj.htm

(4) Noosito and Del Rio Harbor, both Washington-Breds by Harbor the Gold, finished 1-2 in the Seattle Slew Handicap. You can learn more about these horses here:

http://militaryhawk.blogspot.com/2014/07/washington-nicking-part-i.html

and more about Del Rio Harbor and his mom here:

http://militaryhawk.blogspot.com/2014/05/broodmare-of-week-bahati-sponsored-by.html

(5) My Offer to Neal and Pam Christopherson - On Saturday, I got second place to a rookie handicapper in the Emerald 123 Contest at the WTBOA Annual Meeting. Every dog has his day. However, I got second place and got a nice book as a prize. After the meeting was over I offered the book to the Christophersons in exchange for their Exchange Rate filly out of Youcan'ttakeme (Does using Exchange twice in a sentence make me a bad writer?). Although they initially rejected my offer, I am sure they are seriously considering it. In fact, I am willing to throw in Hip No. 666 at the WTBOA sale to close the deal.

(6) The Return of Claudia Atwell Canouse - After knee surgery, it was nice to see Claudia back at the WTBOA Annual Meeting. Her knee is in such great condition she plans on starting to exercise horses next week.

(7) 13 of the 26 races this weekend were won by Washington-Breds.

(8) Claudia's Cahill victory - John Parker buys me lunch when he is at the track so I root for him. Great guy and easy to root for. If you are upset that you are below #8 on this list, buy me lunch and see what happens. Bribery works on us Irish.

(9) Awesome Indian vs. Obie Harbor - What a great race between these two future stars. Awesome Indian is by sorely missed Indian Charlie (I got to see him months before he died) out of Clear in the West. Obie Harbor is by, shockingly, Harbor the Gold out of Flying Memo.

(10) K-Swag wins - Charlie's Gold wins and K-Swag announced that his new album drops in late October with a world tour to follow. He wanted to name the album Liberty Gold but in order to be more gangsta he went with Liberty, Guns, and Gold. Respect.

Let's take this positive momentum and move forward.

Always Love Your Animals,

Will

Washington-Breds Week 12 and My First Win of the Year!

First, let me pound my chest and scream "I finally won a race!" over the July 4th weekend! This was the second longest drought of lack of success I have ever had. The first longest drought was my lack of success with women from age 1 to 38. (Editor's Note: My wife just informed me that the drought is still on.)

Washington-breds won 20 of the 33 (60.6060606060606060%) races over 4th of July weekend.

Washington Stallions with multiple Washington-bred winners last weekend include:

Harbor the Gold 4
Outing 2
Private Gold 2

Kudos to non-Washington-breds Stopshoppingdebbie and Assessment who put in great performances to win. Nice to see that at the age of 10 Assessment still has got it.

Some of the Washington-bred highlights from last weekend:

(1) Cadenza - Nice first time out win for this son of Private Gold out of Slew Tunes (Slewdledo). Purchased for $9,000 by Glenda Roberts of Glenda Roberts fame. She was suppose to call the horse Credenza due to her addiction to purchasing furniture at IKEA, but was entering the name at the Jockey Club website on a Lear-Siegler ADM-3A terminal and accidentally put in Cadenza.

Luckily for Glenda, a Cadenza is an improvised or written-out ornamental passage played or sung by a soloist, usually in a "free" rhythmic style, and often allowing for virtuosic display (I simply have no idea what this means). Because the broodmare is "Slew Tunes" she can say she was looking for a musical term to call the horse. Lucky and well played.

Cadenza hopped at the start and gave the field several lengths before running them down in the stretch. Impressive first start for this horse.

A video of Private Gold, sire of Cadenza, for your viewing pleasure:

(2) Mebossman - By Petionville out of Broodmare of the Year Peaceful Wings, Mebossman took a Allowance Optional Claiming NW1X race by 6 3/4 lengths. Every other horse in the race was in for a tag, but Mebossman was still eligible because he had only won one race even though he is Multiple Stakes Placed. A picture of Mebossman as a youngin' with her mom (taken by Terra Lee):

Anything worse than vegetarians? Probably not.

(3) Tsarina Haven - By Harbor the Gold out of Princess Affair, Tsarina Haven won a very good open $20,000 claiming race beating Lexie Arleen and See My Tail Lights.

See you all at the track this weekend. Track looks like it will be sloppy and about 40 degrees so bring a rain jacket and gloves.

Always Love Your Animals,

Will

Washington Nicking - Part I

Going to start a series of posts regarding breeding theories that are popular in this day and age. There are several breeding theories that are out there, but one of the most popular right now is the theory of nicking. Nicking is essentially looking for certain bloodline/pedigree combinations which produce superior racehorses. In other words, looking for combinations between the sire and his family and the dam and her family that happen to be more successful than the statistical average for racehorses.

Why is looking at nicking important? Well, in my view, breeding racehorses is essentially like playing any casino game; if you go in playing the game with no knowledge, the house has an advantage on you. If you go in with a strategy you are least tilting the odds a little more in your favor. No matter how smart you are about pedigrees, you are going to get those horses with a crooked foot, offset knees, OCD, 5 legs or fish gills. The goal is that when that good looking horse does comes out, you have picked the right sire and dam to make that horse a runner or a commercial success. As they always say in this business "The harder you work, the luckier you get."

Within the theory of nicking there are several classifications based on where they are in the family which breeders, buyers and bloodstock agents have to work with: 

(1) Sire-Dam Nick 

(2) Sire-Broodmare Sire Nick 

(3) Sire Line-Dam Nick 

(4) Sire-Broodmare Sire Line Nick 

(5) Sire Line-Broodmare Sire Nick 

(6) Sire Line-Broodmare Sire Line Nick

(7) Sire-Key Ancestor Nick  

There are a few more but these are the ones that I will focus on for now.

Today, we will look at the first two Nicks listed above: Sire-Dam Nick and the Sire-Broodmare Sire Nick. However, we will focus on Washington-bred and Washington-related horses as examples of how they work. This makes it more fun for me as I need a research challenge and you can identify with these nicks more readily and see some of them at future WTBOA sales. 

First, let's get some basics out of the way. Nicking is only one pedigree theory and only one thing to consider when buying a yearling or trying to determine who to send your broodmare to. It is essentially one arrow in your breeding/buying quiver. You should not live or die by nicking, ever. Conformation matching, race record (including speed figures), biomechanics, AEI/CI statistics, birth rank, and female family are just some of the other things you should consider when looking at a mating or purchasing a horse. And no matter what you do to control the pedigree of the horse, there are several other important factors to determine in making a good racehorse: training, health, mental health, environment, lack of crazy paddock mates, luck and not being in the same generation as Stopshoppingdebbie. As a breeder it is more important that you get the horse in the right hands after the sale than you get the right sire. 

Personally, I put less emphasis in nicking than others do. And I put even less and less emphasis on nicking as we start to descend in order from 1 to 7 listed above. The reason? Genetic variation starts to gets more and more likely the farther away you go from a horse. Each generation pretty much cuts in half the influence an ancestor has. The fact that Norther Dancer is in the 5th generation of the pedigree has a low impact for me versus how good the mare and the sire were on the track. However, I certainly pay attention to 1 thru 4 when looking at a horse to buy or determining who I should breed to. But the most important thing is whether the horse looks like an athlete. When I buy a horse at a sale, it is always a filly and I need some pedigree because I am more into the breeding side than I am into the racing side of the game (love both with a passion though). If that filly is good on the track and has good breeding, I have a pretty good broodmare on my hands. 

Another basic we need to get out of the way is this: you get 50% of a horse's genes from the Sire and 50% from the Dam. However, it is not the same 50% from both. So you may get all the good genetics from your parents (if you have any) and your siblings may get the bad genes from your parents.

For instance, I am 5'3" but my older brother is 5'11". Clearly he got more of the tall "genes" that exist somewhere in the family. But in return, I got the George Clooney genes from both my parents because I am insanely better looking than my two brothers. However, most of the time, if you breed something small to something small, you will likely get small. Here is an example:

This:

Plus this:

Will usually not equal this:

Also, I think the Keebler Elf is a dude so that is an issue.

But small does not mean the horse cannot run. If you don't believe that I will meet you in playground after school, 3 o'clock.

It is just as likely that you will get 0% of the same genes from full siblings than you will get 100%. There are plenty of examples of full siblings that just could not run. Most likely you will get roughly around 50% of the same genes as your full siblings. For instance, the Manning brothers both got the genes to throw interceptions to the Legion of Boom.

So lets look at the first, the Sire-Dam nick. Pretty simple here: When breeding a particular sire to a particular dam, you get a better than average horse than from other breeding. Here are some current Sire-Dam combinations that are outstanding in Washington:

(1) Harbor the Gold with Julia Rose: This combination has produced Noosa Beach, Musical of My Soul, and Noosito. All three are Stakes Winners. But the analysis does not end there. The question now is (a) whether combining Harbor the Gold with Julia Rose is better than Harbor the Gold's production with other mares and (b) whether Julia Rose is better with Harbor the Gold than without. The answer to (b) is a resounding yes. When Julia Rose was crossed with Tiffany Ice, He's Tops and Soft Gold the results were not even close to being as good as with Harbor the Gold. The second question is a little more difficult to answer: Is Harbor the Gold with Julia Rose better than Harbor the Gold with other mares? Even though this is a little closer of a call because Harbor the Gold is such a prolific sire with several champions the answer to me is still yes; he had 3 champions from four matings with Julia Rose. She was a special mare and they were perfect together (just like me and aged bourbon).

(2) Katowice with Nightatmisskittys - These two met on E-Harmony and just rode that wave to producing No Constraints, Sundance Circle and Dandy Dora. In addition, the mating produced a $67,000 yearling at the 2011 WTBOA sale. No Constraints and Sundance Circle were champions. When Nightatmisskittys was combined with French Deputy, Skywalker, Jumron, and Orientate mares it was not even close to as good as none of them won stakes races. Although Katowice produced several six figure winners, it is clear he was better than his average when combined with Nightatmisskittys.

(3) Harbor the Gold - Bahati - This combination has produced Couldabenthewhisky, Del Rio Harbor and Legion of Boom. The first two are champions and Del Rio Harbor is on his way to another championship season. Legion of Boom was the 2013 WTBOA sales topper. Was Bahati better with Harbor the Gold? Yes. When she was bred to Tizbud and Soft Gold, it just wasn't the same. Was Harbor the Gold better than his average with Bahati? I would say yes. You could argue "well, Harbor the Gold is just a dam (get it) good sire." Absolutely he is, but when crossed with Bahati and Julia Rose, special things have happened above his lofty expectations and statistics.

(4) Liberty Gold - Peaceful Wings - This combination has produced Jebrica and Peaceful Reign. There is also another yearling Liberty Gold colt out of Peaceful Wings that will be in the sale this year. Jebrica is a champion and Peaceful Reign was a stakes winner. Is Liberty Gold better on average with Peaceful Wings than without? Liberty Gold has produced some decent horses but I would say definitively yes. The question that really needs to be answered is whether Peaceful Wings is better than average with Liberty Gold? That is harder to answer because Peaceful Wings is just a special mare who has produce 10 winners from other sires than Liberty Gold and four of those earned black type including Mebossman, Jade Green, Wings of Justice and Wild Wings. Your call, but I would argue there is a little extra there with the Liberty Gold as the sire but more of this is about the special mare.

Sire-Broodmare Sire Nick

So now we take a look a little deeper in the pedigree by examining the Sire and the Broodmare Sire rather than just the broodmare herself. Could you argue that the Harbor the Gold - Basket Weave (the sire of Julia Rose) combination is a good cross? Yes, but here we are looking for more than just one mare that has produced good foals from a particular sire. We are looking for a variety of mares from a sire that do well with a particular sire.

I am only focusing on current sires for this part because that can help people the most in making purchasing and breeding decisions. This creates some issues as we have a lot of young sires standing here which have not produced horses old enough to start running, let alone develop a good cross with another broodmare sire. But I will give it a go:

(1) Harbor the Gold - Slewdledo Mares - This combination has produced Hollywood Harbor, Stikine Slough, Belladiva, My Chief, Basin Gold, and Cruzin the Harbor. Hollywood Harbor was champion 2-year-old and Sprinter. Belladiva placed in a stakes race recently. My Chief has been having a solid year. This cross is just beginning to get started so there is more to come.

(2) Private Gold - Basket Weave Mares - This combination has produced Dallon's Gold, Say Say and Miss Cygone (all Stakes Winner or Stakes Placed).

(3) Private Gold - Slewdledo Mares - This combination has produced Special Holiday, Primadonna Pearl and Seventypercentcocoa. Special Holiday is a Stakes Winner and Primadonna Pearl is Stakes Placed. Seventypercentcocoa is a hard knocking mare with plenty of earnings.

(4) Nationhood - Demons Begone Mares - This is one to keep an eye on. Nationhood is a young sire (his first crop is just 3 year olds) but he already has three winners from three different Demons Begone mares. This includes Stakes Winner Find Your Spot. In addition, Just a Love and Uptownfreddybrown are both winners. This is statistically significant in that Nationhood has had 6 winners this year, so 50% are from Demons Begone mares. However, we need to see a little more of this cross to have a good enough sample size to rely on. So far so good.

(5) Nacheezmo - Toooverprime - This combination has produced double digit winners to date. By far the best has been Roveing Patrol. Because the Mungers have so many Toooverprime mares, there is a large sample size, but only one has been Stakes Winner so I would like to see a little more here at some point.

That is the start of our exploration of nicking. If you think I missed something please feel free to comment below or email me and I will include it in our next segment. Next time we will dive into (3) Sire Line-Dam Nick and (4) Sire-Broodmare Sire Line Nick.

Always Love Your Animals,

Will