In horse racing, the act of pairing a stallion and a broodmare to doubtlessly produce a world-class thoroughbred is otherworldly. Many individuals spend a substantial amount of cash, time, and psychological focus attempting to hit the genetic lottery and discover simply the proper male/feminine mixture that might change into a Triple Crown or Breeders’ Cup winner. If that occurs, that mixture will change into a part of horse racing historical past. So, to have a good time Valentine’s Day, listed below are 5 notable thoroughbred “{couples}” from the previous 20 years or so. Their descendants are happy with their dad and mom.
1. Good Magic – Puka
These amorous affairs have been making headlines in horse racing lately. Good Magic, who was a 2-year-old champion and Kentucky Derby runner-up in his energetic days, was bred to the massive brown mare Pooka in 2019. Puka sired a colt named Mage in 2020, who in the end gained the 2023 Kentucky Derby, beating his sire by one spot. However that is not all. A yr later they had been paired once more and the outcome was a stallion who was later named Dornoch. This stallion gained the 2024 Belmont Stakes Offered by NYRA Bets.
Mage and Dornoch are so-called “full siblings” in that they share the identical stallion (father) and dam (mom), respectively. Dornoch’s subsequent Pooka offspring weren’t produced by Good Magic however by McKinzie. That makes him the “half-brother” of Mage and Dornoch. Baeza completed third within the 2025 Kentucky Derby introduced by Woodford Reserve and the Belmont Stakes introduced by NYRA Betts, and in addition gained the Pennsylvania Derby. Baeza was educated by John Shirreffs, a extensively revered California jockey who handed away immediately on February twelfth.
2. Oxbow – Indian Miss
The duo is chargeable for constructing “Scorching Rod,” which has change into some of the in style and money-making racehorses lately. 2013 Preakness Stakes winner Oxbow visited India’s Charley mare Indian Miss in 2017, and her 2018 foal bought for simply $17,000 as a yearling in early 2019. The colt was then bought once more to Dennis within the fall of 2019 on the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October foal public sale for $110,000. Mr. O’Neill is a blood drawer identified for locating high quality worth and is the brother of Kentucky Derby-winning coach Doug O’Neill.
By the point he arrived on the racetrack beneath Doug O’Neill’s care, many anticipated Scorching Rod Charlie to comply with within the footsteps of his half-brother Mittle, a champion sprinter out of stallion Eskendereja’s 2015 foal to Indian Miss. As an alternative, Scorching Rod Charlie has excelled in long-distance races, profitable the 2021 Louisiana Derby and Pennsylvania Derby and putting second within the 2021 Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes and the 2022 Dubai World Cup. He has earned greater than $5.9 million in races and at the moment stands as a stallion in Japan.
3. Henny Hughes – Leslie Lady
Leslie’s Woman, a daughter of the unknown stallion Tough Creek, was superb on the racetrack, profitable minor stakes races and incomes $187,014, however as a broodmare she was way over an issue. Leslie’s Woman had already attracted consideration because the dam of Harlan’s Vacation foal Into Mischief by the point she was sired by champion sprinter Henny Hughes in 2010. Into Mischief gained the G1 Stakes, retired from the racetrack early, and commenced his profession as a stallion. Little did anybody know on the time, however Into Mischief turned out to be the perennial main sire from the late 2010s to the current.
As for Into Mischief’s half-sister, by Henny Hughes, she was bought as a yearling to B. Wayne Hughes’ Spendthrift Farm (who ran and runs Into Mischief) for $180,000. This beautiful bay mare, named Beholder, gained Breeders’ Cup races at 2, 3, and 6 years outdated (!), incomes greater than $6.1 million and turning into a Corridor of Famer. Though she is inferior to her mom, Beholder, she has been profitable as a breeding mare since her retirement, producing two main stakes winners. (Leslie’s Woman produced one other excellent racehorse by Scat Daddy, turf star Mendelssohn.)
4. AP Indy – Higher Than Honor
AP Indy was merely one of many best stallions of the previous 50 years. Horse racing trade insiders typically added the prefix “breeding” to his identify, and that was no exaggeration. Twice throughout his profession he led all North American stallions when it comes to foal revenue in a given yr, and several other of his progeny, together with his grandson Tapit, topped the annual rankings. AP Indy was bred in 2004 to Deputy Minister’s mare Higher Than Honor, a mixture that introduced success as Higher Than Honor was a stakes winner and daughter of a Kentucky Oaks winner.
The colt, named Rags to Riches, gained the 2007 Kentucky Oaks herself and “beat the stallions” within the Belmont Stakes to change into among the best fillies of the century. By 2007, Higher Than Honor was already well-known for producing the 2006 Belmont winner Jazir (out of the sire Searching for the Gold), and in 2008, after producing back-to-back Belmont winners, he bought for $14 million on the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Choose Fall Blended Public sale. In the meantime, AP Indy obtained a pension from his stallion duties at Lane’s Finish Farm in 2011, and Legend, who handed away in 2020 on the age of 30, spent almost a decade on well-deserved pasture earlier than his demise.
5. Danehill – Hashiri
The offspring of this worldwide energy couple dominated the thoroughbred world from the early a part of this century till the 2000s. A daughter of the Irish Cahiyashi, Juddmonte Farm’s Hasili has produced seven graded or graded winners, 5 of which went abroad at Coolmore Stud, and was the sire of the American horse Danehill, who led the annual sire checklist throughout the UK, Eire, France, Australia and Hong Kong a complete of 17 occasions.
The 5 brothers who gained stakes at Danehill and Hashiri’s common breeding secure rendezvous had been, so as of start, Dansiri, Banks Hill, Intercontinental, Cacique and Champs Elysées. Every competed in america, and all however Dansiri gained main stakes races right here (Dansiri completed third within the 2000 Breeders’ Cup Mile). Danehill died in 2003 resulting from an accident within the secure, and her four-year run with Hashiri was discontinued, however the mare continued to be bred till 2012. Hasiri, the very definition of a mare that horse individuals name a “blue hen” (i.e. a great mare), handed away in 2018 on the age of 27.
