Bravazo looks to emulate Calumet predecessor Oxbow

It was only five years ago that Oxbow won the Preakness Stakes after finishing sixth in the Kentucky Derby, giving Calumet Farm another victory in the Triple Crown series in its first full year of ownership by Brad Kelley.

Now the Calumet empire brings in Bravazo, bred on the same cross as Oxbow and looking to emulate him by stepping up in the Preakness after also finishing sixth in the Derby.

Oxbow and Bravazo are both by Awesome Again and out of mares by Cee’s Tizzy. Oxbow, whose dam is a full sister to champion Tiznow, was a $250,000 purchase by Kelley out of the 2011 Keeneland September yearling sale. Calumet is listed as the breeder of Bravazo, having purchased dam Tiz o’ Gold for $35,000 with the colt in utero at the 2014 Keeneland November breeding stock sale.

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Bravazo won the Risen Star Stakes at Fair Grounds on Feb. 17 before finishing a dull eighth in the Louisiana Derby there on March 24. Hall of Fame trainer Wayne Lukas believes the colt can move forward off his sixth in the Derby.

“The problem with Bravazo is very simple – we go from the Risen Star to the Louisiana Derby four weeks later and we get nothing out of it,” Lukas said. “By that, I mean from a training standpoint we did not move forward. That was a move backward in condition and everything. Now you go six weeks from Louisiana Derby to Kentucky Derby. In my mind as a trainer, I trained him for 10 weeks to the Derby.”

Oxbow, who counts Grade 2 winner Coach Rocks among the runners in his first crop, is now part of a burgeoning stallion roster for Calumet, which stands 20 stallions at its historic Kentucky property and another five regionally. With Kelley strongly supporting his own stallions, Calumet’s racing roster has also grown in number and scope. In 2013, Calumet runners made 175 starts with nine wins, earning a total of $2,200,333. Less than halfway into 2018, the farm has made 202 starts for 28 wins, earning $1,863,245.

Bravazo is the first foal out of Tiz o’ Gold, whom Kelley has also bred to his stallions in recent years. The mare has a yearling filly by Aikenite, and delivered a Raison d’Etat colt in February.

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