2009 Eclipse Award Champion Male Sprinter
Kodiak Kowboy was a brilliant champion sprinter who ruled the male sprint division in 2009. He was foaled in 2005 and trained by Steve Asmussen for owners Vinery Stables and Robert LaPenta. His sire was Posse, a graded stakes winning son of Silver Deputy, and his dam was Kathryn's Joy, a daughter of Tabasco Cat. He had a hard knocking, blue collar pedigree that matched his style on the racetrack, where he showed up race after race and gave his connections everything he had.
Kodiak Kowboy raced from 2007 through 2009 and gradually rose to the top of the sprint division. He picked up his first major win in the 2008 Forego Stakes at Saratoga, beating top sprinters and stamping himself as a real player. He continued to run well in stakes company through the rest of that year, but his championship came the next year.
His four year old season in 2009 was the year that lifted him to championship form. He won the Carter Handicap at Aqueduct, beating a deep field of older sprinters. He came back later in the year and won the Forego Stakes for the second straight time and added another Grade 1 win in the Vosburgh Stakes at Belmont Park, the championship sprint of the New York fall meet. At the end of 2009, Kodiak Kowboy was named the Eclipse Award Champion Male Sprinter, the top honor in his division.
He retired soon after with 7 wins from 18 starts and earnings of over 1.4 million dollars. Kodiak Kowboy went to stud at Vinery Kentucky and later moved to other farms, becoming a regional sire. He passed on his speed and toughness to his offspring. Kodiak Kowboy is remembered as a tough campaigner who took on the best sprinters in the country and beat them, a true champion who lived up to his bold and rugged name.
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