Midway Road (foaled April 11, 2000) is an American

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are ...

racehorse Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, 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 basic ...

. A descendant of

Mr. Prospector Mr. Prospector (January 28, 1970 – June 1, 1999) was a Thoroughbred racehorse who became an outstanding breeding stallion and notable sire of sires. A sprinter whose career was cut short by repeated injuries, he won seven of his 14 starts, i ...

, he was sired by Jade Hunter and bred by Will Farish. Midway Road is a multiple graded stakes winner best remembered for his two grade one runner-up finishes in important stake races during his career. Most notably, he finished second in the 2003

Preakness Stakes The Preakness Stakes is an American thoroughbred horse race held on Armed Forces Day which is also the third Saturday in May each year at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. It is a Grade I race run over a distance of 9.5 furlongs ...

Three-year-old season

Trained by Neil Howard, Midway Road won four of six races early in his career. He broke his maiden at

Arlington Park Arlington International Racecourse (formerly Arlington Park, the name was Arlington Park Jockey Club from as soon as 1948 up to 1955) was a horse race track in the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights, Illinois. Horse racing in the Chicago reg ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

, Illinois at age two. As a sophomore, he won two allowance races at

Keeneland 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 i ...

before his connections entered him in the

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, disintegrated during reentry into Atmosphere of Earth, Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an 2002– ...

. He was listed as the longest shot in the field on the morning line at 20-1 along with New York Hero and Kissin Saint. Midway Road broke in good order and settled in sixth of ten runners going into the first turn of the Preakness. He was squeezed in tight and then piloted by jockey

Robby Albarado Robby J. Albarado (born September 11, 1973, in Lafayette, Louisiana) is an American Thoroughbred horse racing jockey. He began riding at the age of 10 and progressed to riding at bush tracks in his native Louisiana by the age of 12. After turnin ...

along the inside path early. Just after the five-eighths pole, Midway Road made his move to engage the top three. With only one furlong to go, he skimmed the rail just to the inside of

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

Peace Rules Peace Rules (bred and foaled in Florida at Newchance Farm on April 26, 2000), is a multiple Grade I-winning American Thoroughbred race horse. By Jules, a "black type" winner and classic sire in Brazil, Peace Rules' grandsire was Forty Niner, a ...

and hooked up with him in a head-to-head battle. In the meantime,

Kentucky Derby The Kentucky Derby is a horse race held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, almost always on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The competition is a Grade I stakes race for three-yea ...

winner Funny Cide pulled away from the rest of the field and won by 9-3/4 lengths (the second largest winning margin in 128 years at that time). Midway Road finished second and earned $200,000. He beat

by 3/4 of a length and also finished ahead of Scrimshaw, Senor Swinger, local favorite Cherokee's Boy, Foufa's Warrior, New York Hero, Kissin Kris and Ten Cents a Shine. Trainer Neil Howard said, "He had a good trip but he may have been in a little too tight. He was forced to take the inside path about mid-race." Later that summer, Midway Road also placed in the 2003 grade two

Ohio Derby The Ohio Derby is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually in mid-to-late June at Thistledown in North Randall, Ohio. The Grade III stakes for three-year-olds is run on dirt over a distance of 1 miles. The race currently offers a pu ...

Thistledown Racecourse Jack Thistledown Racino is a thoroughbred race track and casino in North Randall, Ohio, at the outskirts of the city of Cleveland. It is owned by Vici Properties and operated by Jack Entertainment. History and Information The track came under th ...

outside Cleveland, Ohio, to Wild and Wicked.

Four-year-old season

In his four-year-old season, Midway Road set a track record at Keeneland Race Course when he covered 1- miles in 1:46.78 in winning the grade three Ben Ali Stakes in 2004 by a record {{frac, 11, 1, 4 lengths. That day, he defeated the stakes winners Evening Attire and Sir Cherokee. Later that year, he finished second to Southern Image in the grade one Pimlico Special Handicap. Midway Road then scored consecutive stakes wins in the grade three Fayette Stakes at Keeneland Race Course and Tenacious Handicap at

Fair Grounds Race Course Fair Grounds Race Course, often known as New Orleans Fair Grounds, is a thoroughbred racetrack and racino in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is operated by Churchill Downs Louisiana Horseracing Company, LLC. As early as 1838 Bernard de Marigny, ...

in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Retirement

Midway Road did not race since fracturing a cannon bone in a January workout in 2005. After eight months of rehabilitation, he was not progressing to the satisfaction of his trainer and was retired to stand stud at owner-breeder William S. Farish's

Lane's End Farm Lane's End Farm is a Thoroughbred horse breeding farm in Versailles, Kentucky established in 1979. The original land was part of Bosque Bonita Farm and was originally owned by Abraham Buford, a Confederate Army General. The land was later bought b ...

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 9,316 according to 2017 cen ...

. His first season of breeding was in the early spring of 2006 for a stud fee of $7,500. He was transferred to

Farm Texas in Hempstead, Texas, for a stud fee of $4,000. His first foals were yearlings of 2008 and raced as three-year-olds in 2010. After being sold to Trophy Club Training Center in Royal, Arkansas in 2010, he is now currently pensioned from stud duty and was re-homed to his current owner, and his former racetrack groom, in Florida.

References

* Pedigee Online, Thoroughbred Database websit

2000 racehorse births Racehorses bred in Kentucky Racehorses trained in the United States Thoroughbred family 8-c