Preakness winner Rombauer matching his sire in versatility

With his victory in the Preakness Stakes, Rombauer is now a winner on dirt, turf, and synthetic racing surfaces. He has followed in the footsteps of sire, Twirling Candy, a graded stakes winner on all three surfaces and a similarly versatile sire who can now also be called a classic sire.

Twirling Candy stands at the Farish family’s Lane’s End Farm in Versailles, Ky., alongside his own sire, Candy Ride, and freshman sire Unified, another son of Candy Ride. Gift Box, by Twirling Candy, joined the roster this year as Lane’s End continues to invest in this sireline.

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Twirling Candy was bred by Sid and Jenny Craig and raced for their operation, along with partners William Farish and Marty Wygod. Trained throughout his career by John Sadler, Twirling Candy won the Grade 2 Californian at 1 1/8 miles on a synthetic surface, and was narrowly beaten in a pair of Grade 1 events at the classic 1 1/4-mile distance on synthetic, finishing second by a head in the Pacific Classic and third by a neck in the Hollywood Gold Cup. He was also a graded winner routing on the turf, winning the Grade 2 Del Mar Derby and the Oceanside Stakes. On dirt, he won the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes around one turn, and also took the Grade 2 Strub around two turns.

Rombauer, who races as a homebred for John and Diane Fradkin, is the fifth Grade 1 winner sired by Twirling Candy, with those top-level victors coming at both sprint and route distances on turf and dirt. Twirling Candy’s daughter Concrete Rose won six of seven starts, including the Grade 1 Belmont Oaks at 1 1/4 miles on turf and the Saratoga Oaks at 1 3/16 miles. Twirling Candy’s son Gift Box was also a Grade 1 winner at 1 1/4 miles, taking the Santa Anita Handicap on the dirt. Twirling Candy has also been represented by Grade 1-winning dirt sprinters Collusion Illusion and Finley’sluckycharm.

Rombauer won his debut last July on turf at Del Mar, and earlier this year won the El Camino Real Derby on Golden Gate’s Tapeta main track, which gave him a berth in the Preakness. Along the way, he showed ability on dirt, finishing second in the Grade 1 American Pharoah Stakes and third in the Grade 2 Blue Grass Stakes before breaking through in the Preakness.

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Twirling Candy’s versatility has also been showcased by One Bad Boy, winner of the 2019 Queen’s Plate, the first leg of the Canadian Triple Crown, on Woodbine’s synthetic track. He finished third in the second leg of that multi-surface series, the Prince of Wales Stakes on dirt, and in 2020 won a turf stakes at Saratoga.