2006 Breeders' Cup Distaff Winner
Round Pond was a tough and stylish chestnut filly who delivered one of the biggest wins of her year in the 2006 Breeders' Cup Distaff. She was foaled in 2002, a daughter of the great sire Awesome Again out of the mare Gift of Dance. She raced for Rick Porter's Fox Hill Farms, the same stable that would later own the brilliant Songbird. Her trainer was Michael Matz, the former Olympic equestrian who that same year had also conditioned the great Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro.
Round Pond found her best form as a four year old in 2006. With Edgar Prado doing most of the riding, she captured the Ogden Phipps Handicap at Belmont Park during the summer, beating top older fillies and mares. That win established her as a major player in the older female division and pointed her toward the season ending championship at Churchill Downs in November. Michael Matz had her ready to peak at exactly the right time.
The 2006 Breeders' Cup Distaff was the defining race of her career. Going off at long odds, Round Pond rolled around a sloppy Churchill Downs track and gave Edgar Prado an easy ride down the stretch, winning by daylight. The performance was a wonderful moment for Michael Matz and the Fox Hill Farms team, especially after the heartbreak earlier that year with Barbaro's breakdown in the Preakness Stakes. Round Pond had brought home one of the biggest prizes of the entire racing season.
After her racing career, Round Pond retired as a broodmare for Fox Hill Farms and later sold through public auction. She produced runners for top breeding programs and passed along the class that had carried her to the top of her division. Round Pond is remembered as a hard hitting champion mare who gave Rick Porter and Michael Matz one of their proudest moments together, splashing home in front on Breeders' Cup day at Churchill Downs.
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