2016 Medalist Showoff!

Dortmund was unbeatable on his best days, and Rio turned into the best day of his career. A 2016 Triple Crown prospect, he set a track record when he scored in the Santa Anita Derby then would run 4th in the Derby but a fast-closing 2nd in the Preakness just two weeks later. In Rio, he trounced a field that had some of the best horses in SS History, including a number of Eclipse champions and Breeders' Cup winners, and made it look deceptively easy. He would close out his career with a sparkling win over Cyclone Princess in the Grade 1 Awesome Again, making him one of two GI race winners on the forum.

Description above! He won also bronze medal in Halter!

A son of the immortal Man o War and crack sprinter Chime, Bells o War had the pedigree to go far - and did. He scored in the Fountain of Youth on the Triple Crown trail and the Forego in the Breeders' Cup and won a prep in Dubai before running a monstrous 2nd to champion 3yo Augustus in the World Cup. He sparkled not just on dirt but also on turf, finishing second to champion turf horse Fleet Street in the Irish 2000 Guineas and capturing multiple graded stakes on both the grass and the dirt before concluding his career.

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I have no idea how this pretty girl won the gold, as she never seemed to stand out very well in her racing career. Her (and my) lucky day, I guess!

Ansia was one of the first TBs I ever received from another member (Mak!) and she is one of my best mares to run. She was one of my first marathoners in addition to that, and while she never won a "big" race (Dubai or Breeders' Cup) she ran 2nd or 3rd in a number of them so a silver in Rio is right up her alley! She's since been retired and has produced a Breeders' Cup winner in Unrequited and has five winners from five foals. Pretty good imo!

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Ruffian is one my foundation Thoroughbreds and one of the best. She won both the Breeders' Cup Distaff and Dirt Mile in the same year, in addition to her Rio gold in the Distaff. She's a dual Eclipse winner and is the dam of the 2019 Triple Tiara winner Elysium, and features in the pedigrees of a number of prominent and high-profile horses.

I think this girl was just born in the wrong year. Her nemesis, Cyclone Princess, almost won the Triple Tiara but Honestly denied her in the Acorn Stakes! Honestly probably would have had a great shot at the Triple herself if Princess hadn't been constantly in her way haha. Her show name is oddly fitting. Good enough for silver, or 2nd, most of the time.

A daughter of Kentucky Derby winner Seattle and blue hen Eclipse winner Zenyatta, Cyclone Princess won the first 2 legs of the Triple Tiara (Kentucky Oaks and Black-Eyed Susan Stakes) before Honestly, another medal winner, derailed her. In consolation, Cyclone Princess won that year's Dubai World Cup and Breeders' Cup Distaff, in addition to her Bronze Rio medal! She's one of my favorite TBs and has already produced a Triple Tiara winner and a number of other high-profile horses. She is a half-sister to fellow Rio medalist Augustus through their dam, Zenyatta.

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Description above! He alsow won silver in Halter!

Description above! She also won bronze medal in Distaff!

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Royal Angel seems almost too good to be true, but the fiery bay filly has brought heaven to earth in her racing career. She was the first Open Level ever horse to win a Breeders' Cup race in the Turf Sprint in 2015 in addition to five other victories, then went on a rampage in 2016. In addition to her 2016 Rio Gold medal, she snapped off another five wins, including becoming the first horse to win two Breeders' Cup races, when she took the BC Mile. She has since retired and produced 3 winners from 3 foals.

One of my very first Thoroughbreds ever!

Description above! She also won gold medal in HUS!

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The Final Apostle took his time to win a race (nearly 2 years!) but once he did, he blossomed into one of the best sprinters that SS has ever seen. In his last year of racing, he ripped off five victories in a row at 8 furlongs or less, then decimated the sprinter ranks in the Olympcis with a win in the USA sprint Qualifier and running them into the ground in the Rio Sprint. He was crowned champion male sprinter for his incredible efforts and has been since retired at Hawkstone after his sparkling 2016 season.

Ziva is one of those hard-knocking mares that never seems to quit, and would throw it down on the track in every race. A dirt sprinting specialist, she wasn't as highly regarded as her other stablemates due to her inconsitent record, but she still scored half a dozen victories in her career and placed in a dozen more, including snagging a silver in the Rio Sprint. Trained most of her career by Neco at Hard Tack, she has since been retired to Burning Acres to enjoy life as a broodmare.

Rationalist was an impulse buy from a Hawkstone consignment and probably the only impulse buy I ever made that worked out - in anything tbh. He won the Eclipse as champion male sprinter in 2015, and won his Rio bronze the next year, in addition to winning the Dubai Golden Shaheen earlier in the year. He only ran a few times in 2017 and 2018 and ended his career with a track record in his final race.

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Description above! He won also gold medal in Dressage.



Ozy is but a slip of a horse, a little grey colt with more courage than most people possess in one lifetime. Though he only raced a single season, he would place in half of his starts and would land a bronze medal with a late-flying rally that saw him miss victory by less than a length.

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Do you want a beast, because this is how I got one - Eclipse and Siren's Soliloquy have produced three monstrous marathoners, and Dracarys is top of the pile. He won 24 times in his career, and in addition to his Rio gold, won in Dubai and placed 2nd in both of his Breeders' Cup events - losing to two Eclipse winners! He ended up winning the Eclipse for stayer last year and he's now turned into a sporthorse to try and bring him another medal in Tokyo.

Carthage is the son of one of my all time favorite turf mares and won an incredible 21 times in his career! He came up short in the Rio Juvenile Turf and never won a Breeders' Cup, but he never knew the word quit and would always come running at the end, even if he was too late. He was always fun to watch and he's a sweet horse to boot.

This guy showed such promise on the track as a youngster but unfortunately hasn't been able to pull off any big wins. He's still racing and I'm hoping 2020 is finally his year!

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After doing so well at the track as a juvenile, she won the Triple Tiara in 2017 and the Dubai World Cup in 2018, as well as multiple Eclipse awards. She's showing off-track now and will earn some more titles in the future.

Reverence is one of those head-scratchers of a horse - I don't think I'll ever know how really good she was as a racehorse. She was always overshadowed by higher profile stablemates, and won only 8 times out of 80 starts, but she always got a piece of it at the end. She bulldozed her way into the Breeders' Cup last year and ran 2nd in the Distaff to the Kentucky Derby winner, so maybe she was better than her record shows! She's still a nice filly and she may be back in 2020 as a sporthorse!

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As a youngster, I could tell he was talented, but he just never fully clicked in any of the major stakes races - until he won the 2019 Dubai World Cup!

Description above! She also won silver medal in Juvenile Females run!

Legionaire was as honest as they come, and the grey colt never gave less than his best on the track. He earned his place in Rio by way of two 2nd place finishes in Australia, and it was in the Dirt Mile that he gave it his all, running third to an eventual Dubai World Cup and Eclipse Champion in Delirium and a Triple Tiara champion in Songbird. Although unplaced in the 2017 Triple Crown and Breeders' Cup seasons, he was a five times stakes winner in his career and placed in a dozen more starts.

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After adopting her from Neco as an MPA, her racing career wasn't exactly stellar, but she always puts effort in and sometimes, you just get lucky. She's still racing so I'm hoping she'll do well in the Olympics and the Breeder's Cup this year before her retirement.

A son of the Eclipse winner Chime and my "well he tried" stallion Markham, Hells Bells was a great juvenile, but hasn't quite lived up to that potential as he's gotten older. He's a need-the-lead kind of horse, like his dam, and if he can't get that, he throws a tantrum and quits! But I still really like him, and he still tries whenever the mood hits him. He's also a half-brother to fellow Rio medalist Bells o War through Chime.

Shizuka is one of my most hard-knocking mares and if she has a tendency to come up short, it's not for lack of trying. She's had a long career on the track that ended last year with a 3rd in the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint, and she's already proven to be a top notch Dressage horse, breezing through her tests to champ out at Grand Prix. And to boot, she has two very nice foals tearing up the track right now, so hopefully she'll pass on all that talent.

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Afleet Alex has not only a Rio Gold but has the distinction of being the only horse to EVER break his maiden in a Rio race! He qualified for the Juvenile Marathon by way of a 2nd place finish in Australia, and was considered the longest shot in the field - until he stormed to the wire first. He scored once more in open company afterward and has placed in several other stakes, running 3rd in his final career start in 2017.



This guy tends to get outshone a little on the track, but he always tries hard, and that counts for something.

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Look here to learn more about previous medalists!