Thunder Moccasin from a muscular looking weanling to a Grade 2 winning Triple Crown contender
Out of nowhere, the newly tuned 3-year-old colt, Thunder Moccasin has become a Triple Crown contender, which makes the Road to the Roses all the more exciting when hidden talent comes out in the open by winning something of significance that would automatically
put them in the conversation leading up to the Kentucky Derby.
A Triple Crown nominee, Thunder Moccasin, was consigned by Gainesway Sales to the 2010 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky July sale, which saw him, got handed over to Brian Graves, who is the director of public sales for Gainesway Farm in Kentucky.
The Kentucky bred son of A.P. Warrior, out of mare One Stormy Mama by Storm Cat, Thunder Moccasin was just a weanling when he was spotted by Brian Graves.
“Thunder Moccasin had good size and he was muscular,” Graves remembered. “He had a lot of pizzazz that horse did; he had a lot of attitude. He was kind of a fancy-looking, feel-good horse that was really on his toes. I also liked the Storm Cat mare on the
bottom (of his pedigree) and the A.P. Indy line on the top.”
The Todd Pletcher trained 3-year-old was introduced to horse racing on 24 December, 2011, when he was a juvenile. Thunder Moccasin was asked to participate in a maiden special weight race and much to everyone’s surprise the Kentucky bred broke it at first
asking, going over a distance of six and a half furlongs under J Velazquez at Gulfstream Park’s dirt course.
He defeated Ender Knievel in second and Panthro in third, while he covered the distance on conventional dirt in 1 minute and 15.81 seconds.
Thunder Moccasin then turned in a jaw-dropping performance in his next start in the Grade 2 Hutcheson Stakes also at Gulfstream Park’s dirt course on 11 February, 2012, under the same rider, J Velazquez.
Todd Pletcher got more than what he bargained for, as Thunder Moccasin leaped carelessly as if he has no competition to run down in the stretch, smacked back Il Villano by 6 ¾ lengths, and covered the seven furlong distance in a seriously fast 1 minute and
24.16 seconds.
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