Amber Saves Best for Last Winning Steward's Cup Classic

Original article written by Marzy Dotes posted 12 years 3 weeks ago

In a star studded field, the brightest one amongst them all took the lead immediately and never looked back.

The dark bay mare with the flashy blaze known as Amber never surrendered her lead and charged to the finish line 1 ¾ lengths ahead of Open At The Close to win the $4 million Grade I Steward’s Cup Classic.

She packs so much speed and strength in her compact frame yet the homebred owned by Susie Raisher has proven to be nearly perfect, winning 14 of her 18 starts and heading to the breeding shed after this race. The victory proved to be especially poignant for the gallant mare after news broke soon after that her paternal grandsire, the Hall of Famer Loki Dynasty passed away underneath his favorite tree at Vishtaspa Stables.

While Loki Dynasty’s legacy to the sport has been assured, Amber is still crafting her own, each accomplishment adding layers to how she will ultimately be remembered.

In the meantime, she had to finish out her outstanding career with a great performance against the best male performers and she seemed up to improving on her second place performance the previous year against the Triple Crown winner Maelstrom. She hadn’t lost since that race and had picked up victories in races such as the Arcadia Million, Baltimore Special (in defense of her title) sending the message that she was more than ready to be the horse to come and chase on Steward’s Cup day.

Her bloodlines regal as they are assist her greatly in going as far as she chooses to go, as her dam Clearly Best was one of the greatest female runners in the sport. This tough daughter of Fighter Jet and Hall of Famer Cadeauje titled twice as the North American champion older mare and won the Steward’s Cup Ladies Route twice. In the breeding shed, she’s been every bit as golden as had been predicted, having already produced recent Los Campeones Classic winner Imperious and the stakes winning filly Valiantly.

Amber’s sire is Triple Crown winner and Hall of Famer Awake As I Am, and this handsome dark bay stallion has been fabulous at stud. Among all active stallions, he’s sired the most winners and they’ve earned the most purse money and among his peers in dirt routing, he’s at the top of nearly every list. But at the age of 12, his fertility will start declining soon and it’ll be left to his progeny to carry on his bloodlines to the next generation. Sons like Stay Awake and Baltimore Crown winner Thriller have already begun doing that at stud.

As soon as entries were accepted, the field for the Steward’s Cup Classic began sizing up as an event boasting an incredible roster of talent. It included Louisville Derby winner Sword, Baltimore Crown winner Spartan and Midsummer Classic winner Akon. This trio of talented sophomore colts had dominated the action among their class often engaging in memorable stretch runs that lifted the crowds at various racing venues along the way to their feet.

Sword who’s is one of several highly successful sons of War Daddy who’s hit the breeding industry by storm in a short period of time. Broodmare Wreath Of Lilies is a stake winning daughter of Unheard Of and so far, Sword’s her most successful runner. Bred and owned by Laura Ferguson, he won his first five starts including the Derby until his close second place finish in the Baltimore Crown. After that, he hit the boards in the Long Island Classic and the Midsummer Classic but was looking to get back on the winning track.

His main foe, Spartan bred and owned by Eric Nalbone is also a son of War Daddy and is the most successful offspring so far out of Terrific, a daughter of Oak Park. Her dam, Loki Miracle also produced near Triple Crown winner Sun Raider whose son Maelstrom accomplished what he could not. Spartan himself has had a sensational career, his only early career loss being to Sword in the Steward’s Cup Juvenile. And after winning the Baltimore Crown, he took the Queen’s Derby and then finished third behind Akon and Sword in the Midsummer Classic. Still, the elegantly designed chestnut colt looked like he hadn’t lost a step while parading around the saddling ring.

Akon had often felt like the odd man out during the Triple Crown races but many believed that soon enough, this statuesque dark bay colt bred and owned by Brianna Mckenzie would rise to the top. He placed third in the Louisville Derby and chased Home Run Derby in the Long Island Classic to finish second. His own day of triumph came soon enough when he bided his time in the Midsummer Classic before running down Sword and Spartan in the stretch to take the victory. Before the Steward’s Cup, he looked like a million bucks being a son of North American Champion Three Year Old Colt Flames and Part Of My Heart whose parents were Hall of Famers Loki Dynasty and Piece of the Moon.

But while the youngsters attracted much of the attention, the older set included top horses like Open At The Close, a grey horse bred and owned by Alysse Peverell. He’s a son of Caldron and out of Superior, a daughter of Hall of Famer Saga who also produced new sire Ultra. Open At The Close had always been a hard charging runner even as a foal running around the pasture alongside his dam and he took that same relentless drive along with his fast churning legs onto the racetrack. After breaking his maiden first time out, he placed second in the Thriller Stakes behind Institutionalized. That colt would move forward to win the Steward’s Cup Juvenile while Open At The Close settled nicely into the Two Year Old Marathon winning it in a thrilling stretch drive against Above All.

He looked awfully good in winning the Kentucky Blue Stakes, his final prep race before the Louisville Derby where he finished third behind Maelstrom and Sport of Queens. A fifth place finish in the Baltimore Crown one week later led him to two straight wins including in The Midsummer Classic. A fierce duo in Maelstrom and Amber relegated him to third in his first attempt at the Steward’s Cup Classic.

The following here, he returned and blazed his trail with wins in the Desert World Cup and the Long Island Gold Cup. With two weeks rest, he was heading to face some of the best racers in the sport in the Classic.
Jockey Gail Sparks had watched as Michael Moody had closed out the first day of the Steward’s Cup with his stirring win on Night Fury in the Juvenile but she had her eye on the Classic. She made a brief appearance at the first night celebratory gala sharing some champagne with Moody but then left to get plenty of rest before the biggest race of her year. Having ridden Amber since she first hit the racetrack, Sparks felt confident in her mare’s ability to get the job done.

And Amber did just that, taking the early lead by a length over Spartan who tried to open up over Open At The Close who held the third spot with Sword and Akon hanging out at the back of the field. In the backstretch, she tugged her reins and opened it up by two lengths over Spartan who held a 5 ¼ length advantage over Open At The Close. Sweeping through the far turn, she ran unchallenged while Spartan still held strong over the others and Sword and Akon began to weave through the pack.
But in the stretch, Amber kicked it in and hit the wire to the roars of the crowds in attendance with Open At The Close sweeping in for the second spot by a ½ length over Who I Am who finished third over Spartan.

Amber closed out her racing career in grand style and then rushed off to her breeding career soon producing a dark bay colt by Sun Raider who’s in the sunset of his own stud career. But even retired from the racetrack, this bold mare has left many memories in her wake.

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