Two stallion sons of Cherokee Run were represented by their first winners on
Sunday — champion War Pass, who died after just two years at stud, and Grade 3
winner Chelokee, who survived a severe injury on the racetrack.
War Pass got off the mark courtesy of Java’s War in the
7TH
race at Ellis Park. A rallying fifth in his debut sprinting at Churchill Downs
on June 15, the Charles Fipke homebred was dispatched as the 3-2 favorite here,
and relished the stretch-out to a grassy mile.
Trained by Ken McPeek and ridden by Corey Lanerie, Java’s War had to steady
on the first turn, but overcame that early scrimmage to prevail by 1 3/4
lengths. The Kentucky-bred, who stopped the teletimer in 1:36 4/5 on the firm
turf, is out of the winning Rainbow Quest mare Java, a full sister to champion
turf mare Fiji.
War Pass was literally unbeatable during his two-year-old campaign in 2007.
After winning his first two starts at Saratoga, he slammed Grade 1 rivals in the
Champagne and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile to garner an Eclipse Award. He kicked off
2008 in the same vein, with a 7 1/2-length stroll at Gulfstream Park, but lost
his perfect mark when trailing in the Grade 3 Tampa Bay Derby. War Pass turned
in a much better effort in the Grade 1 Wood Memorial, where he went down by just
a half-length to Tale of Ekati.
That turned out to be his final start, and War Pass retired to Lane’s End
with a mark of 7-5-1-0, $1,583,400. He stood at the Versailles, Kentucky, farm
for two seasons and also shuttled to Widden Stud in Australia for Southern
Hemisphere duties.
Sadly, War Pass died upon his return from Australia to Kentucky on Christmas
Eve 2010. He apparently made the trip in good order, and was turned out in his
paddock at Lane’s End, only to pass away several hours later. A necropsy failed
to pinpoint the cause of death.
The tale of Chelokee has a happier ending. One of the promising
three-year-olds of 2007, Chelokee finished third in his stakes debut in the
Grade 1 Florida Derby, and moved forward off that effort to win the Barbaro
Stakes at Pimlico. His victory was especially poignant: he was conditioned by
Barbaro’s trainer Michael Matz, and he won that race on the Preakness undercard,
almost a year to the day following Barbaro’s catastrophic breakdown.
Chelokee next showed inflexible determination in the Grade 3 Northern Dancer
Stakes at Churchill Downs. Passed by Zanjero, Chelokee fought back to prevail by
a neck. He did not race again until early 2008, returning to action with an
optional claiming victory at Gulfstream Park.
Ready to tackle a graded stakes again, Chelokee lined up in the Grade 3
Alysheba on Kentucky Oaks Day at Churchill. But tragedy unfolded as he went
wrong at the top of the stretch and was pulled up. Originally diagnosed with a
condylar fracture of his right front leg, Chelokee had actually dislocated the
sesamoids in that ankle.
Dr. Larry Bramlage performed surgery at Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital, and
Chelokee made it through the lengthy recovery and rehabilitation to enter stud
at Vinery near Lexington, Kentucky, in 2009.
From that first crop came Sunday’s winner, Lady Kee, who dominated the
5TH
race at Prairie Meadows on the front end. With David Mello aboard, the Jon
Arnett trainee shook off 3-5 favorite Rockport Jewell and widened her advantage
to 5 1/2 lengths at the wire. Lady Kee completed the 4 1/2-furlong maiden
special weight in :52 3/5 on the fast track. Out of multiple stakes winner
Fantango Lady, by Lytrump, she was bred in Iowa by owner William L. Hobbs.
After Chelokee stood one season at Vinery, his owner, Centennial Farms,
decided to
donate him to the University of Arizona Equine Center in Tucson. He
continues to stand there for a fee of $2,000 and receives the extra care and
attention he needs in the wake of his injury.
For updates on Chelokee, including photos, visit the program’s
Facebook page.
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