2018 Jeff Ruby Steaks Winner
Sire: Proud Citizen
Grandsire: Gone West
Dam: Langara Lass
Damsire: Langfuhr
Sex: Stallion
Foaled: 2015
Country: United States
Colour: Dark Bay or Brown
Breeder: Ray Hanson
Owner: Sayjay Racing LLC, Hall, Greg and Hubbard, Brooke
Trainer: Brad H. Cox
Jockey: Florent Geroux
Record: 22 Starts: 5 - 1 - 2
Earnings: $558,230
Major races: 2020 Louisiana Stakes, 2018 Jeff Ruby Steaks, 2018 Peter Pan Stakes
Blended Citizen was the kind of three year old who keeps a Triple Crown season interesting even if he never won the biggest race of all. He was a bay colt born in 2015 in Kentucky. His owners were SAYJAY Racing, Greg Hall, and partners. His trainer was the rising star Brad Cox, who has since become one of the leading trainers in America. His father was Proud Citizen, a son of Gone West who finished second in the 2002 Kentucky Derby and third in the Preakness before becoming a useful stallion at Airdrie Stud. His mother was Langara Lass, by the top sire Langfuhr. The pedigree was honest and useful, with classic placed runners on both sides, even if it did not jump off the page.
His three year old season in 2018 was where he made his name. Earlier that spring, he won the Jeff Ruby Steaks at Turfway Park on synthetic, which gave him qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby and made him an unusual contender for the first Saturday in May. He ran a respectable race in the Derby, then came back the next week to win the Peter Pan Stakes at Belmont Park. He stalked the pace, found his best stride deep in the stretch, and surged to the lead in the final yards. That win gave him a real shot to become only the eighth horse to sweep the Peter Pan and Belmont Stakes double, joining names like A.P. Indy, Coastal, and Tonalist. He skipped the Preakness to point for the Belmont, but in the classic itself he could only manage seventh as Justify completed his Triple Crown sweep. He raced on through 2020, picking up other useful efforts, and finished his career with a steady record across two and a half seasons.
After racing, Blended Citizen took up stud duty at DMW Racing Stables and has gone on to sire a small but growing crop of useful runners. He is not a household name in the way that classic winners are, but his story matters in its own way. He was a regional crossover horse, a synthetic surface specialist who proved good enough to win on dirt, and a colt whose Peter Pan victory put him on the cover of the Belmont Stakes preview that summer. Blended Citizen is a reminder that the racing season is filled with horses who do not win the Triple Crown but still write their own important chapters along the way.
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