Einstein (horse)

Einstein (foaled October 23, 2002 in Brazil) is a Thoroughbred racehorse competing in the United States.

Background

Bred by Fazenda Mondesir, [1] he was sired by the 1985 American Horse of the Year, Spend A Buck. His dam, Gay Charm, was the 1988 Brazilian Champion Three-Year-Old Filly. His damsire was Ghadeer, a son of Lyphard and an influential stallion in Brazil who sired twenty-five Group One winners.

When he was brought to the United States, Einstein's new owners entrusted his race conditioning to Helen Pitts, who had taken over their stable upon the retirement of Kenneth McPeek.

Racing career

Einstein made his American debut on February 25, 2006 at Gulfstream Park in Florida, where he won the first of his two Gulfstream Park Turf Handicaps. He went on to wins that include races on three different track surfaces: the Turf Classic Stakes on turf and the Clark Handicap on dirt, both in 2008 at Churchill Downs, and in 2009, California's richest race, the Santa Anita Handicap on Pro-Ride synthetic dirt.

The winner of five Grade I races so far in his career, Einstein successfully defended his title in the Grade I Woodford Reserve-sponsored Turf Classic Stakes on May 2, 2009. on June 13 he was going for a world record, trying to be the first horse to win Grade 1 races on all three surfaces in te same year, first in the Santa Anita, then in the Woodford, and lastly on dirt in the race he got second in before, the Stephen Foster Handicap. The race played out terribly for him. He was blocked in the whole time, and down the stretch when a small hole opened for him to get out and his jockey tried to get him through, it was quickly closed by a horse on the outside. When he finally got out, the race was almost over, and though he closed late he had no time to catch winner Macho Again and Robby Albarado. He ended up third.

Next he ran in the Arlington Million, a race he placed badly in in 2008. He went up against the world's top turf horses, including American stars Gio Ponti and Presious Passion and International turf horses Gloria De Campeao (the French horse who placed second in the 2009 Dubai World Cup), Cima de Triomphe, and Stotsfold. Other American entries wereMr. Sidney, Just As Well, and Recapturetheglory, who placed fifth in the 2008 Kentucky Derby. Einstein ran a bad race, and never showed the late kick he usually had, coming in sixth to rising star Gio Ponti.

On September 3, 2009 it was announced that Frank Stronach purchased the horse from Midnight Cry Stables.

Einstein ran in the Pacific Classic Stakes at Del Mar Racetrack in California but was beaten by a neck by longshot Richard's Kid. His next race was the Breeders' Cup Classic on November 7. He had already won on the same track at the same distance over the same surface, but due to the entries of Rip Van Winkle and the top mare in the country Zenyatta, he was not a favorite. "It's the biggest race of his life, I want him to come in fresh," trainer Helen Pitts said [2]. Einstein proved to be one of the major disappointments in the race, finishing 11th out of 12 runners.

Pitts later announced that she was seriously considering entering Einstein in the Grade II Clark Handicap on November 27 at Churchill Downs. The poor Breeders' Cup showing led her to decline an invitation to race Einstein in Japan. In fact, Einstein did run in the Grade II Clark Handicap and, carrying the high weight of the race, finished a game third after starting from the outside gate (14th Post Position) and being blocked in the stretch. It is uncertain whether the Clark will be his last race; his owner, businessman Frank Stronach, has not said whether he will retire to stand stud at Stronach's Adena Springs s farm near Paris, Kentucky starting with the 2010 breeding season, or whether he will head to Hong Kong for the December 2009 Hong Kong Cup.^[1]

References

• Einstein's pedigree and partial racing stats
• Einstein's profile at the NTRA
• NTRA article on Einstein's win in the 2009 Santa Anita Handicap