While attempting to adhere to the sage advice of US Senator Bernie Sanders that we Canadians need to shout about our achievements, bragging does not come easily. Nonetheless, I’ve decided to give it a try.
But first, let me assure you that while I have written about sport with horses – and specifically Thoroughbreds – most of my life, I was clearly taken aback by all the things I discovered while researching and writing Rivers of Gold.
Since the Kentucky Derby is but a few weeks away I thought this would be a good place to start the bragging attempts.
When my book Northern Dancer: the legend and his legacy was published 20 years ago, about half the Derby field traced it’s lineage to Canadian bloodlines. Hence our Rivers of Gold. And, essentially thru Northern Dancer and his sire, Nearctic.
It appears that in the intervening years the intensity of these hardy bloodlines has escalated to the point that today, the top 2o contenders for the Run for the Roses, all can find their ancestors in Canada’s Rivers of Gold.
… to be continued, as will the bragging