Drefong

Drefong
Drefong at the BC Sprint
Sire	Gio Ponti
Grandsire	Tale of the Cat
Dam	Eltimaas
Damsire	Ghostzapper
Sex	Colt
Foaled	19 February, 2013
Country	United States
Colour	Bay
Breeder	Frederick M. Allor, Michael T. Barnett, Anthony M. Warrende
Owner	Baoma Corporation
Trainer	Bob Baffert
Record	7: 5-0-0
Earnings	$1,203,385[1]
Major wins
King's Bishop Stakes (2016) Breeders' Cup Sprint (2016)
Awards
American Champion Sprint Horse (2016)

Drefong (foaled February 19, 2013) is an American Thoroughbred racehorse trained by Bob Baffert who is best known for winning both the King's Bishop Stakes at Saratoga Race Course, and the Breeders Cup Sprint at Santa Anita Park against the many top G1 class elder racehorses in fast times.

Background

Drefong is a bay horse sired by multiple turf G1 and 3 time Eclipse Award winner Gio Ponti^[2] who slso sired Queen's Plate winner Sir Dudly Digges. On his dam side his mother Eltimaas is a daughter of Ghostzapper, who won races such as the Met Mile, Woodward, and Breeders Cup Classic. As well he sired such champions and G1 winners Judy the Beauty, Shaman Ghost, Moreno, Molly Morgan.

Two-year-old season

Drefong Kicked his two-year-old-season with a Maiden Special Weight at Santa Anita Park. It was at the distance of 1100 meters (5 1/2 furlongs) in distance. It was a field of 8 with all starters carrying 120 pounds (54 kilograms) At the start he slightly missed the start and tried to stalk the pace throughout. In the end Drefong was unable to keep up the leaders and fell back to be fifth. The first time he had been defeated. Next he went to Del Mar for his second start. He angled in on the rail and then proceeded to skim the rail for the rest of the race and drew off leading Gate to wire to break his maiden.

Three-year-old season

To start off his sophomore season, Drefong ran in an allowance optional Claimer at Santa Anita.There he would battle against Elder horses. Because of this the elders were given an extra five pounds. At the start Drefong had trouble getting the lead and had battle for it. This would continue throughout out the back stretch as he battled in between 2 horses. At the far turn he angled to the inside and soon would draw off again under a hand ride to win.

He would run in another allowance optional claimer with exactly the same rules as before.At the beginning he chased the leader Guy Code on the rail up until the back stretch. After the first quarter of mile was finished and they all came to the backstretch, Drefong had the lead and again drew off on the rail in style.

King's Bishop Stakes

After four races in allowance races and maidens Drefong stepped up to more appropriate class in the G1 Kings Bishop at Saratoga. He ran against horse's that qualified for the Kentucky Derby (Mohaymen, Tom's Ready). And other worthy stakes winning challengers. At the beginning of the race he had trouble getting to the lead. For the first quarter of a mile the leader was Rated R Superstar but later Drefong got the lead and eventually fired away to win by 3 1/4 lengths in a fast time of 1:21.25.^[3]

Breeders Cup Sprint

With only one stakes race under his belt Drefong went into even deeper water with multiple G1 winners. These included Triple Bend winner Masochistic and Alfred J Vanderbilt stakes winner A.P Indian who also was riding a six race winning streak. Then "vriiiing!" the Gate doors opened. Suddenly Drefong was bumped at the start. He quickly recovered and stole the lead away from Masochistic. Later Masochistic would regain the lead. At the final turn Drefong had the lead just a length ahead of Masochistic. The next thrilling quarter of a mile was all Drefong galloping with all he had, along with Masochistic until the wire. Drefong won by a length in a quarter.^[4][5]

4-year-old season

Drefong's first race to be considered for his return was the Malibu Stakes. Unfortunately, he spiked a fever and had to wait until next year to return to racing. One potential plan was the Dubai Golden Shaheen. However it never came to fruition, but he would finally make his seasonal debut in the Bing Crosby Stakes. He broke well at the start and tried to settle for the lead. Unfortunately, things immediately went wrong as Drefong sharply veered to the inside and Mike Smith lost his balance and fell onto the track. With no jockey to control Drefong, he was now a serious obstacle for the other jockeys in the race. The riderless Drefong significantly affected the runs of the frontrunners as he attempted to take the lead. The riderless Drefong eventually got the "lead", and he forced Roy H and Moe Candy very wide at the top of the stretch. This helped Ransom the Moon to sneak through on the rail and hold off both Roy H and Moe Candy. Both Drefong and Mike Smith were checked for injuries as a precautionary procedure, but both horse and jockey ended up uninjured.

References