Happy Jack will represent Calumet's breeding and racing operations in Preakness

Rich Strike, who gave Calumet Farm a record-extending 10th Kentucky Derby victory as a breeder, will not be in Baltimore on Saturday. But Calumet homebred Happy Jack is expected to be in the starting gate for the Preakness Stakes, looking to extend the historic operation’s record in the second jewel of the Triple Crown.

Happy Jack is by Calumet stallion Oxbow, who gave the farm its first Triple Crown victory under Brad Kelley’s ownership when he won the 2013 Preakness. Happy Jack carried the same black and gold colors to finish 14th in this year’s Kentucky Derby.

“Mr. Kelley runs a huge operation,” trainer Doug O’Neill said. “He has a lot of skin in the game. He loves his horses, and takes no shortcuts, and surrounds them with the best people he can find. If a horse is doing well and showing they can get in and compete against the finest, he is game that way. I love it. No guts, no glory.”

Calumet, which was founded by Warren Wright and successfully carried on by his widow, Lucille, and her husband, Admiral Gene Markey, bred 1941 Triple Crown winner Whirlaway and 1948 Triple Crown winner Citation, along with Derby winners Pensive (1944), Ponder (1949), Hill Gail (1952), Iron Liege (1957), Tim Tam (1958), Forward Pass (1968), and Strike the Gold (1991).

:: Want to start playing with a $510 bankroll and have access to free Formulator? Learn more

The year after Strike the Gold’s win, Calumet was sold at auction to Henryk de Kwiatkowski for $17 million. Two decades later, his heirs sold the farm to the reclusive billionaire Kelley for a reported $40 million. Rich Strike was bred by the current Calumet team, by farm stallion Keen Ice and out of Canadian champion Gold Strike. The colt was claimed away from the operation for $30,000 in his second career start last year.

Calumet comes to the Preakness as the race’s leading owner, with eight wins. In addition to Whirlaway and Citation, the farm was represented by Pensive, Faultless (1947), Fabius (1956), Tim Tam, Forward Pass, and, finally, Oxbow to kick off the Kelley era.

Oxbow, by Awesome Again and from the immediate family of champion Tiznow, was purchased by Calumet as a yearling. After finishing sixth in the 2013 Kentucky Derby and winning the Preakness, he finished a creditable second in the Belmont Stakes. He stood his first season at Taylor Made Farm in 2014 before Kelley, who previously raced and bred as Bluegrass Hall, consolidated his operations to the Calumet property, with the young stallion moving there beginning in 2015. Oxbow is the sire of Grade 1 winner Hot Rod Charlie, who crossed the line third in last year’s Kentucky Derby, later placed second, before finishing second in the Belmont Stakes. He also is the sire of graded stakes winners Coach Rocks, Hopeful Treasure, and Oxy Lady.

Calumet is lucky to have Happy Jack representing its stallion in its colors. The colt was entered in the 2020 Keeneland November breeding stock sale as a weanling, but failed to draw a single bid in the ring. Since then, he is multiple graded stakes-placed, finishing third in both the Grade 2 San Felipe and Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby before the Kentucky Derby.