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ADIEU TO THE PEOPLE’S CHAMPION: CALIFORNIA CHROME
At this writing, many voices have already sounded out about the recent sale of California Chrome to Japanese interests. As the champion is due to leave prior to Christmas, I wanted to add my own voice...
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HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!
December 18, 2019 I’m sending out warm holiday greetings to all of my VAULT readership and wishing each one of you the blessings of the season. Thanks to you, THE VAULT will begin its 8th year in...
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AN EMBARASSMENT OF RICHES : CLOSING OUT A MEMORABLE DECADE
What a decade it has been! All over the horse racing world, champions emerged to dazzle us and lift our spirits. There were so many great thoroughbreds in the second decade of the twenty-first...
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BREED-SHAPERS: THOSE AGNES GIRLS!!!!!
This is a female family with one incredible knockout punch. They descend from The Byerly Turk sire line — and the influence of their strain on important sire lines and female families can be traced...
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EMPIRE MAKER: MORE THAN THE SUM OF PARTS
When the death of Empire Maker was announced, the response on social media was immediate. It was partly shock. But as the hours passed, shock turned to grief. This post is dedicated to the connections...
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“A.P.” INDY: A DAY OF SUNSHINE AND HONEY
Like so many, I was an unapologetic A.P. Indy “groupie” and this is my recount of meeting him in June of 2015. This post is dedicated to the Farish family, Asa Haley and to the staff of Lane’s End, who...
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READS & REREADS: STAY SMILING WITH THE VAULT
March 28, 2020 To be honest, I feel as though I’m living in a movie these days. When I turn on the TV and see car commercials with families piling up their things in their SUV to go on holiday, or...
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RUNSTAR: ONE OF CALIFORNIA’S BEST
In the annals of history, who or what gets either remembered or forgotten is always a messy business. And thoroughbred horse racing is no different. The image that starts it all: RUNSTAR, in 1924,...
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“UNDER A GLAMOUR” GOES TO THE RACES
Glamour (def.): a) from 18th c. Scotland, deriving from the word grammar, and meaning knowledge of the occult, as in casting a magic spell, “the girl was under a glamour;” b) in modern-day usage,...
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