Mare to Watch

[*Ripley*]

MARE TO WATCH

Nominations and poll for Mare To Watch.

NOMINATIONS

x New dams only; offspring must be aged two years and under
x Fill out the form provided
x Nominations may be made by the owner only
x Nominations for each award are limited to two horses per person.

Form:

Horse Name: horse name
Offspring: names and links to offspring
Why your horse should win: What makes your horse deserve this award? Provide a paragraph.

[b]Horse Name:[/b] [url=*link to page]horse name[/url]
[b]Offspring:[/b] names and links to offspring
[b]Why your horse should win:[/b] What makes your horse deserve this award? Provide a paragraph.

_{Poll will be added when nominations are in}

[*Ripley*]

Horse Name: The Devil's Hourglass
Offspring: Maiden Mare
Why your horse should win: The Devil's Hourglass has the perfect pedigree to continue her female family's success at brood. Descended from ARS lined Sand Storm and G3 mare The Devil's Touch, Hourglass brought determination and class to every race she ran in. She won three HOTY races in early Y15 and likely would have been a female force if Witch Creek hadn't decided they needed her in the brood shed to replace her sometimes violent dam.

She was named Juvenile of the Year and Best 2yo filly in Year Thirteen and was ferocious enough to beat the boys in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf, Belmont Turf Classic and the Unicorn Horn Turf Classic at ages 2,3 and 4.


Her dam, The Devil's Touch, has produced two other Breeders' Cup Juvenile winners to date. Sire Sand Storm has Cyclonaria in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies. If this isn't a future blue hen combination, I don't know what is.

[S u N f r O s t ~]

Horse Name: Battle Wings
Offspring: Maiden Mare
Why your horse should win: Battle Wings has the pedigree, record and attitude to produce astonishing foals. Her sire Akuma Battlecry is highly regarded in the breeding world; dam Silver Tide has received a lot of outside interest due to her son's successes in the breeding shed. With a sire such as this, Battle Wings has a strong legacy to pull on, but to make things even better her dam Silent Wings is a strong racehorse, strongly pedigreed and has great foals herself. Silent Wings is sired by Stormin Passion, a foreign horse, making Battle Wings one of a handful of horses with his lines on the sire. Silent Wings' dam is Forbidden Wings, the famous blue-hen broodmare with nothing but successful foals. All of her foals have hit grade one and won multiple Horse of the Year selection races, including three Breeders Cup winners (all of them multiple Breeders Cup winners) and two Hall of Fame inductees as well as turf distaff sprinting sensation Taboo among them. With this back pedigree to draw off of, Battle Wings looks like a great prospect, but it doesn't stop there. Younger brother Silent Snap battled alongside such horses as Sun King in his division and is only further ascending the sprinter-miler division.

Battle Wings herself has the record to back up the pedigree. The winner of the Breeders Cup Juvenile Fillies flew into the Triple Tiara as a hot prospect and ended up winning two of the three legs. She finished second in the Breeders Cup Dirt Mile to none other than Mastermind. As a four year old, her season may appear a bit underwhelming - it is clear that Battle was more of a precocious horse than a long-lasting class package. Regardless, Battle made her presence known in the distaff division, clinching four Horse of the Year victories.

With this pedigree and record, it is not surprising that Battle should be considered a Mare To Watch.

[S u N f r O s t ~]

Horse Name: Ventura
Offspring: Maiden Mare
Why your horse should win: Ventura is sired by none other than Impressario and foaled out of Rising Fury. These two parents were both grossly proven as racehorses and are ending up just as proven in the breeding shed. Impressario's racing record needs no introduction, and these days his foals almost don't either. They have excelled over the dirt and turf and include three classic series winners amongst them. While the majority of his foals tend to do their best running over the turf, Ventura is the rare exception. She has just as much flexibility as her siblings in terms of distance and surface, but she absolutely excelled as a dirt sprinter. This makes her unique. In addition, Ventura's dam Rising Fury is widely acknowledged as a ferociously excellent racehorse. Her most well-know foal aside from Ven is Silent Fury, the sensational stallion who put on a clinic in his final season by absolutely dominating the classic turf division.

Ventura stands out because of her proven parents as well as her own record. As a juvenile, Ventura made the occasional foray over the turf but otherwise competed consistently. As a three year old, Ventura lit the track on fire, starring in the Triple Tiara and winning the first leg in the Acorn Stakes. It wasn't until later in the season that her propensity for sprinting was discovered. When Ven won the Starshine Sprint (the final leg of the Triple Sprinter Tiara), we realized just what this mare was capable of at distances from six to eight furlongs. Ven ended the season with a victory in the Breeders Cup Filly and Mare Sprint. She came back as a four year old to be the shadow under Mastermind and Forbidden To Fly, but successfully defended her title in the Filly and Mare Sprint. And as a five year old, Ven absolutely took no prisoners, dominating throughout the season in the sprints even as she made a brief foray to nine furlongs in winning the Autumn Dawn Treader Cup. She capped off her season with a victory in the Breeders Cup Sprint, her third Breeders Cup victory.

Pedigree and performance - Ventura will make an excellent broodmare.

[*Ripley*]

Poll has been added! No one can vote for their own horse!