Talkin Man is a Thoroughbred

Thoroughbred

The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...

 racehorse

Horse racing

Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...

 bred in Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

 by two of that country's leading owner/breeders, Arthur and Helen Stollery's Angus Glen Farm and Bud Willmot's

Donald G. Willmot

Donald Gilpin "Bud" Willmot was a Canadian businessman, philanthropist, and owner of the Kinghaven Farms thoroughbred horse racing stable.Willmot was the President and CEO of Anthes Imperial Co...

 Kinghaven Farms

Kinghaven Farms

Kinghaven Farms is a thoroughbred horse racing stable founded in 1967 by Donald G. "Bud" Willmot. Located in King City, Ontario, north of Toronto, the success of the stable would see it expand to the United States with the acquisition of a farm and training center near Ocala, Florida. Kinghaven...

.

A descendant of the very important sire Nearco

Nearco

Nearco was an Italian bred Thoroughbred racehorse described by Thoroughbred Heritage as "one of the greatest racehorses of the Twentieth Century" and "one of the most important sires of the century." He was not only unbeaten, winning 14 races at distances from 5 furlongs to 1 mile 7 furlongs ,...

, Talkin Man was out of the mare Pookette and was sired by With Approval

With Approval

With Approval was a Thoroughbred racehorse who won the Canadian Triple Crown in 1989 under jockey Don Seymour. He finished second in the 1990 Breeders' Cup Turf and the Arlington Million....

, the 1989 Canadian Triple Crown

Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing

The Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing consists of three races for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses. Winning all three of these Thoroughbred horse races is considered the greatest accomplishment of a Thoroughbred racehorse...

 champion and Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame

Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame

The Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame was established in 1976 at the Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario to honor those who have made a significant contribution to the sport of harness and thoroughbred horse racing in Canada....

 inductee. His damsire Miswaki

Miswaki

Miswaki was an American bred Thoroughbred racehorse who was a Group 1 winner in France as well as a stakes race winner in the United States...

, a two-time Leading broodmare sire in Great Britain & Ireland

Leading broodmare sire in Great Britain & Ireland

The list below shows the leading sire of broodmares in Great Britain and Ireland for each year since 1899. This is determined by the amount of prizemoney won during the year by racehorses which were foaled by a daughter of the sire.-----References:*...

, was a son of the very important American sire Mr. Prospector

Mr. Prospector

Mr. Prospector was a thoroughbred racehorse foaled in Kentucky, whose descendants have been dominant in the United States Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing. He won half of his 14 career races.-Background:...

.

Conditioned by Canadian Racing Hall of Fame trainer Roger Attfield

Roger Attfield

Roger L. Attfield is a Canadian thoroughbred horse trainer and owner.In his native England, Attfield had become an accomplished international-level equestrian competitor when he emigrated to Canada in 1970...

, Talkin Man had an excellent two-year-old campaign in Canada and was voted 1994 Canadian Champion 2-Year-Old Male Horse

Sovereign Award for Champion 2-Year-Old Male Horse

The Canadian Champion Two-Year-Old Coltis a Canadian Thoroughbred horse racing honor. Created in 1975 by the Jockey Club of Canada, it is part of the Sovereign Awards program and is awarded annually to the top 2-Year-Old male Thoroughbred horse competing in Canada.Past winners: -References:*...

 honors. In the fall, he won the Grey Stakes at Woodbine Racetrack

Woodbine Racetrack

Woodbine Racetrack is a Canadian racetrack for Thoroughbred horse races located at 555 Rexdale Blvd. in the city of Toronto, Ontario. It is the only horseracing track in North America which stages, or is capable of staging, thoroughbred and standardbred horseracing programs on the same day...

 in Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

 and was shipped to Churchill Downs

Churchill Downs

Churchill Downs, located in Central Avenue in south Louisville, Kentucky, United States, is a Thoroughbred racetrack most famous for hosting the Kentucky Derby annually. It officially opened in 1875, and held the first Kentucky Derby and the first Kentucky Oaks in the same year. Churchill Downs...

 in Louisville, Kentucky

Louisville, Kentucky

Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...

, to run in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile

Breeders' Cup Juvenile

The Breeders' Cup Juvenile is a Thoroughbred horse race for 2-year-old colts and geldings raced on dirt. It is held annually at a different racetrack in the United States or Canada as part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships....

. Up against a strong field of American and European colts, he was sent off as a distant fifth choice at 11:1 betting

Parimutuel betting

Parimutuel betting is a betting system in which all bets of a particular type are placed together in a pool; taxes and the "house-take" or "vig" is removed, and payoff odds are calculated by sharing the pool among all winning bets...

 odds in the mile and a sixteenth race. Six furlong

Furlong

A furlong is a measure of distance in imperial units and U.S. customary units equal to one-eighth of a mile, equivalent to 220 yards, 660 feet, 40 rods, or 10 chains. The exact value of the furlong varies slightly among English-speaking countries....

s in, Talkin Man was running second in the thirteen-horse field and closing in on the leader but after turning for home faded badly and wound up tenth to winner Timber Country

Timber Country

Timber Country is an American Thoroughbred racehorse who was the first horse to ever win the Breeders' Cup Juvenile then go on to win one of the U.S. Triple Crown races for three-year-olds....

. Diagnosed with a lung

Lung

The lung is the essential respiration organ in many air-breathing animals, including most tetrapods, a few fish and a few snails. In mammals and the more complex life forms, the two lungs are located near the backbone on either side of the heart...

 infection, he was sent to recover in southern Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

 over the winter and then before spring to a training base at Keeneland Race Course.

Shipped to Aqueduct Racetrack

Aqueduct Racetrack

Aqueduct Racetrack is a thoroughbred horse-racing facility and racino in Ozone Park, Queens, New York. Its racing meets usually are from late October/early November through April.-History:...

 in Queens

Queens

Queens is the easternmost of the five boroughs of New York City. The largest borough in area and the second-largest in population, it is coextensive with Queens County, an administrative division of New York state, in the United States....

, New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

, on March 25, Talkin Man established himself as a potential contender for the May 1995 Kentucky Derby

Kentucky Derby

The Kentucky Derby is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses, held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The race is one and a quarter mile at Churchill Downs. Colts and geldings carry...

. Ridden by Mike Smith, he scored an impressive seven-length win over Da Hoss

Da Hoss

Da Hoss by Gone West out of Jolly Saint is a bay Thoroughbred gelding best known for twice winning the Breeders' Cup Mile. He was bred in Kentucky by Fares Farms and originally owned by Prestonwood Farm as well as Wallstreet Racing Stables.Bought for only $6,000 as a yearling at the Keeneland...

 in the Gotham Stakes

Gotham Stakes

The Gotham Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-old horses run in early March at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, New York. A Grade III event with a purse of $250,000, it is set at a distance of one and one-sixteenth miles on the dirt...

, then put on another performance under jockey Shane Sellers

Shane Sellers

Shane Jude Sellers is an American Thoroughbred horse racing jockey. At age eleven, he began working around horses and in 1983 rode his first winner at Evangeline Downs....

 with a dominating seven-and three-quarters-length win in the Wood Memorial Stakes

Wood Memorial Stakes

The Wood Memorial Stakes is an American flat Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds held annually at Aqueduct Racetrack in Jamaica, New York. It is currently a Grade I race run over a distance of 9 furlongs on dirt....

 that The New York Times

The New York Times

The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...

described as "perhaps the most impressive performance by a 3-year-old colt this year."

A week before the Kentucky Derby, owners Helen Stollery and Kinghaven Farms sold a one-third interest in Talkin Man to Vancouver

Vancouver

Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...

, British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

, financier Peter Wall. In the Derby, Talkin Man was made the second choice in the betting to the entry of Timber Country

Timber Country

Timber Country is an American Thoroughbred racehorse who was the first horse to ever win the Breeders' Cup Juvenile then go on to win one of the U.S. Triple Crown races for three-year-olds....

 and Serena's Song

Serena's Song

Serena’s Song is an American Thoroughbred race horse. She won 17 graded stakes races, including 11 Grade I , in three seasons for $3,286,388 in earnings....

. He ran a strong race for more than a mile and was second by inches coming down the homestretch. However, once again he had no finishing kick and faded to twelfth place, far behind winner Thunder Gulch

Thunder Gulch

Thunder Gulch is a Champion American thoroughbred racehorse who left the starting gate at 25-1 odds in 1995 and went on to win the Kentucky Derby in 2:01.2 from post 16. He was ridden by jockey Gary Stevens. D...

. In the Preakness Stakes

Preakness Stakes

The Preakness Stakes is an American flat Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds held on the third Saturday in May each year at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. It is a Grade I race run over a distance of 9.5 furlongs on dirt. Colts and geldings carry 126 pounds ; fillies 121 lb...

, Talkin Man improved to sixth place behind winner Timber Country.

Retired to stud

Stud (animal)

A stud animal is a registered animal retained for breeding. The terms for the male of a given animal species usually imply that the animal is entire—that is, not castrated—and therefore capable of siring offspring...

 duty, Talkin Man has sired more than sixty winners who have met with modest success in racing. The most successful by far is Breeders' Cup Turf

Breeders' Cup Turf

The Breeders' Cup Turf is a Weight for Age Thoroughbred horse race on turf for three-year-olds and up. It is held annually at a different racetrack in the United States or Canada as part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships. The race's current title sponsor is Emirates Airlines.The forerunner...

 winner and earner of more than US$4 million Better Talk Now

Better Talk Now

Better Talk Now is an American Thoroughbred racehorse. Out of the mare Bendita, his damsire Baldski is a son of English Triple Crown Champion Nijinsky...

. Since 2002, Talkin Man has been standing at Anshoon Stud near Mullinavat

Mullinavat

Mullinavat is a town in south County Kilkenny, Ireland. Its main industries are tourism and agriculture. It has a renowned sporting history, particularly in hurling.-Location and access:...

, County Kilkenny

County Kilkenny

County Kilkenny is a county in Ireland. It is part of the South-East Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the city of Kilkenny. The territory of the county was the core part of the ancient Irish Kingdom of Osraige which in turn was the core of the Diocese of...

, in Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

.