| Midnight Lute | |
|---|---|
| Sire | Real Quiet |
| Grandsire | Quiet American |
| Dam | Candytuft |
| Damsire | Dehere |
| Sex | Stallion |
| Foaled | 2003 |
| Country | United States |
| Colour | Dark Bay |
| Breeder | Tom Evans, Macon Wilmil Equines & Marjac Farms, Inc. |
| Owner | Michael E. Pegram and Watson and Weitman Performance, LLC |
| Trainer | Bob Baffert |
| Record | 12: 6-3-1 |
| Earnings | US$2,690,600 |
| Major wins | |
|
Perryville Stakes (2006) Breeders' Cup Sprint (2007, 2008) |
|
| Awards | |
| American Champion Sprint Horse (2007) | |
| Horse (Equus ferus caballus) | |
Midnight Lute (foaled May 13, 2003 in Versailles, Kentucky) is an American Thoroughbred stallion racehorse. He is owned by Michael E. Pegram and Watson and Weitman Performance, LLC, and was named for Lute Olson, the University of Arizona basketball coach.
Bred by Tom Evans, Macon Wilmil Equines & Marjac Farms, Inc., he was sired by the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner Real Quiet and was out of the mare Candytuft. His damsire is Dehere, a multiple stakes winner and the 1993 American Champion Two-Year-Old Colt. He was sold as a yearling for $70,000 at the Keeneland September sales.
Trained by three-time Kentucky Derby winner, Bob Baffert, Midnight Lute won the Grade 3 Perryville Stakes at Keeneland Race Course 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 at Saratoga Race Course. In that race, he earned 2007's highest Beyer Speed Figure of 124.
He also placed in several graded stakes, including the Malibu Stakes (3rd, Grade I) and the San Fernando Stakes (2nd, Grade II) at Santa Anita Park.
On October 27, 2007, Midnight Lute scored the most important victory of his career when he won the six-furlong Breeders' Cup Sprint at Monmouth Park, ridden by Garrett Gomez. Coming from last to first, he won by 4¾ 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 an unimpressive 10th in the Pat O'Brien Handicap at Del Mar Racetrack. His second start was the Breeders' Cup Sprint at Santa Anita Park on October 25. He finished the six-furlong dash 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 ever repeat in the Breeders' Cup Sprint.[1]
On October 28, 2008, it was announced that Midnight Lute would be retired to stand stud at Hill 'n' Dale Farms in Kentucky for an initial fee of $20,000.[2]
Midnight Lute was a finalist for the Eclipse Award's American Champion Sprint Horse for 2008, but with a final vote of 106 to 86 lost to Benny The Bull.[3]