2019 Eclipse Award Champion Older Dirt Male
March 29 - Vino Rosso
I just had to lump these two together. You see these boys were born on the same farm, John Gunter's Glenwood Farm, less than 24 hours apart. They were pasture buddies until they went to new owners.
Justify went on to win the Triple Crown for WinStar and China Horse Club and Vino Rosso went on to win the Breeders' Cup Classic for the partnership of Vinnie Viola and Mike Repole.
I think you must go back to Bold Ruler and Round Table to find two horses born on the same (more or less) day on the same farm that had such outstanding careers on the track.
Well done, John Gunter and his daughter Tonya; they put out a nice string of horses every year. But how do you top these two: A Triple Crown and a BC Classic?
Vino Rosso was a powerful chestnut who saved his finest moment for the biggest stage of all when he captured the 2019 Breeders' Cup Classic at Santa Anita. He was foaled in 2015, a son of the great sire Curlin out of the mare Mythical Bride. He raced in the colors of Mike Repole and Vincent Viola's St. Elias Stable, the fun loving partnership that has owned dozens of top runners. Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher got the training assignment, and Irad Ortiz Jr. rode him in the moments that mattered most.
Vino Rosso announced himself as a Triple Crown contender in the spring of 2018 with a powerful win in the Wood Memorial Stakes at Aqueduct. He took his shot in the Kentucky Derby but was beaten by Justify along with most of the rest of his crop, finishing ninth in the race that gave Bob Baffert his second Triple Crown winner. Vino Rosso kept running honestly through his three year old season, but the year really belonged to Justify. Todd Pletcher turned his attention toward bigger things at age four.
The 2019 season was when Vino Rosso truly came into his own. He captured the Grade 1 Gold Cup at Santa Anita in commanding style during the summer, then headed back to Santa Anita that fall for the championship. The 2019 Breeders' Cup Classic brought together a strong field of older horses, but Vino Rosso simply ran them all into the ground. With Irad Ortiz Jr. in the saddle, he rolled home a four and a quarter length winner over McKinzie, picking up the biggest prize on the calendar in dazzling style.
After the Breeders' Cup Classic, Vino Rosso retired and headed to Spendthrift Farm in Kentucky to begin his stud career. He proved a popular stallion thanks to his Curlin sire line and Breeders' Cup winning pedigree, and his early crops have produced stakes winners on the track. Vino Rosso is remembered as another in the long line of top Curlin sons, and as the horse who gave the Repole Stable and St. Elias partnership their first Breeders' Cup Classic trophy in commanding Santa Anita style.
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