Wise Dan will be a no-show at his race
Churchill Downs officials recently invited Charlie LoPresti to bring Wise Dan back here to be paraded before the race named in the gelding’s honor Saturday night, but LoPresti had to decline.
“He got a little wound up when we did it last year, and I don’t want him to throw a fit,” said LoPresti. “He’s just running around on 20 acres [at Forest Lane Farm in Athens, Ky.] with his brother [Successful Dan] these days, looking like seven and a half million dollars. We’ll just let him be.”
Formerly known as the Firecracker Handicap, the Grade 2 Wise Dan got its new name for the 2016 running. Wise Dan, now 10, was a two-time Horse of the Year (2012-13) and earned $7,552,920 for owner and breeder Morton Fink. He won the Firecracker in both 2011 and 2013.