Thoroughbred Racing Fan Association, Inc.
Thoroughbred Racing Fan Association, Inc.
THREE HORSES HAVE WON THE SHADWELL TURF MILE TWICE. ONE WAS GIO PONTI, THE OTHER WAS DUMAAI. NAME THE THIRD.
10/1/2019
With four weeks remaining until the Breeders’ Cup, opening weekend of the Keeneland meet offers just the right time for horses to prep, rest and race again. On Saturday and Sunday Keeneland hosts 10 of the “Win and You’re In” Breeders’ Cup Races. The only four that they don’t host are the Turf Sprint, Turf, Dirt Mile and the Classic. The Shadwell Stakes (GI) on Saturday is a “Win and You’re In” for the BC Turf Mile which will be run on Saturday, November 2nd. The Shadwell has over the 33 years of running attracted some the best turf horses in the world ---Gio Ponti, Wise Dan, Favorite Trick, Steinlen and Aussie Rules (the only 3-year-old to win the race). Gio Ponti (2010-2011), Dumaani (1995-96) and Wise Dan (2012,2014) won it twice. For many, the most memorable was Wise Dan, a true-blue-collar racehorse. As a gelding he raced for five years winning 23 of his 32 starts. It wasn’t until he turned five that Wise Dan really found his stride. In 2012 (at age 5) he won the Breeders’ Cup Turf Mile setting the track record at 1:31.78, just fraction off the world record. He raced and won graded races on dirt, synthetic and turf surfaces. He began 2014 in true form winning the Marker Mark at Keeneland and the Woodford Reserve at Churchill Downs. In May he was diagnosed with colic and after surgery was laid-up to heal. He returned in August to win the Bernard Baruch at Saratoga and the Shadwell Stakes at Keeneland which would be his last race. Retired to Charles LoPresti’s farm in Kentucky because a “non-displaced fracture in lower cannon bone”. At age twelve the work-horse is still enjoying his retirement on LoPresti’s farm.