Azul Leon

Azul Leon
Benoit & Associates photo

2006, Lion Heart - Quick Blue, by Cure the Blues

Breeder: Joseph LaCombe Stables (Ky.)

Owner: Joseph LaCombe Stables

Trainer: Doug O'Neill

Regular Rider: Joel Rosario

Pedigree

Azul Leon
Lion Heart
Quick Blue
Tale of the Cat
Satin Sunrise
Cure the Blues
Nightlong (GB)
Storm Cat
Yarn
Mr. Leader
Logic
Stop the Music
Quick Cure
Night Shift
Casual

Purchase Info

Azul Leon is owned by his breeder, Joseph LaCombe Stables.

Pedigree Highlights

Click on the highlighted stallion name near the top of the page to go to the Thoroughbred Times Stallion Directory page for Lion Heart.

Dam Quick Blue was a Grade 3 winner and earner of $480,680 while racing in Canada and the United States.

Azul Leon is her first stakes winner. Her only other foal to race to date, the Victory Gallop filly Victory by Blue, is also a winner.

Tail-female to Reine-de-Course Quiver, the immediate family includes 1978 Canadian champion older horse Giboulee, 1977 Canadian champion three-year-old Dance in Time, and Grade 2 stakes winner Meadow Monster.

Race Record

AgeStarts1st2nd3rdEarnings 
26310$202,400

At 2: 1– Best Pal S. (G2), Hollywood Juvenile Championship S. (G3), 2– Hollywood Prevue S. (G3)

Last Start

Ninth in Bessemer Trust Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1).

Contender Status

Azul Leon is from Lion Heart's first crop to race and early indicators are that Lion Heart, winner of the Hollywood Futurity (G1) as a two-year-old, is passing on his own precocity to his offspring.

Azul Leon, which means Blue Lion in Spanish, impresses trainer Doug O'Neill in many ways besides his racing ability.

"He's a good carrot eater," O'Neill said. "That gives him good eyes for the finish line."

Quotable

Trainer Doug O'Neill, comparing Azul Leon to Stevie Wonderboy, O'Neill's 2005 Bessemer Trust Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) winner:

"He could be just as good--or better than--Stevie Wonderboy. He shows the same maturity and the same ability to be composed and relaxed in a race as 'Stevie.' That usually means he has something left at the end."

Juvenile Field