Ginger Punch (foaled April 23, 2003, in

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

) is an American

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a list of horse breeds, horse breed developed for Thoroughbred racing, horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thorough ...

racehorse Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its bas ...

and broodmare. Owned and bred by operations belonging to automotive parts magnate

Frank Stronach Frank Stronach (born 6 September 1932) is an Austro-Canadian billionaire businessman and politician. He is the founder of Magna International, an international automotive parts company based in Aurora, Ontario, Canada, Granite Real Estate ...

, she is out of the mare Nappelon and sired by the

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

-bred

Awesome Again Awesome Again (March 29, 1994December 15, 2020) was a Canadian Thoroughbred horse racing, racehorse and stallion. As a three-year-old, he won the Queen's Plate in Canada and the Jim Dandy Stakes in the United States. He was undefeated at age four ...

, winner of his country's 1997

Queen's Plate The King's Plate (known as the Queen's Plate from 1860 to 1901 and 1952 to 2022) is Canada's oldest thoroughbred horse race and the oldest continuously run race in North America, having been founded in 1860. It is run at a distance of for a ma ...

and the 1998

Breeders' Cup Classic The Breeders' Cup Classic is a Grade I Weight for Age thoroughbred horse race for 3-year-olds and older run at a distance of on dirt. It is held annually at a different racetrack in the United States as part of the Breeders' Cup World Champion ...

and who, as a sire, has produced four

Breeders' Cup The Breeders' Cup World Championships is an annual series of Graded stakes race, Grade I Thoroughbred racing, Thoroughbred horse races, operated by Breeders' Cup Limited, a company formed in 1982. From its inception in 1984 through 2006, it was ...

winners including the 2004

World Champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

Ghostzapper Ghostzapper (foaled April 6, 2000) is a Thoroughbred racehorse who won the Breeders' Cup Classic in 2004, outdistancing Roses in May by three lengths in a track record time of 1:59.02. His gate-to-wire Classic victory completed a 4-for-4 season, ...

. Trained by Bobby Frankel, Ginger Punch raced in

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

in May 2006 at

Churchill Downs Churchill Downs is a horse racing complex in south Louisville, Kentucky, United States that hosts the annual Kentucky Derby. It opened in 1875 and was named for Samuel Churchill, whose family was prominent in Kentucky for many years. The first ...

, where she won her first race. She did not win again until October, when she captured an allowance race at

Keeneland Race Course Keeneland Association, Inc. is an equine business based in Lexington, Kentucky. It includes two distinct divisions: the Keeneland Race Course, a Thoroughbred racing facility, and Keeneland Sales, a horse auction complex. It is also known for it ...

2007 racing season

Ginger Punch made her 2007 debut in April in the Grade II Madison Stakes on the

Polytrack The track surface of a horse racing track refers to the material of which the track is made. There are three types of track surfaces used in modern horse racing. These are: *Turf, the most common track surface in Europe *Dirt, the most common trac ...

surface at Keeneland Race Course and finished second to Ventura, the winner of the 2008

Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint The Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint is a 7-furlong (1408 m) Weight for Age stakes race for thoroughbred fillies and mares three years old and up. As its name implies, it is a part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships, the ''de facto'' year- ...

race under jockey Rafael Bejarano. In May, she won an allowance race at Churchill Downs, then on June 16 at

Belmont Park Belmont Park is a thoroughbred racing, thoroughbred horse racetrack in Elmont, New York, just east of New York City limits best known for hosting the Belmont Stakes, the final leg of the American Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing (United Stat ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, under jockey David Flores, she finished second by a neck in the 1 1/16-mile

Ogden Phipps Handicap The Ogden Phipps Stakes is an American Grade I Thoroughbred horse race for fillies and mares, four years of age and older run over a distance of one and one-sixteenth miles on the dirt track held annually in mid June at Belmont Park in Elmont, N ...

. On July 8, 2007, under regular jockey Rafael Bejarano, Ginger Punch earned the first stakes victory of her career when she won the 7 furlong First Flight Handicap at Belmont Park by five lengths. Three weeks later, at

Saratoga Race Course Saratoga Race Course is a Thoroughbred horse racing track located on Union Avenue in Saratoga Springs, New York, Saratoga Springs, New York (state), New York, United States. Opened in 1863, it is often considered to be the oldest major sporting v ...

she got her first Grade I win, capturing the 9-furlong

Go For Wand Handicap The Go For Wand Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race established in 1954 for fillies and mares age three and up. Raced in the fall, it is a Grade III race (Grade I before 2010) on dirt at a distance of one mile. Inaugurated in 1954 a ...

by again by six lengths. On September 30 in the

Beldame Stakes The Beldame Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race for fillies and mares three-years-old and up. Inaugurated in 1939, it was run as a handicap prior to 1960. The race is held annually near the beginning of October at Belmont Park and curr ...

, Ginger Punch was sent off as the

betting Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of value ("the stakes") on a random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy are discounted. Gambling thus requires three ele ...

favorite and finished third. For the annual

, owner Frank Stronach usually nominates twenty to thirty percent of his large stable of foals, but Ginger Puch had not been one of them. Despite her loss in the Beldame Stakes, trainer Bobby Frankel convinced Stronach to pay the $180,000 supplemental fee in order for her to run in late October's

Breeders' Cup Distaff The Breeders' Cup Distaff is a Weight for Age Thoroughbred horse race for fillies and mares, three years old and up. Known as the Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic between 2008 and 2012, it is held annually at a different racetrack in the United Stat ...

Monmouth Park Monmouth Park Racetrack is an American race track for thoroughbred horse racing in Oceanport, New Jersey, Oceanport, New Jersey, United States. It is owned by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority and is operated under a five-year lease ...

. Heavy rains left the Monmouth track in a very muddy condition. Previously, the only time Ginger Punch had ever failed to finish in the top three was on a similarly sloppy track. However, in the race she won a muddy stretch duel with

Hystericalady Hystericalady (foaled April 2, 2003), is a multiple Graded stakes race, stakes winning United States, American Thoroughbred race horse. Background Bred in Kentucky by Abbott Properties, Hystericalady is the best daughter of the leading sire Dis ...

and held off a late charge from third-place finisher

Octave In music, an octave (: eighth) or perfect octave (sometimes called the diapason) is an interval between two notes, one having twice the frequency of vibration of the other. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been referr ...

to capture the $2 Million Breeders' Cup Distaff. Ginger Punch was named Champion Older Female in the 2007 Eclipse Awards.

2008 racing season

Having finished either first or second in 18 of her 22 career starts, Ginger Punch continued to race at age five. She made her debut on January 26, 2008, with a 6 ¾ lengths win in the Sunshine Millions Distaff. In the Grade I

Apple Blossom Handicap The Apple Blossom Handicap is a Graded stakes race, Grade I American Thoroughbred horse race for filly, fillies and mares that are four years old or older, run under handicap conditions over a distance of one and one-sixteenth miles on the dirt tra ...

on April 5, she finished third to then-undefeated multiple Grade I winner

Zenyatta Zenyatta (foaled April 1, 2004) is a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the Breeders' Cup Classic and Breeders' Cup Distaff and 19 of her 20 starts. She was the 2010 American Horse of the Year, and American Champion Older Female H ...

. On June 14, 2008, she took the Grade I

by five or more lengths in a hand ride. On July 26, 2008, she took the

for the second consecutive time, splitting horses for the lead. On August 22, 2008, she outran Lemon Drop Mom to win the Grade I Personal Ensign Handicap by a head bob. Frankel then decided to point his champion mare to the Grade I

and

Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic The Breeders' Cup Distaff is a Weight for Age Thoroughbred horse race for fillies and mares, three years old and up. Known as the Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic between 2008 and 2012, it is held annually at a different racetrack in the United Sta ...

to attempt to become the leading female purse winner in North America. However, on a sloppy track at

on September 27, Ginger Punch finished a neck behind

Cocoa Beach Cocoa Beach is a city in Brevard County, Florida, United States. The population was 11,354 at the 2020 United States census, up from 11,231 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Palm Bay–Melbourne–Titusville, Florida Metropolitan Stati ...

in the $600,000 Beldame Stakes. On October 24, she was fifth in a strong field of eight

Grade I In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

winners:

, Cocoa Beach, Music Note, Carriage Trail, and

(Carriage Trail and Hystericalady were in a

dead heat A dead heat is a rare situation in various racing sports in which the performances of competitors are judged to be so close that no difference between them can be resolved. The result is declared a tie and the competitors are awarded a joint ra ...

for 4th place) in the

. Ginger Punch was a finalist for the

Eclipse Award The Eclipse Award is an American Thoroughbred horse racing award named after the 18th-century British racehorse and sire, Eclipse. An Eclipse Award Trophy is presented to the winner in each division. The trophy is made by a few small selected A ...

American Champion Older Female Horse The Eclipse Award for Champion Older Dirt Female Horse is an American Thoroughbred horse racing honor awarded annually to a filly or mare, four years old and up, for performances on dirt and main track racing surfaces. In 1971, it became part of the ...

for 2008.

Stud career

Ginger Punch was retired to broodmare duties in 2009. She was bred to Bernardini and was sold for $1.6 million to Katsumi Yoshida of Northern Farm in Japan while in foal. In Japan, Ginger Punch has foaled 9 horses as of 2023. Of these, the most successful is Potager, by Deep Impact, who won the Osaka Hai in 2022. Another successful horse Ginger Punch foaled was Rouge Buck, a filly by

Manhattan Cafe Manhattan Cafe, (, 5 March 1998 – August 2015) was a Japanese Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. Unraced as a juvenile he began his racing career as a three-year-old in 2001. He improved throughout the season, winning three minor races before devel ...

, who was named Rouge Buck. Rouge Buck has won several graded races, most notably the Sankei Sho All Comers in 2017 and the Mainichi Okan in 2016.

Pedigree

References

{{Reflist 2003 racehorse births Thoroughbred family 16-d Racehorses bred in Florida Racehorses trained in the United States Breeders' Cup Distaff winners Eclipse Award winners