Andre Falters While Pingu Triumphs in the Steward's Cup Turf

Original article written by Fanta Arcadia posted 11 years 0 weeks ago

Everyone had pretty much believed that Andre was going to win the Steward’s Cup Turf. He had already won the Arc de Triomphe and all that was left was a single mile and a half long race. Hardly any of us factored in a particular horse named Pingu.

Pingu is owned and was bred by Brian Leavitt and was sired by Trafalgar and is out of the Fumetsu mare Terrier. As we all know, Trafalgar was an exceptional racehorse and his stud career is no different. His pedigree follows along the same path considering he is the son of Vernacular that is out of the Loki Flame mare Banner.

In a way, Pingu sort of came from nowhere until this year. At the end of this year he won the Chief Bearhart Stakes and then the Kentucky Crown Turf. Before that he had no big wins to his name. He had just competed in allowances and had made three stakes attempts. He finished second, third, and sixth in his three attempts. Then he exploded into the limelight and has made an impact ever since.

That impact was felt insanely so at the Steward’s Cup. Pingu had a stumbled start but quickly recovered, and then his regular jockey tucked him in along the rail in sixth place. At one point he had dropped back to seventh position and then with a bold inside move Pingu exploded in a brilliantly game burst of speed to run down Quite the Feat just in time at the wire.

Pingu’s great stretch move career him from seventh to first to win by a neck. Pingu pulled off one of the biggest upsets in Steward’s Cup history. Even though Andre never once rallied into contention, Quite the Feat was a heavily regarded foe and Pingu ran him down like he had been competing against graded stakes competition his entire life.

Pingu’s win is a Cinderella story at its finest that should have been seen coming given his recent success on the track. With this marvelous win the dark bay horse’s career earnings moved up to $1,822,800. In three starts Pingu has remained himself into nearly a multi-millionaire and a horse that could compete at the highest level of turf races going a true route.

Pingu was shipped to Pegasus Feathers International in the United Arab Emirates to rest and assumedly being to train for the rich desert races in the spring. After that who knows where the dark bay son of Trafalgar will travel. He could either come back and hit the rich American turf races such as the Chicago Million and others, or he could go to Europe to train and prepare for their rich races including one of the world’s most prestigious events: the Arc de Triomphe. Wherever Pingu goes from here is sure to be one exiting ride, especially with the wild ride that he has already given to us in his thrilling triumph in the Steward’s Cup Turf.

All I can say is best of luck to Pingu and Brian Leavitt in their future endeavors.

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