THE NEW HORSES #1: AGUA DE VIDA 
Having gone back over the first batch of youngsters, only to find that two of them have been retired in the same week, it's time to start making our way through the newcomers. Seeing as the NAR kids are making the fastest progress, we'll start there, with Agua De Vida (currently based at the Hiromori Stables in Hokkaido) being first up.

Courtesy Carrot Club

Agua De Vida is a Carrot Club filly, with Gold Allure as the sire and Agua De Beber as the dam. Gold Allure is a popular stallion by Sunday Silence (and therefore having Hail To Reason origins), winning eight races including the Japan Dirt Derby during his time on the track, while the dam line is dominated by Northern Dancer blood, including Nijinsky five generations back.

On the mother's side, although Agua De Beber was never raced, her father is Kurofune, which should surely give excellent dirt racing potential when combined with Gold Allure blood. Kurofune carried on the French Deputy and Deputy Minister bloodlines, while his mother, Blue Avenue was herself a strong racer (five wins from 20 starts) - strong enough to have been covered by Deep Impact. Agua De Beber's mother is Curly Passion, a full sister of Air Groove (a legend in Japanese racing circles), as both had Tony Bin as the sire and Dyna Carle as the dam. Tony Bin needs no introduction on this blog, but Dyna Carle is less well-known, despite winning five races. She carries Northern Dancer, Guersant and Never Say Die blood.