Gigante's Secretariat upset continues upswing in Virginia
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It was already a celebratory day in the Virginia Thoroughbred community. The Grade 1 Arlington Million and its undercard stakes were contested for the first time at Colonial Downs on Aug. 12, creating the state’s biggest day of racing. In a nice twist, that meant the Grade 2 Secretariat Stakes would be run for the first time on Colonial’s Secretariat Turf Course, as the racing industry celebrates the 50th anniversary of Virginia-bred Secretariat’s Triple Crown triumph.
And then, Gigante put a stamp on the day. The Virginia-bred colt, born and raised at Ann Mudge Backer’s Smitten Farm in The Plains, upset the Secretariat on his home turf as the longest shot on the board, paying $47.80.
“With him being such a longshot, we had no expectations going into it, so it was kind of unbelievable when he crossed the finish line,” said Hunter Lee Marek, equine manager at Smitten Farm. “I think we were all just kind of in shock.
“Our morale has definitely been boosted,” Marek continued. “We’re such a small operation that things like this don’t happen very often. We’re just coming off a high of the [Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale], we sold a very nice Not This Time filly, so that was exciting for us. And then to come home and just four days later to have this Grade 2 winner in Virginia, everybody’s just overjoyed, especially Mrs. Backer.”
Gigante is among six individual Virginia-breds to win stakes races in 2023. With the state celebrating Secretariat’s anniversary and now Gigante’s graded score, Eclipse Award champion Forte could give the state another triumphant moment in the coming week. While the colt was foaled in Kentucky, he was bred by Virginia-based Amy Moore and spent his formative months at her South Gate Farm in Millwood, Va. The classic-placed multiple Grade 1 winner is set to contest the Grade 1 Travers Stakes this Saturday at Saratoga.
The idea of these highs for the Virginia industry would have seemed far-fetched a decade ago, as Smitten Farm and other in-state operations fought to hold on during a period with no live racing in the state after Colonial Downs ended its original run in 2014, not reopening until 2019. Amidst a nationwide foal crop decline, Virginia found its numbers shrinking even further. The state’s registered crop was 540 in 2001, the furthest back state fact book statistics are available from The Jockey Club. The crop was 117 in 2021, the most recent year available.
Breeders’ and horsemens’ associations created incentives to keep Thoroughbred activity in the state with awards for Virginia-breds running around the country. The fund’s Virginia-certified program works to support farms and training centers by encouraging owners and trainers to send young horses to the state. Horses bred outside Virginia but maintaining residency in the state at a registered farm or training center for a mandated period became eligible for bonus money when winning at Mid-Atlantic tracks.
William Backer, who founded Smitten Farm in the 1980s, was a longtime member of the Virginia Thoroughbred Association. Backer, a member of the Advertising Hall of Fame best known for creating the “I’d Like to Buy the World a Coke” jingle and the “Miller Time” slogan, died in 2016 at 89. VTA executive director Debbie Easter told Mid Atlantic-based The Racing Biz that William Backer was “very interested” in improving the industry in Virginia.
“Obviously, he was a very creative man,” she said in his obituary. “He was always thinking about how we might be able to do things better for the people who owned Virginia-breds. . . . When we talked with lawmakers, he always emphasized tying horses back to agriculture. He wanted the politicians to understand that horse breeding and racing is agriculture and it’s tied to many jobs.”
Backer was survived by Ann, his wife of 33 years. Ann Backer, 90, has nine active broodmares at Smitten Farm, including multi-generation homebred Summertime Green. William Backer purchased Deep Enough in 1992, and out of her campaigned graded stakes-placed Crab Grass. The latter’s daughter Summertime Green missed the board in her only start, but is now the dam of three winners, including stakes winners Gigante and Tryon Summer.
“To be able to produce something out of Mr. Backer’s foundation broodmare lines is really, really special,” Marek said. “And nine people out of 10 you ask on the farm who’s your favorite mare, it’s going to be Summertime Green. She’s just the sweetest, kindest, easiest to deal with, best mother, all around just a really great horse.”
Gigante, by Not This Time, inherited some of his mother’s kind personality, which was seen in his time at the farm before leaving for the Keeneland September yearling sale, where he brought $120,000 for Iapetus Racing and Diamond T Racing, for whom he has won three stakes.
“For a colt, he was definitely more laid-back, easy to handle,” Marek said.
Smitten’s three-yearling consignment headed to next month’s Keeneland sale is now highlighted by Summertime Green’s colt by Gun Runner.
“We’re really excited, especially with this update with Gigante,” Marek said. “He’s correct, and he’s a nice guy.”
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