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Best of 2024: New York-bred Spirit of St Louis

by Christian Abdo

Just three live race days remain in 2024 to complete a remarkable year of racing action on the New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) circuit. To celebrate the season, the NYRA Press Office checked in with a selection of trainers, owners, jockeys and racing personalities to share their reflections on the memorable year.

“Spirit of St Louis” is known for being the name of Charles Lindbergh’s plane during the first solo transatlantic flight, but around the NYRA-circuit the name is synonymous with a dominant New York-bred, who won 4-of-6 races in 2024 including three state-bred and one open-company stakes for four-time Eclipse Award-winner Chad Brown.

Madaket Stables, Michael Dubb and Richard Schermerhorn’s Spirit of St Louis’ campaign began with a 1 3/4-length score in the one-mile turf Listed Danger’s Hour versus open company in April at Aqueduct Racetrack. The 5-year-old Medaglia d’Oro gelding followed the statement win with dominant state-bred scores in the off-the-turf Kingston in June at Saratoga Race Course and the one-mile grass Hudson Valley in July at Belmont at the Big A.

Spirit of St Louis’ next effort was a nose defeat to Dakota Gold while carrying a field-high 126 pounds in the state-bred West Point presented by Trustco Bank going 1 1/16 miles on turf in August at the Spa. Despite having his five-race win streak broken, he attempted the Grade 1 Turf Mile on October 5 at Keeneland and finished a close fifth, before a triumphant return last-out with a 1 1/4-length score in the 1 1/16-mile turf Mohawk versus fellow state-breds on October 27 here.

Bred by Chester Broman and Mary R. Broman, Spirit of St Louis is out of the Lemon Drop Kid mare Khancord Kid, making him a full-brother to Grade 1-winner Bar of Gold. He was a $280,000 purchase by Dubb at the 2023 Keeneland April Horses of Racing Age Sale and has earned $769,150 through a 13-9-3-0 record.

The NYRA Press Office checked in with Mr. Dubb, a member of the NYRA Board of Directors, about the impressive career of the classy state-bred that he selected at the sale.

Q: How special is Spirit of St Louis?

MD: “He’s a really special horse. He shows up every time. We ran in as many New York-bred program stakes races as we could. We got beat once by a nose, and I think we were given a lot of weight that day. We said let’s give him a shot in a Grade 1 at Keeneland. I think we got beat less than three lengths with a rough trip. He probably could have hit the board.”

Q: What is the goal for this horse?

MD: “We brought him down to Florida and we’re [possibly] going to try him in the turf race [Grade 1, $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational] on Pegasus day [January 25]. He’s a gelding, so I don’t pay a lot of attention to if it is a Grade 1 or Grade 2. It is a million-dollar purse and he’s earned the right to compete once in a while in those types of races. Obviously since we don’t have turf racing in New York this time of year, and he is a gelding, we wanted to keep him busy. We thought that might be a good starting off spot for his 2025 campaign. I think the goal would be to have a well-planned campaign and keep him running for as long as we can run him. Chad is very good with these older horses, getting them back year after year. I just let Chad do his thing and it generally works out very well [laughs].”

Q: You have always been confident in this horse and have repeatedly said he was a future candidate for graded stakes. What gave you that confidence?

MD: “It wasn’t always the margin of his wins, but the ease he did it each time. His demeanor, his class and his heart - he won an off-the-turf stakes race, too, at Saratoga. He’s just a horse that has done enough to warrant a chance. We will still run him in state-bred races when the opportunity presents itself.”

Q: What caught your eye about him at the sale?

MD: “I saw a New York-bred that wasn’t inexpensive for a gelding, but he was just beginning his career, and he had a tremendous amount of potential. I did bid on him myself and bought him myself. There’s a special attachment to this horse, no doubt about it.”

Q: Did you know the breeders, Chester and the late Mary Broman?

MD: “I’ve known Chester and Mary for decades. Chester is in the dirt business and I’m a builder, so we’ve done business together through the years a little bit. I also knew this horse was a sibling of Bar of Gold who won the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint in California.”

Q: What do you think of the New York-bred program?

MD: “I think the program is great. I really look forward to getting to Belmont Park where we will have the synthetic track and perhaps some of the turf horses will get an opportunity to do their thing all year long. When you have a New York-bred stakes horse, you are really looking for a race every four or five weeks, and sometimes there is and sometimes there isn’t.

“This [synthetic] will hopefully give them an opportunity to earn money 12 months a year, which I think will be great for them. I think some of the dirt horses will probably be shipping out in the wintertime to other venues, but plenty of turf and poly horses will come our way.”

America’s Day at the Races will present live coverage and analysis of the Aqueduct Racetrack fall meet on the networks of FOX Sports. For the broadcast schedule and channel finder, visit https://www.nyra.com/aqueduct/racing/tv-schedule/.

NYRA Bets is the official wagering platform of Aqueduct Racetrack, and the best way to bet every race of the fall meet. Available to horse players nationwide, the NYRA Bets app is available for download today on iOS and Android at www.NYRABets.com.