Wise Dan pointed toward the Stephen Foster Handicap after Ben Ali Stakes success
The decision to hold back the Grade 1 Clark Handicap winner last year throughout the winter to make his seasonal debut for his new campaign, was an excellent one, because the 5-year-old gelding, Wise Dan, when took the Ben Ali Stakes field he was fresh as
a daisy, and his fresh legs helped him gain a massive victory over the rest of the field.
It left trained Charles Lopresti ecstatic, and why shouldn’t he be, after his horse trained well all season and then posted a massive ten and half length victory, and what more, he earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 117, which is absolutely breathtaking.
The Kentucky bred son of Wiseman’s Ferry didn’t stop there as he broke the Keeneland Poly track and stakes record with the winning time of 1 minute and 46.63 seconds, and after his record breaking, high Beyer Speed Figure earning, and annihilating the field
victory, things are looking real good for Wise Dan for the rest of the year.
Bred and Owned by Morton Fink, Wise Dan will next start in the Grade 1, $400,000 Stephen Foster Handicap, run over a distance of 1 1/8 miles over the Churchill Downs dirt track on 16 June, 2012, a race that will be exclusive for 3-year-old and above colts
and geldings, and the there might a possibility that Mucho Macho Man runs in the Stephen Foster Handicap as well.
Out of mare Lisa Danielle by Wolf Power, Wise Dan completed his hat-trick in the Grade 3 Ben Ali Stakes, and the first win of the three race win streak was accomplished on 29 October, 2011, over at Keeneland’s synthetic surface in the Grade 2 Fayette Handicap.
However, the biggest victory of his career came in the Grade 1 Clark Handicap over at Churchill Downs’ dirt course on 25 November, 2011, where he defeated the likes of Mission Impazible in second and Flat Out in third with the winning time of 1 minute and
48.95 seconds.
Wise Dan was awesome all year last year, as he bagged four out of eight races, with three graded stakes wins.
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