Classic winner Drosselmeyer was represented by his first foal on Jan. 8, a colt born at Craig and Holly Bandoroff's Denali Stud in Paris, Ky.
The colt is the second foal out of the winning Hennessy mare Heather's Angel, who is out of a half-sister to Grade 2 winner Private Emblem.
“He's a nice colt, very classy looking,” Denali farm manager Gary Bush said. “He has above average size, good leg and covers a lot of ground. There's a lot to like at this stage.”
Patrick McGoey doesn’t consider himself a big bettor, but emboldened by playing with house money, he made an exception at last year’s Breeders’ Cup.
In last year’s Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge at Churchill Downs, McGoey bet $7,000 to win on Drosselmeyer in the final race of the tournament, the BC Classic. When the 14-1 shot circled the field to win the race at $31.60, McGoey not only cashed his ticket for $110,600 but also won the $160,000 first-place prize in the field of 115 high-end tournament players.
Voters in an online poll have selected Drosselmeyer’s victory over Game On Dude in the 2011 Breeders’ Cup Classic as the National Thoroughbred Racing Association “Moment of the Year,” the NTRA announced on Friday.
There were familiar names at the top of the national leader board in 2011.
Trainer Todd Pletcher’s stable led the nation in earnings with $17,186,956, his sixth title and second consecutive title in that category. Pletcher, 44, won his first career earnings title in 2004. His 2011 earnings were far below the $23.1 million his stable earned in 2010, but high enough to surpass Steve Asmussen ($16,287,685), Bob Baffert ($14,504,834), Bill Mott ($10,731,249), and Graham Motion ($8,818,283) who rounded out the top five.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The stallion deal that sent Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Drosselmeyer to WinStar Farm last week also resulted in a quick return for investors who bought most of the colt’s breeding rights 12 days before the Classic.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The blankets of flowers that were draped over the withers of Drosselmeyer and Royal Delta following their Breeders’ Cup wins hung over a sawhorse outside trainer Bill Mott’s barn on Sunday morning at Churchill Downs, testament to him having won the biggest races of the weekend here, the Ladies’ Classic on Friday, and the Classic on Saturday.
“I’m content, I suppose. For the moment,” Mott said Sunday morning. “It doesn’t last long in this business.”
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – A jockey who suffered the most-crushing loss of his career in the same race a year ago, a trainer with whom he had won many major races in years past, and a horse who had been long forgotten since his Belmont Stakes victory 17 months earlier combined to win the richest race of the year on Saturday at Churchill Downs, when Drosselmeyer stormed down the center of the track to take the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Although Keeneland hits the precise midpoint of its 17-day meet with its ninth program Wednesday, all of the major fall races – including six Grade 1 events and all major preps for the Breeders’ Cup – already are in the books.
That said, the emphasis over the next 10 days will shift from afternoons at Keeneland to mornings at Churchill in Louisville, where workouts toward the BC have begun in earnest.
