Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
‘Awesome’ stamina on display
Sir Winston’s Belmont Stakes victory was an awesome result for his sire . . . again.
Sir Winston became the second American classic winner sired by Awesome Again, a homebred for Frank Stronach’s Adena Springs operation. The stalwart sire was also represented by 2013 Preakness Stakes winner and Belmont runner-up Oxbow. Sir Winston’s victory in the 1 1/2-mile Belmont continued to show off the stamina Awesome Again displayed during both his racing and stallion careers.
Sir Winston, a homebred for Tracy Farmer, had finished second in the Grade 3 Peter Pan Stakes, the local prep for the Belmont Stakes, at 1 1/8 miles on the massive New York oval before stepping into the Triple Crown fray.
“I said to Mr. Farmer, ‘What about the Peter Pan?’ ” trainer Mark Casse said. “I said, ‘He’ll love Belmont. He’ll love the big turn, a mile and an eighth, and if he comes running, we’ll run him in the Belmont.
“I said to everybody all week long, I said, ‘If there’s a horse that will go a mile and a half, it’s going to be Sir Winston.’ ”
Awesome Again, by Deputy Minister, won the Queen’s Plate, the first leg of the Canadian Triple Crown, at 1 1/4 miles in just his third career start. He then raced at Saratoga for the rest of that summer, winning the Grade 2 Jim Dandy Stakes and finishing third in the Grade 1 Travers Stakes.
The following season, Awesome Again won all six of his starts, with five graded stakes scores, including Grade 1 triumphs in the Whitney Handicap and the Breeders’ Cup Classic. He defeated dual classic winner and champion Silver Charm by three-quarters of a length in the Breeders’ Cup, leading home a star-studded field that also included Horse of the Year Skip Away, Belmont Stakes winners Touch Gold and Victory Gallop, and Grade 1/ Group 1 winners Arch, Coronado’s Quest, Gentlemen, and Swain.
Awesome Again, now 25 and still an active stallion at the Adena Springs Kentucky flagship, is the sire of 72 stakes winners and is less than $6 million away from passing the $100 million milestone in career progeny earnings. His top runner is Adena’s homebred Ghostzapper, the 2004 Horse of the Year. Ghostzapper earned more than $3.4 million while winning 9 of 11 career starts and won at distances from six furlongs to the 1 1/4 miles of the Breeders’ Cup Classic, earning Beyer Speed Figures as high as an astonishing 128, the highest Beyer Figure since 1992.
Awesome Again’s other standouts include Breeders’ Cup Distaff winner and Eclipse Award champion Ginger Punch. In addition to Oxbow and Sir Winston, his classic performers have included Grade 1 winner Paynter, second in the 2012 Belmont Stakes, and Grade 2 winner Bravazo, second in the 2018 Preakness Stakes to Triple Crown winner Justify. He is also the sire of Grade
1 winners Awesome Gem, Daaher, Dubai Escapade, Game On Dude, Round Pond, Spun Sugar, Toccet, and Wilko. With the exception of Dubai Escapade, the winner of the Ballerina Stakes at seven furlongs, and Daaher, whose biggest win came in the Cigar Mile, all of those earned their Grade 1 scores at 1 1/16 miles or longer.
Ghostzapper, now standing at Adena Springs, has carried on the family legacy of imparting stamina to his progeny – as well as speed and versatility. His top runners include Canadian champion Shaman Ghost, who won the Queen’s Plate and Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap at 1 1/4 miles, the Grade 2 Brooklyn at 1 1/2 miles, and the Grade 1 Woodward Stakes at 1 1/8 miles.
Ghostzapper is also the sire of Queen’s Plate winner and Canadian champion Holy Helena; Canadian champion Hunters Bay; Better Lucky, a multiple Grade 1 winner on turf who was second in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint; and graded stakes winners Molly Morgan, Moreno, Paulassilverlining, Stately Victor, and Za Approval, who posted their major victories at a variety of distances on different surfaces.
Ghostzapper’s latest standout is the filly Guarana, now undefeated in two starts after winning the Grade 1 Acorn Stakes on the Belmont Stakes undercard, defeating Kentucky Oaks winner Serengeti Empress, who set blazing fractions. Guarana earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 99 for her victory in a stakes-record 1:33.58 for the one-turn mile.
“She reminds me a lot of her father, so it’s extra special to me, having worked so closely with Ghostzappper and learning under Bobby,” said trainer Chad Brown, an assistant to the late Bobby Frankel, who trained Ghostzapper. Ghostzapper isn’t Awesome Again’s only son at stud in Kentucky, as two of his classic-performing sons are fairly successful young stallions with graded stakes winners around two turns. Oxbow, standing at Calumet Farm, and Paynter, at WinStar Farm, both have their third crops coming to the races this year. Oxbow is the sire of Grade 2 winner Coach Rocks and Grade 3 winner Oxy Lady, while Paynter is the sire of Knicks Go, a Grade 1-winning juvenile last fall.