Multiple Grade I winner Exaggerator (Curlin–Dawn Raid, by Vindication), victor of this year's GI Preakness S., has been retired from racing and will enter stud at WinStar Farm next season with a fee to be announced at a later date.
“We could not be more excited to add another Classic winner of the caliber of Exaggerator to the WinStar stallion roster,” said WinStar President and CEO Elliott Walden. “He is a sound horse that passes all physical exams, but as the only 3-year-old to test all the Triple Crown races and summer Classics, he's a horse that is asking us for a rest. The fact he remains sound after 15 big-time starts in the last 16 months is a testament to his ability, consistency, fortitude, and class. He is an extreme racehorse–a tough, durable throwback to the old days, like his sire Curlin.”
Winner of the GII Saratoga Special and GIII Delta Downs Jackpot S. as a juvenile last year, Exaggerator romped home by 6 1/4 lengths in the Apr. 9 GI Santa Anita Derby before finishing second behind Nyquist (Uncle Mo) in the GI Kentucky Derby. He turned the tables on the Derby winner with a 3 1/2-length tally in the GI Preakness S. two weeks later and added a third Grade I victory with his 1 1/2-length tally in the July 31 GI Haskell Invitational S.
All three of his Grade I victories came over muddy tracks, but Walden says his overall resume proves Exaggerator was talented over any surface. “Some have questioned his record on a fast track, however, Exaggerator ran everywhere, in all types of conditions, and always faced the best, from Santa Anita to Saratoga,” Walden said. “If you look at how the multiple different speed-figure makers rated Exaggerator, it actually bears out that he was as fast–or even faster–on a dry track as he was on an off track.”
On the board in 10 of 15 starts, Exaggerator won six times and earned $3,581,120 for owners Big Chief Racing, LLC, Head of Plains Partners LLC, Rocker O Ranch, LLC, et al.
“We believed in this horse from the very beginning,” said trainer Keith Desormeaux, who purchased the colt for $110,000 at the 2014 Keeneland September sale. “He is an outstanding individual with class and looks, and he's by a top sire in Curlin. He checked all the boxes for me when I bought him as a yearling. Exaggerator had a tremendous racing career, and it's rewarding that he lived up to our expectations.”
Exaggerator, Curlin's highest lifetime earner, is out of stakes-placed Dawn Raid, a daughter of Canadian champion Embur Sunshine (Bold Ruckus).
“Exaggerator is a special horse,” Big Chief Racing's Matt Bryan said. “He took us on the ride of our lives.”
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