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We live in a world where there are so few things we can really count on: the proverbial death and taxes, of course. And Old Faithful, the reliable geyser in Yellowstone that erupts every ninety minutes, to the awe and admiration of tourists who don’t realize they’re standing on a spot that may explode into magma and boulders and unbreathable ash at any moment. But in the thoroughbred world, there are some stallions that can be counted on, and Thursday, May 17, exemplified that. Let’s start with Curlin, twice Horse of the Year, who had fallen on hard times just a few years ago, not producing runners as expected.

Like Giant’s Causeway before him, Declaration of War stood his first season at stud at Coolmore Ireland before being imported by Coolmore America, where he stands for $25,000, stands and nurses. And again, like Giant’s Causeway, whose only European crop yielded the champion Shamardal, Declaration of War’s European crop has yielded a Two-Year-Old Champion Colt and now a Group One classic winner, Olmedo. On Sunday, May 13, Olmedo won the Poule d’Essai des Poulains-G1 at Longchamps, just outside of Paris, to cement his reputation after winning the Prix du Jockey Club-G1 as a two-year-old and being named French Champion.

First, the disclaimer: I am in love with Will Take Charge. I loved him on the track, and then, when I saw him in the flesh at Three Chimneys Farm shortly after his retirement, he took my breath away. I could have looked at him all day. He’s a large horse, with tons of bone, and that amazing head and white face: both handsome and pretty, the only horse I can think of that can embody both the masculine and feminine ideals of beauty.

The very fast Cross Traffic, who stands at Spendthrift Farm, in Lexington, Kentucky, for $7500 stands and nurses, was represented by his first winner, Dreaming Diamonds. Out of the D’Wildcat mare Xuniel (and representing, therefore, the tried and true Unbridled’s Song/Storm Cat cross), Dreaming Diamonds took a maiden special weight at Churchill Downs by 3 ¼ lengths on Thursday, May 3.

Amidst the pomp and pageantry and bitten fingernails of Derby/Oaks weekend, with Justify shining in the slop and Monomoy Girl fighting like a tigress down the stretch, one stallion quietly racked up wins: Ghostzapper. The sire of both Proctor’s Ledge, the winner of the Grade 2 Churchill Distaff Mile and Holy Helena, the winner of the Sheepshead Bay S.-G2 at Belmont, Ghostzapper completed his superfecta when American Gal, out of the Ghostzapper mare American Story, won the Humana Distaff S.-G1 at Churchill, not to mention the hero of the day, as splendid a horse as you will ever see, Justify, being out of a Ghostzapper mare.

This year’s very strong, exciting Kentucky Derby field was marked, as well, by the supremacy of certain sires to a surprising degree. What were the odds that nearly half of the field would be comprised of the get of three stallions? Scat Daddy, sire of the winner, Curlin, sire of the second placed horse, and Medaglia d’Oro, whose promising offspring failed to impress. What’s no surprise is that these three stallions are leaders in three-year-old earnings as well.

I was a writer of fiction first, novels and short stories, and for a long time, this line of work supported my Thoroughbred habit, until that habit became a full-time job, more interesting to me than writing fiction. I do, however, like to make things up—characters, worlds, fantasies, metaphors. I have a vivid imagination. So it occurred to me—why not create the perfect, imaginary Kentucky Derby contender?