According to their page, the two New Years arrivals are still unborn, but I’m choosing to have faith that it’s a glitch and all will get sorted soon without any upsets. As such, meet the two newest members of the homebred band. So thrilled to see the first of the foals for my own stallions!
CINEMATIC
GCh. Powerful Soul x Chick Flick (P) - Planet Hollywood (S)
9.1h black filly
Shocked, really, that this name wasn’t taken already. Cinematic was bred to be a turf monster. Her sire was a winner every year on the track, but his best year was at the age of 5. Her half-brother Flames of Passion (who is expecting his first crop this year) was a winner from 3-7, with his best year being at the age of 7, so we’ll see how soon Cinematic finds her footing.
As soon as the glitch with Chick Flick is figured out, I’m aiming to send her to Mantle of Power, Powerful Soul’s sire, in the hopes of getting a strong turf combo.
KITH & KIN
GCh. Final Scene x King’s Mistress (S) - WCh. King David (S)
8h grey filly
King’s Mistress was a MW/MP 3YO and has produced two champions, including MSW Ch. King Of Harvard. Final Scene was a winner every year he raced, so hoping this filly will live up to both parents’ legacies.
Edit: Got inspired to change this one’s name to the title of the Critical Role book that arrived today. For those who don’t know what I’m talking about, the book is a D&D inspired story about twin half-elves who are the illegitimate children of an elvin nobleman and heroes from Critical Role Campaign 1. With names like Final Scene, King’s Mistress, and King David in this filly’s bloodline, I couldn’t resist changing her name.
Congrats on a pair of lovely fillies. I think that first crop by your home stallion is probably the most exciting thing. I can’t wait for all my freshman boys to have their first foals this year!
I definitely am excited for the Final Scene and Powerful Soul foals, but I really can’t wait for Tense Imagination’s babies. He was a favorite of mine long before I realized he had stud potential.
In the meantime though, we’ve got a colt on the ground!
JADE ARMOUR
NCh. Ablative Armour x Black Jade - Ch. Turn n’Burn (S)
9.3h brown colt
Black Jade’s first foal only raced twice as a 2YO and is now going into his 3YO year, so no idea how her babies will do in the long run. This boy was bred for dirt and should have a solid career if he follows in his parents’ footsteps.
I had aimed to send Black Jade to Explosive Motif next but so far he isn’t available, so we’ll have to see where she goes from here.
SHIRAYUKI
ICh. Dr. Evil (S) x All Those Glasses (G) - Created
8.3h liver chestnut filly
Something about the names Dr. Evil and All Those Glasses gave me anime vibes while naming this girl, so I named her after the female apothecary and main character of the anime Snow White with the Red Hair. Lol. Aside from Dr. Evil having a good reputation as a quality producer, All Those Glasses has produced 50% stakes winners, including MSW Ch. Kyoko, so here’s to hoping the new girl joins the stakes winner band.
All Those Glasses heads to Straticus next.
KHAZAD-DUM
ICh. Devil’s Walk (B) x Ered Luin - ICh. Blue Smoke
9h black colt
Keeping with the Lord of the Rings theme, Khazad-dum was the location where Gandalf fought the balrog. Ered Luin was a multi-winner on dirt but was never tried at the stakes level, so it’s hard to guess how she’ll produce in the long term. She is, however, the daughter of a gold-ranked mare and half-sister to two multi-stakes winners. Her first foal, a filly by Straticus, debuts this year.
LUCKY FOOL
NCh. Fool To Be Smokin’ x GCh. Luck of the Rose - FFCh. High Chances (S)
10h bay colt
Incredibly surprised this name wasn’t already taken. The first foal for recently retired multi-G1 placer, Luck of the Rose, this big boy was bred for dirt. If his birth size is any indication, he’s gonna be giant like his mama, who stands at 17h even. No real endurance talent in this pedigree, but he should hopefully make a solid sprint and classic runner.
ILLUMINATED SCRIPT
NCh. Golden Text (S) x GCh. Incandescent - ICh. Candidate (G)
8.1h chestnut colt
Second foal for this MSW/MSP mare. Incandescent was a dirt specialist who had her best year at 3, even winning the 2017 G1 Acorn Stakes. Combined with Golden Text’s bloodline, Illuminated Script is 3/4 siblings with Ch. Call On Gold and BM Sire/Sire siblings with Ch. Princessinthetower, so he definitely has a lot of potential there.
Incandescent heads to Northern Invasion next.
MADE OF MAGIC
FFCh. I’m No Fool (S) x Ch. Night Of Magic - WCh. Nightfight (G)
9.3h dark bay colt
This is the first foal for recently retired Night Of Magic. While he doesn’t have any noteworthy siblings at the moment, he is a Foolhardy/Nightfight cross, so here’s to hoping he lives up to his bloodlines. Both I’m No Fool and Night of Magic showed good potential on dirt and turf, so Made of Magic has a good chance at being an all-rounder when it comes to surface.
SPUR THE DEVIL
NCh. Daredevil Dan (S) x Ch. Commemorate Spurs - GCh. Tottenham Hotspur
9.2h bay filly
First foal for this stakes winning daughter of Tottenham Hotspur. Bred for dirt at the classic distance, but mama was a winner on both dirt and turf, so I’m hoping for a solid all-rounder.
Commemorate Spurs goes back home to visit Final Scene next.
AIRSHIP
WCh. Brigade (B) x Costa Marta (B) - Rock of Gibraltar (B)
8.3h liver chestnut filly
Fifth live foal (fourth filly) for Costa Marta. Her two oldest foals, Crisanta (Golden Text) and Honeymoon (Away The Lads) are both stakes placed. I wasn’t feeling particularly inspired while naming this one, so defaulted to D&D for inspiration. Last night our characters boarded an airship for the first time, so here we go. Lol.
Costa Marta has been added to our auction that starts on the 23rd of this month. If she doesn’t sell, she will be retired after.
Well, it finally happened. After managing to squeak through last year without any stillbirths, we finally lost a foal early this morning. On the flipside though, a foal I’ve been looking forward to arrived healthy and happy, so there is that.
MATSUYAMA MIRROR
GCh. Powerful Soul x Ch. Kyoko - ICh. Belanso
9.1h black filly
This filly is by my turf monster stallion Powerful Soul out of MSW turf-specialist homebred Kyoko. Had to do some digging on Google to come up with a satisfactory name for this girl. The name Kyoko seems to have several meanings, but the one I chose when I named her was “mirror” since Kyoko is the daughter of All Those Glasses.
A lot of lore features mirrors that steal people’s souls, so when I looked at this combo, I thought “magic mirror.” Of course, that name was already taken, so with a little digging I came across the Japanese story of the Matsuyama Mirror, in which a girl is given her mother’s mirror before her mother passes away. The mother tells the girl that as long as she looks in the mirror, she will always be with her. The mirror isn’t magic but the girl looks just like her mother so she believes that her mother’s soul still lives in the mirror and it helps her get through the hardships she faces later.
Kyoko heads to Tense Imagination next.
Stillborn filly
Gun Runner x Unabridged Edition - ICh. Unabridged
This would have been the third foal for this multi-winning daughter of Unabridged. Unabridged Edition heads to Ancient Magic next.
Tense Imagination’s first foal is on the ground! Ironically appropriate, I think, that the first foal happened to be mine. Crazy excited to find this newbie in the stable this morning!
ROYAL IMAGE
NCh. Tense Imagination x GCh. Royal Minute - NCh. Lasting Spirit (S)
9.2h black colt
First foal for multi-G1 winner Tense Imagination out of MSW/G1-placer Royal Minute. I picked up both Tense Imagination and Royal Minute in their 3YO years and campaigned them through to their current statuses, so I have very much been looking forward to this foal. Both Tense Imagination and Royal Minute have stakes wins on dirt and turf at the sprint and classic levels, but neither one raced at endurance levels so there is still a chance for some talent on that end, too. This is Royal Minute’s first foal, so as far as a breeder, not sure how she’ll do yet, but she’s from pretty solid silver-ranked lines so hoping for some solid talent from her.
Super surprised to find this little girl in the stable this morning, but also so excited to see her and relieved she arrived safely. She wasn’t due till February.
DANCING LIGHTS
NCh. Tense Imagination x NCh. Fractal - NCh. Changeling
7.3h dark bay filly
I have been hoping for this pairing since before Tense Imagination qualified for stud. This is the first foal for Fractal (out of Platinum-ranked Limelight), who is technically “stud qualified” with 9 stakes wins to her name, including 5 G1 wins and two speed records on 9f dirt. Between Tense Imagination and Fractal, this foal represents wins in prestigious races such as (but not limited to) the Pegasus World Cup, BC Distaff (Fractal won it twice), and the Sunshine Millions Sprint. Tense Imagination was proven on both dirt and turf. Fractal was bred for turf but really thrived on dirt, so Dancing Lights has strong potential as an all-rounder.
The name Dancing Lights comes from a D&D spell, but I thought it was both pretty and fitting for a grand-daughter of Limelight. She also is the fourth generation of this maternal family that I have owned. Her great-grandmother, Executive Session, was the first prize I ever won in a Color Wars game back when I joined Final Furlong as Hokkaido Stables.
I’M NOT WAITING
FFCh. I’m No Fool (S) x Waiting To Happen - GCh. Backseat Driver (S)
7.3h bay colt
This little boy was due at the end of the month, but it looks like he was through waiting. Lol. This is the second foal for this stakes-placed mare. She was only run 8 times, all in her 3YO year, before being retired to broodmare duties due to her being owned by Final Furlong at the time, so there’s no real knowing how she will produce, but her dam is gold-ranked so there is definitely a good chance there.
Appropriate, I think, to have a late arrival follow after an early one. This girl clearly didn’t like the cold any more than I do. She was due on Jan. 1 and said, “Nah, I’ll wait, thanks.” Lol.
First foal for this SW/MSP mare. Lucky View managed wins on both dirt and turf but seemed to have a slightly stronger preference for dirt at the sprint distances.
Lucky View heads home for a date with our stallion Quirky Scent next.
AMERICAN SUNSET
American Pharoah (S) x Ch. Major Sunset - GCh. Major’s Flight (B)
8.3h dark bay filly
First foal for this MSW/MSP mare. Major Sunset was a dirt specialist and her dam is currently gold-ranked, so hoping for a solid dirt runner in the near future.
TO END ALL WARS
GCh. Final Scene x Ch. War Penny - NCh. Black Warrior
9.2h red chestnut filly
Second foal and first filly for SW/MSP War Penny. Should be a strong turf classic runner.
War Penny was a winner all three years she raced (3-5YO) and did best at turf classic distances. Her dam is gold-ranked Chicago, so hoping to see some good things from her foals. War Penny heads to Bells Beach next.