February 14 - Seeking Gabrielle

Remember her from last week? You wanted to hear a story, so here's a story . . .

Seeking Gabrielle is the dam of Kentucky Derby Winner Nyquist.

Nyquist is by one of the top sires, Uncle Mo. Seeking Gabrielle was bred to Uncle Mo his first year at stud. Now, over time we forget stuff . . . does anybody remember when Uncle Mo went to stud that the perception was that Uncle Mo was not going to produce horses capable of getting the classic distance of 1-1/4 or more because the word was his sire, Indian Charlie, didn't produce stamina the way he produced speed? Ah, but Uncle Mo's dam line is filled with some big strong distance horses like Arch by Kiss S by Roberto. Still, the knock was - couldn't produce the distance horse.

Nyquist single handedly squashed that myth in the first foal crop by taking down the 2016 Kentucky Derby.

Ah, but how did we get there and how did we get here?

Seeking Gabrielle was offered in the sales ring in foal to Uncle Mo, carrying Nyquist. She did not sell. She came back through the sale a year later with her colt being the hip before her in the sales ring. He was a big stunning looking horse and sold well. Then, mom came through the ring and went for less than expected. She was bought by Hinkle Farms to become part of their broodmare band.

A couple of years go by and the 3 year old Nyquist wins the Derby, his Daddy's myth is busted and mom because a super star. I guess Tom Hinkle has a reputation among other breeders as being lucky and the comment was that Tom did it again.

Since going to Hinkle Farm, Seeking Gabrielle's offspring has brought in over $6 million and she's not done yet.

The rest of the story: well, I knew who Tom Hinkle was and he says he knew who I was before Susan and I bought Tom's house, but he mentioned at the closing that he had a horse he wanted me to paint. (I hear that sort of thing a lot and have learned not to get excited.) Several months passed by and Tom called and told me who it was he wanted painted. You know, something really happens when you see a horse. You can read that they are chestnut, or somebody can tell you a horse is good looking, but when you see it for yourself, words never leave the impression on you or the imprint on your brain as what passed through your eyes. Seeking Gabrielle has one of the most beautiful coats, but she was almost a two-tone chestnut. Her front half was almost copper in color and her back half was almost bronze. I know sunlight does things to a horse's coat. In this case, I did not question what the cause was but instead, I just enjoyed the sight of a beautiful horse that had a great body and had produced a Kentucky Derby winner.