Midnight Lute (foaled May 13, 2003, in

Versailles, Kentucky Versailles is a home rule-class city in Woodford County, Kentucky, United States. It lies by road west of Lexington and is part of the Lexington-Fayette Metropolitan Statistical Area. Versailles has a population of 10,534 according to 2024 ce ...

) 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 ...

. He was named

American Champion Sprint Horse The American Champion Sprint Horse award is an American Thoroughbred horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a ...

in 2007.

Background

Midnight Lute was bred by Tom Evans, Macon Wilmil Equines & Marjac Farms, Inc. and owned during his racing career by Michael E. Pegram and Watson and Weitman Performance, LLC. He was named for

Lute Olson Robert Luther "Lute" Olson (September 22, 1934 – August 27, 2020) was an American basketball coach, who was inducted into both the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame. He was the head co ...

, the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

coach. He was sired by the

Kentucky Derby The Kentucky Derby () is an American Graded stakes race, Grade I stakes Thoroughbred racing, race run at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. The race is run by three-year-old Thoroughbreds at a distance of . Colt (horse), Colts and geldin ...

and

Preakness Stakes The Preakness Stakes is an American thoroughbred horse race held annually on Armed Forces Day, the third Saturday in May at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland (except in 2026 when it will move to Laurel Park (race track), Laurel Park dur ...

winner

Real Quiet Real Quiet (March 7, 1995 – September 27, 2010) was an American Champion Thoroughbred racehorse. He was nicknamed "The Fish" by his trainer due to his narrow frame. He is best remembered for winning the first two legs of American Triple ...

and was out of the

mare A mare is an adult female horse or other equidae, equine. In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse three and younger. In Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more th ...

Candytuft. His damsire is

Dehere Dehere (April 13, 1991 - c. May 16, 2014) was an American Champion Thoroughbred racehorse. He was bred and raced by Robert E. Brennan's Due Process Stable. Sired by Canadian Hall of Fame inductee and two-time North American Champion sire, Dep ...

, a multiple stakes winner and the 1993

American Champion Two-Year-Old Colt The American Champion Two-Year-Old Male Horse is an American Thoroughbred horse racing honor awarded annually in Thoroughbred flat racing. It became part of the Eclipse Awards program in 1971. The award originated in 1936 when the ''Daily Racing F ...

. Midnight Lute was sold as a yearling for $70,000 at the Keeneland September sales. He was trained by three-time Kentucky Derby winning trainer

Bob Baffert Robert A. Baffert (born January 13, 1953) is an American racehorse trainer. He has trained two Triple Crown winners: American Pharoah in 2015 and Justify in 2018. Baffert's horses have won the Kentucky Derby six times, tying the record with ...

Racing career

Midnight Lute won the Grade 3 Perryville Stakes 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 ...

on October 13, 2006, in track-record time. He collected his first Grade I win on September 1, 2007, while setting a new stakes record in the

Forego Handicap The Forego Stakes is a Grade I American Thoroughbred horse race for horses four years old and older over the distance of seven furlongs on the dirt, scheduled annually in August at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York. The event curr ...

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 ...

. He also placed in several graded stakes, including the

Malibu Stakes The Malibu Stakes is a race for three-year-old thoroughbred horses of either gender held each December at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. The race is at a distance of seven furlongs and is the first leg of Santa Anita Park's Strub Series. ...

(3rd, Grade I) and the

San Fernando Stakes The San Fernando Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually in mid January at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. Open to four-year-old horses, it is contested on at a distance of miles (8.5 furlongs) on the dirt main track. ...

(2nd, Grade II) at

Santa Anita Park Santa Anita Park is a Thoroughbred racetrack in Arcadia, California, United States. It offers some of the prominent horse racing events in the United States during early fall, winter and in spring. The track is home to numerous prestigious race ...

. On October 27, 2007, Midnight Lute scored the most important victory of his career when he won the six-furlong

Breeders' Cup Sprint The Breeders' Cup Sprint is an American Weight for Age Grade I Thoroughbred horse race for horses three years old and older. Run on dirt over a distance of 6 Furlongs ( mile), the race has been held annually since 1984 at a different racetrack in t ...

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 ...

, ridden by

Garrett Gomez Garrett Keith Gomez (January 1, 1972 – December 14, 2016) was an American Thoroughbred jockey who won two Eclipse Awards and thirteen Breeders' Cup races during his career. Racing career Early career Gomez learned to ride by watching his fath ...

. Coming from last to first, he won by lengths over a sloppy track in a time of 1:09.18, with Idiot Proof second and Talent Search third. An injury kept him away from the races for most of the 2008 season. In his first start of the year, he finished 10th in the

Pat O'Brien Handicap The Pat O'Brien Stakes is a Grade II American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds and older over a distance of seven furlongs on the dirt track scheduled annually in August at Del Mar Racetrack in Del Mar, California. The event currently c ...

Del Mar Racetrack The Del Mar Fairgrounds is an event venue in Del Mar, California. It hosts the annual San Diego County Fair. The venue sits on a property along the Pacific Ocean coastline. It includes the Del Mar Racetrack, built in 1936 by the Del Mar Thoroug ...

. His second start was the

on October 25. He won the six-furlong race in a final time of 1:07:08 on a fast track. Fatal Bullet ran second, with Street Boss third. With that win, Midnight Lute became the first horse to repeat in the Breeders' Cup Sprint. On October 28, 2008, it was announced that Midnight Lute would be retired to stand stud at

Hill 'n' Dale Farms Hill 'n' Dale Farms is a thoroughbred race horse breeding farm with operations in Canada and the United States. History Hill 'n' Dale was founded in 1960 in Ontario, Canada by Czechoslovakian immigrant John Sikura Jr. Following John's death in an ...

in Kentucky for an initial fee of $20,000.

Assessment and honors

In the 2007 Forego Handicap, Midnight Lute earned the year's highest

Beyer Speed Figure The Beyer Speed Figure is a system for rating the performance of Thoroughbred racehorses in North America designed in the early 1970s by Andrew Beyer, the syndicated horse racing columnist for The Washington Post. First published in book form in ...

of 124. In the voting for the 2007

award, Midnight Lute received 229 of the 267 votes. Midnight Lute 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 ...

for 2008, but with a final vote of 106 to 86 lost to Benny The Bull.

Stud career

Midnight Lute's descendants include: ''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 ...

References

{{reflist
September 11, 2007 article at Thoroughbred Times on Midnight Lute
2003 racehorse births Racehorses bred in Kentucky Racehorses trained in the United States Horse racing track record setters Breeders' Cup Sprint winners Eclipse Award winners Thoroughbred family 3-j