Thoroughbreds are often evaluated on paper – on how those black-and-white squares of past performances and Beyer Speed Figures and statistics line up against their foes. But intangible things also can elevate a horse. And if that quality known as heart – the will to win when the chips are down – can be found in a scrutiny of bloodlines, then Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit has come by his honestly. First there was Giant’s Causeway, known as The Iron Horse. Then there was Protonico, who took on all comers in a consistent career in which his connections described him as unlucky not to land a Grade 1. And now there is a Medina Spirit, the bargain-priced son of under-the-radar Protonico who refused to yield in the long Churchill Downs stretch. :: DRF BREEDING LIVE: Real-time coverage of breeding and sales “I know he’s a fighter,” John Velazquez, who rode Medina Spirit and also previously piloted Protonico, said after winning the Derby last Saturday. “I know he was going to fight anybody who come to him, and he did today. Every time I asked him for more, he kept going more and more. That’s all you ask for a horse. When you ride a horse like this, they fight and they are competitive, you can’t ask for anything else.” Protonico raced as a third-generation homebred for Oussama Aboughazale’s Sumaya U.S. Stable, a line that began with Chilean Horse of the Year and U.S. Grade 1 winner Wild Spirit. Her first foal was the A.P. Indy mare Alpha Spirit, who produced Protonico when sent to the court of Giant’s Causeway, the European Horse of the Year and perennial leading sire in Kentucky. “They called him The Iron Horse for a reason,” bloodstock agent Gary Young said. “You know when you see Giant’s Causeway in the pedigree they’re probably going to be able to get two turns. I mean, he was a terrific horse and turned out to be a terrific sire. The throwdown he and Tiznow had in the Breeders’ Cup, that was the essence of horse racing right there.” Protonico, trained by Todd Pletcher for Aboughazale, won four graded stakes – the Grade 3 Smarty Jones at Parx Racing and Grade 3 Discovery at Aqueduct in 2014, and, the following spring, the Grade 3 Ben Ali at Keeneland followed by the Grade 2 Alysheba at Churchill Downs. In the Alysheba, he defeated subsequent champion Honor Code. “He was running against good horses in that handicap division,” Young said. “And he didn’t have any distance limitations. He just kind of struck me as a real fighter that emptied his body out when he ran.” Protonico narrowly missed adding a Grade 1 victory that would have upgraded his stallion credentials. He was second in the 2014 Clark Handicap, beaten a half-length by Hoppertunity, and was third in the 2016 Jockey Club Gold Cup to Hoppertunity and Effinex. “He was a very talented horse,” Pletcher said. “He probably got very limited opportunities as a stallion before this, but he was a talented horse.” After his retirement for the 2017 breeding season, Protonico made several moves early in his stud career as Aboughazale, who was in the process of establishing a larger Kentucky operation, settled on a permanent home for him. He entered stud at Taylor Made Farm in Nicholasville, Ky., and covered 34 mares in his first season – many of those belonging to Aboughazale – according to The Jockey Club’s Report of Mares Bred. He moved to Darby Dan Farm, closer to Lexington, for 2018 and bred 51 mares. The following season, he moved to Castleton Lyons, where he covered 23 mares in 2019 and just 16 mares last year. “The breeding industry is so speed-oriented these days that if you’re a really good distance horse, they’re gonna go for the speed,” Young said. “But this is a really big victory for under-the-radar stallions and horses that are natural route horses.” Florida-bred Medina Spirit was a $35,000 purchase by Amr Zedan for trainer Bob Baffert at the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co.’s July sale. He had been a $1,000 yearling sold by breeder Gail Rice. The Protonico colt impressed Young with a pre-sale three-furlong breeze in 33 seconds. “A really nice rhythm to his work, he didn’t get tired,” Young recalled. “Usually the few horses that work three-eighths, they don’t gallop out like the rest of the horses [who worked shorter distances]. His gallop-out was pretty good. . . . He did not lose his rhythm.” Aboughazale, whom Zedan calls “a dear friend,” was working to drum up support for his stallion’s progeny and alerted Zedan, who employs Young as an agent, to the colt. :: To stay up to date, follow us on: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter “We were done shopping, per se, during the auction,” Zedan said. “And then Mr. Aboughazale calls me and says, ‘Well, there’s this horse by Protonico that I own the sire, and would you want to check him out?’ I said absolutely. So I checked him out, and I liked him. I called Gary. I said, ‘Gary, what do you think? Let’s run it by Bob.’ Bob gave the okay. So we looked at him, agreed everything was fine. I was back home overseas. So Gary called me and says, ‘Do you want us to go for this horse?’ I said, ‘Well, Bob said yes, you say yes, let’s do it.’ ” Medina Spirit, who has been no worse than second in six starts, is now one of three winners, and the only stakes winner, from 10 first-crop starters for Protonico. It will take time to see if the stallion benefits from his early classic success – if he will attract more and higher-quality mares. But for now, the colt who inherited grit and gameness from an underappreciated stallion is another part of Kentucky Derby lore. “It’s just been a Cinderella story,” Baffert said.