Frank Mitchell

Unlike the situation with his sons, which are not well represented with stakes winners in the male line, the daughters of Unbridled’s Song are treasures as producers. It is also noteworthy that daughters of the sons of Unbridled’s Song are making a mark. Among those representing Unbridled’s Song in the broodmare sire line over the […]

With stakes winners on the West Coast and the East Coast on successive days, at Del Mar on July 28 and at Saratoga on July 29, Arrogate (by Unbridled’s Song) doubled his total number of stakes winners. From the sire’s first crop, now three, Arrogate’s first stakes winner, Alittleloveandluck, came on New Year’s Day, then […]

With a one-two finish in the Grade 1 Haskell on July 23, Cyberknife defeating Tiaba by a head, leading sire Gun Runner (by Candy Ride) is wading into the subtle distinctions that separate truly important sires from the select few who transcend the breed and reshape the sport in their own images. It is too […]

The current crop of sires with their first runners at the racecourse this year now include five freshman sires located in Kentucky or Florida who have already been represented by a stakes winner: Justify (by Scat Daddy), Sharp Azteca (Freud), Good Magic (Curlin), Girvin (Tale of Ekati), and Free Drop Billy (Union Rags). The leader […]

One of the everlasting assets of racing in North America, both in the States and in Canada, is the extensive and fairly lucrative racing program restricted to fillies. This allows breeders and owners to place their fillies in conditions that allow them to race effectively and win. Overall, the filly restricted races make owning fillies […]

Winning the Grade 2 Dwyer Stakes by an emphatic 23 lengths put Charge It (by Tapit) back in the picture as one of the leading 3-year-old colts of the season and shined the spotlight on his pedigree, especially his second dam Take Charge Lady (Dehere). Twenty years ago, Take Charge Lady was one of the […]

Let us then praise good broodmares. Theirs is the more dangerous and less celebrated part of the breeding equation. Yet without them, even the best stallions do not shine as brightly or accomplish so much. Take, for example, leading sire Into Mischief (by Harlan’s Holiday), who had his 50th graded stakes winner when Gerrymander won […]

With thousands of airline flights canceled across the country over the past holiday weekend, many would-be vacationers can identify with the subject of this week’s column: Stolen Holiday. This highly pedigreed daughter of leading sire War Front (by Danzig), however, isn’t a taker. She’s a giver, and she gave an impressive front-running performance in the […]

The results of the 2022 Belmont Stakes produced a double of different kinds for both the sire of the winner Mo Donegal (by Uncle Mo) and for the breeders, the Lyster family’s Ashview Farm and Richard Santulli’s Colts Neck Stables, which bred and sold the winner, as well as the runner-up, Nest (Curlin). With a […]

There were a trio of classics over the past weekend: at Epsom, the Oaks on June 3 and the Derby on June 4, then the next day at Chantilly, the Prix du Jockey Club. Those might as well have been held as benefits for the great stallion Galileo (by Sadler’s Wells). Vadeni (by the Galileo […]