Background
Cupid is a gray horse, a color he inherited from leading sire Tapit, whose other offspring include the 2014 and 2016 Belmont Stakes winners Tonalist and Creator, and 2015 Belmont Stakes runner-up Frosted. Cupid's dam Pretty 'n Smart was a stakes-placed sprinter who had already produced three stakes winners prior to Cupid, all at sprint distances. [3] The family traces to the Hall of Fame racemare Gallorette. [4]
Gray or grey is a coat color of horses characterized by progressive silvering of the colored hairs of the coat. Most gray horses have black skin and dark eyes; unlike many depigmentation genes, gray does not affect skin or eye color. Their adult hair coat is white, dappled, or white intermingled with hairs of other colors. Gray horses may be born any base color, depending on other color genes present. White hairs begin to appear at or shortly after birth and become progressively lighter as the horse ages. Graying can occur at different rates—very quickly on one horse and very slowly on another.
Tapit is an American Thoroughbred racehorse. Out of the Unbridled mare Tap Your Heels, he was sired by Pulpit. He had a modest racing career, winning three of six total races, but became the leading sire in North America in 2014, setting an earnings record that he broke in 2015 and again in 2016. For the 2015 season, his stud fee was raised to $300,000, the highest in North America.
The 2014 Belmont Stakes was the 146th running of the Belmont Stakes. It was run on June 7, 2014, and was televised on NBC. California Chrome had a chance to complete the third leg of the Triple Crown after his victories in the 2014 Kentucky Derby and the 2014 Preakness Stakes. However, it was Tonalist who won the race. Commissioner placed second and Medal Count took third. California Chrome finished in a tie for fourth with Wicked Strong.
Cupid was purchased for $900,000 at the 2014 Keeneland Yearling Sales by a Coolmore Stud partnership consisting of Michael Tabor, Susan Magnier and Derrick Smith. [3]
Keeneland Sales is an American Thoroughbred auction house in Lexington, Kentucky founded in 1935 as a nonprofit racing/auction entity on 147 acres of farmland west of Lexington, which had been owned by Jack O. Keene. A division of Keeneland Association, Inc., it holds three annual horse auctions that attract buyers from around the globe:
Coolmore Stud, in Fethard, County Tipperary, Ireland, is headquarters of the world's largest breeding operation of thoroughbred racehorses. Through its racing arm, Ballydoyle, Coolmore also has raced many classic winners and champions. The operation is currently owned and run by the Magnier family, which has been associated with a long sequence of top-class stallions since the 1850s, originally in County Cork, where stallions still stand as part of Coolmore today.
He was trained by Bob Baffert, whose earlier notable horses included American Triple Crown winner American Pharoah. Baffert admitted to being somewhat depressed by American Pharoah's retirement after the 2015 Breeders' Cup Classic. "It's like watching your child leave. You think, 'Is he going to be OK? Is he sleeping at night?'... It was tough when he left, but we're always looking at those young 2-year-olds coming up... We always have our minds thinking about the future." [5]
American Pharoah is an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the American Triple Crown and the Breeders' Cup Classic in 2015. He was the 12th Triple Crown winner in history, and in winning all four races, became the first horse to win the Grand Slam of Thoroughbred racing. He won the 2015 Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year and 2015 Champion three-year-old. He was bred and owned throughout his racing career by Ahmed Zayat of Zayat Stables, trained by Bob Baffert, and ridden in most of his races by Victor Espinoza. He now stands at stud at Ashford Stud in Kentucky.
The 2015 Breeders' Cup Classic was the 32rd running of the Breeders' Cup Classic, part of the 2015 Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships program. It was run on October 31, 2015 at Keeneland in Lexington, Kentucky.
Racing career
Cupid raced only once at age two, finishing fourth in a maiden special weight race at Los Alamitos Race Course on December 20, 2015. [2]
Los Alamitos Race Course is a horse racing track in Cypress, California. The track hosts both thoroughbred and quarter horse racing. The track has the distinction of holding four quarter horse stakes races with purses over $1 million, more than any other track in the United States. Although the track is geographically located in the city of Cypress, it has a Los Alamitos postal address. Los Alamitos lies just across Katella Avenue to the south.
Cupid finished second in his next start at Santa Anita Park on January 9, 2016, when he was officially age three. [lower-alpha 1] On February 7, he entered another maiden race at Santa Anita at a distance of 1 1⁄16 miles. Despite stumbling at the start, he won by 5 1⁄2 lengths and earned an Equibase Speed Figure of 100. [3] Baffert originally planned to enter the colt in the San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita but decided to scratch from that race and enter him in the Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park on March 19 instead. Baffert had won five of the last six editions of the Rebel, most notably with American Pharoah to start off his Triple Crown campaign in 2015. The Rebel was considered one of the strongest early preps for the Kentucky Derby, including Suddenbreakingnews, Whitmore, Creator and Cherry Wine. [6] Cupid won in front-running fashion in a solid time of 1:43.84 for 1 1⁄16 miles, improving his Equibase Speed Figure to 106. [3] Jockey Martin Garcia noted, "It's hard for horses to break their maiden and then step up to this kind of company with this many people around and win, but he did." [7]
Santa Anita Park is a Thoroughbred racetrack in Arcadia, California, United States. It offers some of the prominent horse racing events in the United States during the winter and in spring. The track is home to numerous prestigious races including both the Santa Anita Derby and the Santa Anita Handicap as well as hosting the Breeders' Cup in 1986, 1993, 2003, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2016. In 2011, The Stronach Group became the owner.
The San Felipe Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. The San Felipe is a Grade II event open to three-year-old horses. Normally held in mid-March, it is raced at a distance of one and one-sixteenth miles on dirt and currently offers a purse of $400,000. It is listed as an official prep race on the Road to the Kentucky Derby.
The Rebel Stakes is an American Grade II Thoroughbred horse race held annually in March at Oaklawn Park racetrack in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Open to three-year-old horses, it is raced on dirt over a distance of 1 1⁄16 miles. It currently offers a purse of $1,000,000 and is the second leg of the Oaklawn three-year-old stakes program, the first being the Southwest Stakes and the third the Arkansas Derby.
The win made Cupid one of the leading contenders on the 2016 Road to the Kentucky Derby. Veteran sportswriter Steve Haskin noted the colt's rapid step up in class and felt he had room for further improvement, especially as he was a late foal. [4] Cupid was the 4-5 favorite in the $1 million Arkansas Derby on April 16 but faded to tenth after tracking the early pace. [8] Baffert later discovered that Cupid had suffered an entrapped epiglottis during the race, which obstructed the colt's breathing. Cupid underwent corrective surgery at Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital. [9]
After some time off for recovery, Cupid returned on June 11 in the Easy Goer Stakes at Belmont Park. After breaking poorly, Cupid rushed to the lead but then tired and finished last. [10]
He made his next start on July 17 in the $500,000 Indiana Derby. Once again he broke poorly, then moved up to challenge for the lead. In the stretch, the other early leaders dropped back but Cupid hung on for the win despite racing erratically down the stretch. "It was an exciting race," said Jimmy Barnes, Baffert's assistant trainer. "He was all over the place. (Jockey Rafael Bejarano) had to get him to run early and use him, but once he got into cruising gear, he looked good. Late down the lane, I don't know what it was. He was still on his left lead and leaning in – he was all over the place. But anyway, we got it done." [11]
Cupid then entered the West Virginia Derby on August 6. This time he broke well and established an early lead, opening up a four-length lead on the final turn. Despite drifting out to the center of the track during the stretch, he won comfortably in a time of 1:50.54 for 1 1⁄8 miles. [12] He returned on September 24 in a hotly contested renewal of the Pennsylvania Derby, featuring Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist and Preakness Stakes winner Exaggerator. [13] Cupid went to the early lead with Awesome Slew but then faded in the stretch and finished eighth. [14]
Baffert then gave the colt some time off, originally intending to return him in the Californian Stakes on April 22, 2017. However, Cupid cut himself an hour before the race and had to be scratched. [15] He finally made his return in the Gold Cup at Santa Anita on May 27 after a 35-week layoff. It was also the colt's first time racing at a distance of 1 1⁄4 miles, but Baffert had not been concerned. "I learned a lot from (Hall of Fame trainer Charlie Whittingham) about bringing them off a layoff," he said. "If they're good enough, they can take it." [16] Cupid rated in fourth behind the early leaders, then swept to the lead in the stretch to win by 3 1⁄4 lengths. "We took the back roads with Cupid last year and made over a million dollars," said Baffert. "Coolmore has been great and they kept him in training. They asked me if I thought he'd get better and I thought he should. We freshened him up and here we are." [17]
After the Gold Cup, Cupid became ill and was not ready to race again until August 23 in the Harry F. Brubaker Stakes at Del Mar. Baffert was looking for an easy race to prepare the colt for the Awesome Again Stakes and Breeders' Cup later in the year. Instead, Cupid was almost caught at the finish line by Curlin Rules, who had been easily passed by Cupid turning into the stretch but then made a late rally to close the gap to three-quarters of a length. "It looked like he barely won, but we were hoping we would win and not get a really hard, hard race," said Baffert. "He came back pretty well, so this will set him up." [18]
On September 30, Cupid went off as the 6-5 favorite in the Awesome Again Stakes. He was keen to run early and was carried four wide into the first turn. He pressed the pace down the backstretch then again went wide on the final turn as he moved to the lead. From behind him, Mubtaahij also started to move and gradually pulled away to win by 1 1⁄2 lengths. Cupid flattened in the stretch and finished fourth. [19]
Because Baffert already had four horses in the Breeders' Cup Classic, he elected to enter Cupid in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile instead. [20] Cupid was jostled at the start and settled in mid-pack down the backstretch. He tried to close ground around the final turn but tired and finished last. [21]
