2024 Eclipse Award Champion Male Sprinter
Straight No Chaser, a remarkable equine athlete bred in Kentucky, has amassed earnings of $1,170,500. His career soared in 2023, highlighted by dominant victories in the Maryland Sprint Stakes and the Santa Anita Sprint Championship. Under Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez, he secured a thrilling win in the Cygames Breeders' Cup, proving his elite caliber. Trained by Dan Blacker, he has all the traits of a champion destined for greatness.
Straight No Chaser was the brilliant champion sprinter of 2024, a hard hitting bay who turned a short campaign into one of the most rewarding seasons in recent racing memory. He was foaled in 2019, a son of the WinStar bred sire Speightster, who himself was a son of the great speed influence Speightstown. He raced for MyRacehorse, the microshare partnership that lets thousands of fans own pieces of top thoroughbreds, and he was trained by Southern California horseman Dan Blacker, who got his big breakthrough year with this horse.
Foot problems and injuries had limited Straight No Chaser's career to a frustrating handful of starts, but Dan Blacker kept the faith. Returning from a layoff in late summer 2024, he captured the Santa Anita Sprint Championship at Santa Anita to put himself on the radar for the championship. Just a few weeks later he traveled across the country to Del Mar for the Breeders' Cup Sprint, the richest sprint of the year and the race that crowns the divisional champion.
Straight No Chaser delivered the performance of his life on Breeders' Cup Saturday. He came running through the lane to win the Breeders' Cup Sprint by half a length over the long shot Bentornato, holding off turf sprint star Cogburn as well. The win gave Dan Blacker his first Breeders' Cup victory and gave the MyRacehorse owners a celebration of a lifetime. Straight No Chaser was named the 2024 Eclipse Award Champion Male Sprinter, joining his great grandsire Speightstown in earning that honor.
He kept the streak going into 2025 with a smart win in the Grade 2 Riyadh Dirt Sprint in Saudi Arabia and a solid trip to the Dubai Golden Shaheen at Meydan. His success caught the attention of WinStar Farm, which entered a partnership with MyRacehorse to acquire breeding rights and arrange his eventual home at WinStar when his racing days end. Straight No Chaser is remembered as the horse who turned patience into glory, a champion who rewarded thousands of small share owners with the biggest day in American sprinting.
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This is a limited additional print with only 300 prints available. The prints will be autographed by the artist.
The print will be on high quality art paper. The image itself will be approximately 19x28 inches with a border, making the entire dimensions 23 x 29 inches image size is subject to change based on the painters discretion. The print will include a body of text below the image featuring the horses details including the horses name, jockey, and trainer to name a few. These will be numbered and autographed by the artist.