Gate to Great/Horse Creek Thoroughbreds

06/06/2026

We love this image of Golden Tempo's Belmont Stakes win, captured by our friends at EquiSport Photo. What a horse, what a day for racing! (PC: EquiSport Photo/Matt & Wendy Wooley, for the Paulick Report).

06/06/2026

Name your horse for today's loaded card - favorite race/favorite horse. (Graphic artwork by famed Saratoga artist Greg Montgomery).

06/05/2026

Filigree's little "nephew" Zedan may have made the news with his $10.5 million purchase price, but we have our own golden boy in Filigree, a son of Medaglia d'Oro. Watch as this level-headed bay has his first logging lesson, a step toward becoming a ranch roping horse.

05/25/2026

Lt. Col. William Groom Leftwich, Jr., U.S. Marine Corps, was a Memphis, TN native who graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1953. As commander of the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division, Leftwich was killed in a helicopter crash during Operation Imperial Lake, Quang Nam Province, South Vietnam on November 18, 1970. He was honored for his leadership, tactical skill, bold fighting spirit and unflagging devotion to duty by a sculpture on the Marine Corps Base in Quantico, VA. The Leftwich Award has been given annually to a Marine Captain for outstanding leadership since 1979. A destroyer, the USS Leftwich (DD 984), was launched in 1978 at Pascagoula, Mississippi. Attending the commissioning was speaker Admiral Thomas B. Hayward, Ross Perot, and Mrs. T. D. Snowden. Among the awards bestowed upon Lt. Col. Leftwich, Jr. were the Silver Star, Navy Cross, Legion of Merit, and Purple Heart. Leftwich exemplified the Marine Corps motto, "Semper Fidelis."

05/24/2026

Lt. Col. John Bayard Snowden II (0-367275) was killed in action during the Lorraine Campaign to block access to crossings at the Moselle River during the Battle of Nancy. As part of the 318th Infantry Battalion, 3rd Army, USA, Johnny was a casualty of an engagement which saw heavy losses in September, 1944. He carried on the military tradition of a family which has been involved in every major war since the founding of our country. It is a legacy carried to this day. He is pictured with his father, R. B. Snowden on the steps of Ashlar Hall, Memphis, TN. The family plot is graced with an angel sculpted by William Couper. Nearby is a cousin, John Snowden, Jr., who died in action during the Battle of the Bulge in February, 1945.

05/23/2026

We start off our tributes for this Memorial Day weekend by recognizing the fallen mules of World War II. Hundreds of mules were used on the Italian and Burmese fronts in field artillery battalions to pack Howitzers. Loads of 330 to 350 pounds were common to carry equipment over hostile terrain. Dale's grandfather, Army veteran Robert J. Simanton, raised hundreds of mules which were sold and gathered at Fort Robinson, Nebraska for shipment overseas. Some of those mules became part of the famed "Merrill's Marauders" in Burma. Few mules survived the war, as many died when transports were sunk or animals contracted Surra (Equine Infectious Anemia). When the war ended, surviving mules were turned over to China to avoid the expense of shipping them home. Robert Simanton did not die in service, but to our knowledge, all the mules he raised and broke likely fell in service to the U. S. Army. Pictured (l) is an Army mule packing part of a Howitzer and (r) R. J. Simanton. Next, we'll cover some fallen heroes from our ancestry.

05/16/2026

The 151st Preakness Stakes moves from Old Hilltop to Laurel Park this year, with a crowd capped at 4,800. Lacking the star power of Kentucky Derby winner Golden Tempo, the highlight of the day might be the hefty Woodlawn Vase, weighing in at over 29 pounds and considered the most valuable sporting trophy in America. Photo of a galloper from days past at Laurel. We aren't even picking a winner, but let us know if you have a live one.

05/08/2026

A stakes winner to ranch horse to hunter-ring star -Take Command can do it all! After putting a big grin on this junior rider's face, he did a hunter pace the following weekend with Summer Thurber of Silver Race Farm. Wait 'til you see his scope over fences (we got a sneak peek).

01/18/2026

Check out this story from The Florida Horse about Rogueish, a rising young stallion from the family of our own Filigree (By Medaglia d'Oro out of Verdana Bold).

Inside This Issue of Wire to Wire 📣 Spotlight: Rogueish ☀️ 🐴 Read Now ⤵️
https://bit.ly/W2W13Jan26

🏇 Solera Farm 📸 ©Sandra Madison