Fifty And Famous earns his name in INSS Super Final triumph

by James Platz

Freshman trotting colt Fifty And Famous drew comparisons to his champion sire Friday night (Oct. 9) as he won the $250,000 Indiana Sires Stakes Super Final at Harrah’s Hoosier Park Racing & Casino. The son of the late millionaire and Breeders Crown champion sprinted home to a 2½-length victory for driver Trace Tetrick to capture the title in 1:54.3 as the narrow favorite.

“This horse has been special all year,” said breeder/owner John Barnard. “He really turned the corner in the last few weeks. This one showed me a lot tonight. He reminded me of his father in a lot of ways.”

Barnard owned Indiana-sired Fiftydallarbill during his racing career and later stood him as a stallion in the Hoosier State. Before the sire’s passing earlier this year, Barnard supported Fiftydallarbill with many mares, and purchased offspring at the sales. He has had success campaigning progeny from the stallion, but Fifty And Famous has proved one of Fiftydallarbill’s most talented products yet.

As a freshman, Fiftydallarbill was tabbed the second choice in his Indiana Sires Stakes Super Final, assigned post 10 and started from the second tier. He broke stride before the start, but made an incredible recovery to finish fourth. Two weeks later he stunned the field to win the 2017 Breeders Crown championship in the series’ first go-round at Hoosier Park.

Like his sire, Fifty And Famous was assigned the trailing position Friday, but unlike his father, he secured the win and divisional bragging rights within the state. When the gate folded, Tetrick raced unhurried in sixth as Nectar Of The Gods and Mike Micallef pushed to the top from post 5, followed by Mendoza Mafia (Atlee Bender), rail horse Tipsy In Vegas, and narrow second choice So Joyful.

After a :27.4 opening panel, Yannick Gingras pulled Tipsy In Vegas and brushed to the lead, bringing with him So Joyful, who would shuffle the new leader to second before a :57.1 half. Fifty And Famous, following the two, found himself first over racing into the last turn and perfectly positioned. Rolling out of the turn (1:26), the colt outsprinted So Joyful and John De Long with a :28.3 last quarter to claim his fourth win in seven seasonal starts and improve his earnings to $193,350. Nectar Of The Gods trotted third.

“When I saw him at the top of the stretch, and coming home down the stretch, he reminded me of his father more than anything,” Barnard said. “He’s got all the positives of his father. And I think he picked up some of the positives of his mother, too.”

Tetrick also sees the similarities between Fifty And Famous and his sire.

“All the ones I’ve driven so far, he’s the most like his dad as any of them that I’ve seen,” Tetrick said in a post-race interview. “He’s got a good attitude, he’s getting stronger-gaited as he gets older. I think he’ll just be a better 3-year-old when it comes time.”

Trained by Luis Quevedo, Fifty And Famous qualified for Friday’s Super Final after three strong efforts in preliminary leg competition. The homebred colt kicked off his career with a win in overnight action, finishing over five lengths in front in a time of 1:57. The freshman followed that with a third-place effort in an Indiana Sires Stakes eligible event before jumping into the program’s top class, racing second to divisional leader Swan Good Bi while trotting home in :26.2.

In early September, Fifty And Famous broke through for his first sires stakes score, turning away favored So Joyful by a-length-and-a-half. Controlled by Tetrick, who also piloted his sire, the 2-year-old tripped the timer in 1:55.2. After racing third in another INSS-eligible contest, Fifty And Famous collected his second victory in the top class, this time romping by six lengths in a seasonal best 1:54.1. The victory assured a spot in Friday’s finale.

“The Fiftydallarbills, they’ve got a mind of their own,” Barnard said. “They’re smart horses. And the good ones are going to be very, very good.”

Fifty And Famous is the third foal — and first Fiftydallarbill — from Yankee Glide mare Dance To Fame. Barnard saw her as a yearling while shopping at the Lexington Selected Yearling Sale.

“I was looking at one with Kevin Kline, who ran the equine program at the University of Illinois,” Barnard said. “I looked up and I saw this horse across the way quite a distance from me. And I said, ‘Who is that horse?’ And he started laughing. He said, ‘You better get your wallet out. You’re going to have to pay for that one.’”

Barnard bought Dance To Fame for $40,000, well under what he thought would be required to own her. Although she wasn’t stellar on the track — four wins and four second-place finishes in 32 career starts, with a 1:56.1 sophomore mark and $30,000 in earnings — the owner felt she was well-suited to be a broodmare.

“I’ve always loved her as a broodmare, and I’ve always expected good things from her,” he said. “She kind of told me early that I’m going to be a broodmare. I don’t particularly want to race. She’s a nice horse and she’s put together the right way. She’s produced a really, really nice colt here.”

Barnard is a big believer in keeping freshman campaigns light and placing the focus on the sophomore season. He credited both Quevedo and Tetrick for the manner in which the colt has been developed and managed this season. The owner/breeder also lamented that despite Fifty And Famous being in peak form, there may be limited opportunities going forward.

“He is really coming into his own,” Barnard said. “That’s kind of the way ‘Fifty’ did as a 2-year-old. He got better in October. He just started coming on. I’m excited about him. He’s an incredible animal. I wish we had a lot more races coming up.”