Posted on 06/03/2014 6:37:46 AM PDT by afraidfortherepublic
California is hardly known as an epicenter of thoroughbred breeding. But on Saturday, the Belmont Stakes will include the first California-bred Triple Crown contender, leaving the actual industry leader, Kentucky, to pour another bourbon and dream of next year.
Kentucky produces about one-third of all the registered thoroughbred foals in the U.S. according to the Jockey Club, the breed's registry. California accounts for about 8% of the foal crop and has struggled to stabilize its breeding industry since the 2008 recession.
It makes California Chrome truly an odds-beater. "The story behind this horse is great for racing," said Clifford Barry, president of the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association. "I'm sure the breeders in California are happy."
Such gracious talk from Kentuckians is often accompanied by polite mentions of the scoreboard, particularly related to the Derby. "Orb won last year," said Case Clay, president of Three Chimneys Farm. "You have a royally-bred, Kentucky-bred horse, and the following year, you have the opposite."
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Good horses can be bred anywhere.
Look at his pedigree - see any familiar names? (LOL)
It will be interesting to see where he ends up when retired.
“Horse people” (and I have some in my family) set great store on the grass and soil where the horses are raised. I think it’s a myth, but what do I know?
For those not incline to research, his ancestors include Secretariat and Seattle Slew. Thanks, Andy’smom for making this point.
It is my understanding that California Crome has never eaten grass, not once. I do not know the reason, but they aren’t letting him try any prior to the race because they don’t want to take the chance of upsetting his digestive system.
And A.P. Indy and Native Dancer. His pedigree isn’t bad at all.
I really miss Bay Meadows ...
giddy uop !
Other than the standouts (Seattle Slew and Secretariet) I note a horse called “Honest Pleasure” in Chrome’s background. I wonder if Honest Pleasure is related to Foolish Pleasure? http://www.americasbestracing.net/en/the-latest/blogs/2013/04/8/looking-back-at-foolish-pleasure/
Was that the track north of Berkeley? What happened to it?
How about Nashua,Buckpasser, and Native Dancer? Some great horses there.
Recognizing all the old familiar names is not necessarily a good thing.
‘“Just hours before the Kentucky Derby, trainer Larry Jones got up early with his filly Eight Belles and took her to the track for a ride before the big race.
This was supposed to be a day of tempting history for Jones and Eight Belles.
They were taking on 19 colts and trying to make Eight Belles the fourth filly, and the first since Winning Colors in 1988, to win the “Run for the Roses.”
This was to be a day of celebration for owner Rick Porter and his entourage no matter where she finished. She was the first filly to enter the Derby since 1999.
Now there will be a necropsy and then cremation.”
The excerpt above is taken verbatim from a USA Today news report filed hours after the racehorse Eight Belles was euthanized on the track.
She was put to sleep after fracturing both her forelegs while pulling up after the race, in which she finished a glorious second, running, in the words of USA Today, “the race of her 3-year-old life”.
The tragedy occurred just two years after the Derby winning horse Barbaro fractured his leg in the second round of the US Triple Crown, a race called the Preakness.
These and other inexplicable injuries to racehorses (in July the racer Rewilding snapped his leg challenging in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot in England, a tragedy I witnessed from the stands) inevitably leads to questions about the quality of the ground on which the horses run, the age at which they run, whether fillies should race colts, and most pertinent of all from a science or natural history viewpoint, has breeding caused a weakening of the racehorse talent pool?
New scientific research just published helps inform this last point; for it suggests that Thoroughbred racehorses around the world are becoming more inbred.’
http://www.globalanimal.org/2011/12/01/inbreed-horses-race-to-ruin/
Bay Meadows was on th eother side of the Bay in San Mateo,, or so
Me too. I used to watch the horses exercise in the morning while I waited for the train. On race days we could walk to the track and have a picnic on the infield. Certainly added a quite a bit of character to the neighborhood (sometimes pungent, heheh, but not as bad as the tidal flats exposed at low tide).
No, her sire is What A Pleasure. However, HIS sire is Bold Ruler(the sire of Secretariat).
We have a fine little horse who could be a clone of Istabraq ( from his pedigree and appearance and manner, really it's a shame he's gelded ). But he does need special attention to his shoe-ing to really show off his jumping talent - hooves too soft. Which is why he didn't do well at the track and ended up in the horse rescue, where we eventually picked him up for $500.
yes, it was a fun old place,,
I was thinking more of progeny, or siblings. LOL
My DIL once held title to an inherited breeding (from her grandfather) from Foolish Pleasure, but she relinquished it in favor of breeding her horse to a Swedish Warmblood because she was engaged in Dressage at the time. A beautiful hore resulted, but that came to a sad end when the reulting horse suddenly dropped dead after a training session. (Aneurism)
Aha!
Oh, sorry. Yes, they have the same sire, What A Pleasure.
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