Connect (horse)
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Connect (foaled May 6, 2013) is a retired racehorse who is best known for his wins in the grade II
Pennsylvania Derby The Pennsylvania Derby is a race for thoroughbred horses run at Parx Racing and Casino (formerly known as Keystone Race Track, then from 1986 through 2010 as Philadelphia Park) each year. The track's premiere event is open to horses, age three, a ...
and grade I
Cigar Mile Handicap The Cigar Mile Handicap is a Grade II American thoroughbred horse race for horses aged three-years-old and older over a distance of one mile and is held in late November or early December at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, New York. The event carr ...
.


Background

Connect is a dark bay with no face markings as well as no feet markings. He was bred by Fox Straus in Kentucky. He is owned by Paul P. Pompa, Jr, and he is trained by Chad Brown. He is sired by the legendary
Curlin Curlin (foaled March 25, 2004, in Kentucky) is an American Thoroughbred horse racing, racehorse who was the American Horse of the Year in both 2007 and 2008. He retired in 2008 as the highest North American money earner with over US$10.5  ...
, who won the Breeders Cup Classic,
Dubai World Cup The Dubai World Cup (Arabic: كأس دبي العالمي) is a Thoroughbred horse race held annually since 1996 and contested at the Meydan Racecourse in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The race is operate ...
, and
Jockey Club Gold Cup The Jockey Club Gold Cup, established in 1919, is a thoroughbred flat race, held at the Saratoga Race Course in the United States, that is open to horses of either gender three-years-old and up. It has traditionally been the main event of the fal ...
. Curlin also sired such greats as five-time grade 1 winner
Stellar Wind A stellar wind is a flow of gas ejected from the stellar atmosphere, upper atmosphere of a star. It is distinguished from the bipolar outflows characteristic of young stars by being less collimated, although stellar winds are not generally spheri ...
, and
Belmont Stakes The Belmont Stakes is an American Graded stakes race, Grade I stakes Thoroughbred racing, race for three-year-old Thoroughbreds run at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is run over the worldwide classic distance of . Colt (horseracing), Colt ...
winner
Palace Malice Palace Malice (born May 2, 2010) is an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the 2013 Belmont Stakes. After winning one minor race as a two-year-old he made steady improvement in the early part of 2013, being placed in the Rise ...
. His dam, Bullville Belle, is by the great
Holy Bull Holy Bull (January 24, 1991 – June 7, 2017) was a champion Thoroughbred racehorse. Although he finished a disappointing twelfth in the 1994 Kentucky Derby, his major wins that year in the Florida Derby, Blue Grass Stakes, Metropolitan Handicap ...
. Connect was bought for $150,000 at the 2014 Fasig Tipton Kentucky Select Yearling Sale. Foaled at Sparks View Farm in Paris Kentucky.


Two-Year-Old Season

Connect only ran once on December 5, 2015. Seven horses ran against Connect in this race. He broke fairly well, starting out in fifth place. He stayed on the outside going four wide at the start. He moved up to fourth, then third. He was four lengths behind the leaders and went four wide. But he did not move any closer to the leaders and stayed four lengths behind and finished third.


Three-Year-Old Season

Following his third-place finish, Connect took a six-month break from racing. After his break, Connect would try again to win his first race. At the start of the race, Connect dropped to fifth. For the first quarter of a mile, he stayed in fifth only two lengths. After that, he made a quick sweeping move just in front by a head. Right after that, he opened up his lead to win his first race by four lengths. Next up was an allowance less than two months later. At the start, he was sixth but quickly moved up to second. He comfortably stalked the leader Wake Up In Malibu until the homestretch, where he took over the lead and went on to win by three and three-quarter lengths. Following two straight races, Connect attempted to go three in a row with his stakes debut in the Curlin Stakes. At the start of the race he was fourth but by the first quarter of a mile, he was in the lead. For the rest of the race, he led by one length with no one being able to catch him. Following his win, he would make his graded stakes debut in the
Travers Stakes The Travers Stakes is an American Graded stakes race, Grade I Thoroughbred horse race held at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York. It is nicknamed the "Midsummer Derby" and is the third-ranked race for American three-year-olds accor ...
. At the start of the race, Connect stayed in the middle of the field in seventh, then moved up to sixth. Despite moving all the way up to fourth, he fell back in the stretch and finished sixth. Despite the performance, he went to another graded stakes attempt 28 days later in the
Pennsylvania Derby The Pennsylvania Derby is a race for thoroughbred horses run at Parx Racing and Casino (formerly known as Keystone Race Track, then from 1986 through 2010 as Philadelphia Park) each year. The track's premiere event is open to horses, age three, a ...
. He had another big field to deal with. This included Kentucky Derby winner
Nyquist Nyquist may refer to: * Nyquist (surname) *Nyquist (horse), winner of the 2016 Kentucky Derby * Nyquist (programming language), computer programming language for sound synthesis and music composition See also *Johnson–Nyquist noise, thermal nois ...
,
Louisiana Derby The Louisiana Derby is a Grade II American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at the Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans, Louisiana. Run in late March, the race is open to horses, age three, willing to race miles on the dirt. It currently o ...
winner
Gun Runner Arms trafficking or gunrunning is the illicit trade of contraband small arms, explosives, and ammunition, which constitutes part of a broad range of illegal activities often associated with transnational criminal organizations. The illegal trad ...
, and
Preakness Preakness may refer to: * The Preakness or Preakness Stakes, an American flat thoroughbred horse race held in Baltimore, Maryland * Preakness (horse), an American thoroughbred racehorse from Preakness Stables * Preakness, New Jersey, a section of W ...
Haskell Haskell () is a general-purpose, statically typed, purely functional programming language with type inference and lazy evaluation. Designed for teaching, research, and industrial applications, Haskell pioneered several programming language ...
and
Santa Anita Derby The Santa Anita Derby is an American Grade 1 thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds run each April at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. It is currently run at a distance of miles on the dirt and carries a purse of . It is one of t ...
winner
Exaggerator Exaggerator (foaled February 5, 2013 to September 30, 2020) is a retired American Thoroughbred racehorse, winner of the 2016 Preakness Stakes. Racing as a two-year-old in 2015, he won three of his six starts including the Saratoga Special Sta ...
. At the start he was seventh, but by the first quarter of a mile he had moved up to fifth. After dropping back to sixth he moved up on the rail. While three other horses (Awesome Slew, Gun Runner, Nyquist) were on the outside, all of them were less than a length apart from each other. With a furlong to go, Awesome Slew and Nyquist began to fall back and were out of contention for winning. Gun Runner charged on the far outside while Connect fought back intrepidly. At the wire, Connect was the winner by half a length. After a 63-day break, Connect was back to try and get his first Grade 1 win to redeem his defeat in the
Travers Stakes The Travers Stakes is an American Graded stakes race, Grade I Thoroughbred horse race held at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York. It is nicknamed the "Midsummer Derby" and is the third-ranked race for American three-year-olds accor ...
. Also, this would be Connect's first time to race against elder horses. At the start Connect settled in sixth place for the start of the race. Starting with half a mile Connect began to move up placings one by one, quarter by quarter, until the final turn where he moved up to second. He was just half a length away from victory and just needed to pass the leader Divining Rod. Eventually, it turned into a dogfight. For every head bob, Divining Rod and Connect traded placings. One moment one would be in front and the next behind. Soon Connect persisted and took the lead to win by a nose.


Four-Year-Old Season

After a six-month hiatus, Connect made his return in the
Westchester Handicap The Westchester Stakes is a Grade III American Thoroughbred horse race for three-years-old and older run over a distance of miles annually in early May at Belmont Park, in Elmont, New York. The event currently offers a purse of $175,000 added. ...
. He became the odds-on favorite at 4/5. At the start, he was forwardly placed, but he quickly dropped back to fifth. He stayed in fifth just two lengths behind. Half a mile into the race he began to make his move and took over the lead three-quarters of a mile in and led by a length. By the homestretch, he had opened his lead to two and a half lengths. For the rest of the race, he kept opening up his lead to four and three-quarter lengths. Frammento, who finished third, was 13 1/2 lengths behind Connect. His win in the
Westchester Handicap The Westchester Stakes is a Grade III American Thoroughbred horse race for three-years-old and older run over a distance of miles annually in early May at Belmont Park, in Elmont, New York. The event currently offers a purse of $175,000 added. ...
was supposed to be a prep for the
Metropolitan Handicap The Metropolitan Handicap, frequently called the "Met Mile", is an American Grade I Thoroughbred horse race held at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. Open to horses age three and older, it is contested on dirt over a distance of one mile (8 furl ...
. Unfortunately, a minor injury caused him to scratch from the race. Later he would be forced to retire when Connect suffered a soft tissue injury. After this Connect was put out to work as a stud at Lanes End Farm.


Stud career


Notable progeny

''c = colt, f =
filly A filly is a female horse that is too young to be called a mare. There are two specific definitions in use: *In most cases, a ''filly'' is a female horse under four years old. *In some nations, such as the United Kingdom and the United States ...
, g =
gelding A gelding (Help:IPA/English, /ˈɡɛldɪŋ/) is a castration, castrated male horse or other equine, such as a pony, donkey or a mule. The term is also used with certain other animals and livestock, such as domesticated Camelidae, camels. By compa ...
''


References

{{Reflist 2013 racehorse births Racehorses bred in Kentucky Racehorses trained in the United States Thoroughbred family 4-m