Awake As I Am Pensioned at 14

Original article written by Marzy Dotes posted 11 years 3 weeks ago

The two stallions stood nearly identical in height, which meant that they could more easily look each other in the eye. They were born barely a week apart and both rose up on their spindly legs very soon after birth.

When they took to their respective pastures, they’d stray long enough from their dams to race around the field beating out the others in their class. Both soon fleshed out to be strong and fast, their muscular legs eating up the dirt with swift strides in their timed works. Though hardly a dress rehearsal for what they’d face in competition, it helped them attract the attention of horse racing fans way before either horse made his debut in the spotlight.

Both earned their success and built their legendary statuses taking different paths, which established them both as among the most successful racehorses and stallions of their generation. But in recent weeks, both of them came together in a sense when a last flurry of mares arrived, alerted by a harbinger of sorts that their stud careers would soon come to an end.

East met his date with the pensioner first but people knew that his adversary on the racetrack and at stud would soon follow him.

So it came to be that this week, Triple Crown winner Awake As I Am pensioned at the age of 14.

Only four days lapsed between the dates that the two studs received their walking papers. In fact, East had become an eventer and had begun training in earnest for his latest career a day before Awake As I Am was pensioned. What the future holds for the handsome dark bay horse with the star and the penchant for wearing flowers isn’t certain but more than likely he’ll live out his final years in leisure at his home at the Trial By Summer Stables in the heart of Kentucky.

He was a horse more regally bred than any other of his generation to run the three races that would define him as one of the greatest.

His sire was Hall of Famer Loki Dynasty one of the foundational sires in the sport. This striking dark bay horse favored red roses won in the Louisville Derby where he defeated Viper by a neck. After that race, he won a Triple Crown of his own up in Canada. In that trio of races, he was able to show off the versatility which would later define many of his offspring, winning the Queens’ Derby and the Prince of Peace Stakes on dirt just to get started. He concluded by switching to the turf for the first time in his career and liking it enough to win the Canadian Breeders’ Stakes by 1 ½ lengths.

By the time he retired to stud, he had earned over $4.4 million recording only one loss in 13 starts which was his second place finish behind Atlas in the Steward’s Cup Classic. One stride shy of perfection, a deficit his favorite son would improve upon in his own career.

Still at stud, Hall of Famer Loki Dynasty went on to sire so many different winners on three different surfaces and over the hedges. He sired colts who won races in the Triple Crown including West who won the Baltimore Crown (before repeating his sire’s feat by winning the Canadian triple) and fillies who did like including High Flyer who won the Louisville Derby. He even sired the broodmare of the one Triple Crown winner who’d follow him who was Maelstrom a son of Such Great Heights.

Loki Dynasty hooked up with more hot broodmares than he knew what to do with but perhaps none of them quite as fine as another Hall of Famer, Wonder.
She saw him twice, striking gold both times though it was her second born son who would prove most successful. But before that, Wonder had her own experiences contesting in the Triple Crown finishing second in the Baltimore Crown and third in the Louisville Derby. As a broodmare, she produced some of the best racehorses from miler Most to routers Awakeandwonderful and recently retired, Stay Inside.

Even her other foal by Loki Dynasty, the filly Asleep As I Am made her mark, winning the Steward’s Cup Distaff among other stakes.

Bred by Dave Shields, Awake As I Am started out his career by winning first time out at a sprint by two lengths. He stretched out to a mile in the Graduation Year Stakes which he won by six over future Steward’s Cup Dirt Mile winner Mighty Black. He captured his next race by the same margin when he won the Long Island Futurity in the slop proving that nothing could stop his path to greatness.

He faced Mighty Black and a host of others in the Steward’s Cup Juvenile, his first dirt route, and even though he raced parts of the race very wide, he powered down the stretch to easily win by eight lengths. That won him his first championship title as the top two year old male in North America.

Naturally his next challenge would be the Triple Crown the following year so he prepped for it with authoritative wins in the Loki Masterpiece Stakes and the Southern California Derby which made him the early favorite for the Louisville Derby.

But 18 other horses had lined up to challenge him including the aforementioned East who was riding a four race winning streak. Like Awake As I Am, East hadn’t faced serious challenges in his races and race goers and handicappers talked about the matchup between the two formidable horses. Others in the race included Anvil, Something Better, Sahara Desert and The Court Jester.

When the gates opened, Awake As I Am broke very well and settled into position, running economically by keeping on the inside of the racetrack while several others dueled in front of him. Coming off the far turn, he made his move and was met by East. The two roared down the lane trying to beat each other and at the wire, Awake As I Am pulled away for a 1 ¼ length victory.

He then moved on to the Baltimore Crown where he faced a smaller field including East, Anvil and Much Like Falling who had finished second to Awake As I Am in the Southern California Derby. In Baltimore, jockey Colin O’Neill had predicted that his horse would prevail and that’s exactly what happened as Awake As I Am left the starting gate in a rush. He struggled to find a good spot to stalk the pace during much of the race but in the stretch, he again prevailed over Much Like Falling by 1 ¾ lengths leaving East to finish third.

The final jewel of the Crown loomed large as it has for most that were one step away from immortality. Only the 1 ½ distance in the Long Island Classic which would be covered in less than 2 ½ minutes stood in his way of what would also be his final performance. In this race, the mighty filly Salute the Sky, the daughter of Louisville Derby winner Piece of the Moon faced him and she would make work every step of the race for his Triple Crown. They both got off in good form and it didn’t take them that long to separate themselves from the rest of the pack and once they did, the pace turned relentless as the filly had his measure. Unable to charge away from her, he had to engage in the biggest stretch battle of his career to get the job done.

Not only was the Crown on the line but so was his record of perfection so as the wire loomed, Awake As I Am dug in very deep and found the gear that allowed him to prevail at the finish by a half length. The crowds roared as he crossed the finish line, as the sport’s fourth Triple Crown winner and its first since Jet Ski ten years earlier. He won the divisional championship title as well as North American horse of the year for his outstanding season.

Retirement came soon after while he was at the top of his game and though some people wished he’d stayed in action longer, many of the breeders rejoiced sending him their broodmares to produce that next generation of top dirt racers. People knew that he’d very successful given his royal pedigree, his smashing good looks and his racing resume and they turned out to be right.

At stud, Awake As I Am saw an incredible 136 foals in his first crop. Among the best were future Baltimore Crown winner Thriller, North American Champion Older Mare and Steward’s Cup Ladies Route winner Altar and Talented As I Am. He had over 100 horses in his next crop and those included the likes of Steward’s Cup Classic Stay Awake and the millionaires, The Awakening and Hit the Snooze.

Other strong performers like Axe, Same and I and I went on to make their marks at stud and it soon became apparent that Awake As I Am would prove to be gifted at siring future studs.

Not that he didn’t boast a great record overall at stud himself up to the date of pensioning. About 69.4% of his runners so far have been winners and 15.7% of them have been stakes winners. He also sired some very impressive female performers including North American Horse of the Year Amber and Steward’s Cup Ladies Route winner When I Wake Up.

Among his more recent offspring is South American Champion Three Year Old Male Voldemort who also won the Long Island Classic and is set to make his mark at Desert Oasis Park.

As a broodmare sire, he’d have over 1,100 grandsons and daughters. His most successful in this group included Steward’s Cup Juvenile Fillies winner Gamble in the Dark and one of the top sophomore colts, the undefeated Fire Fly who’s a son of Amber.

In many ways, Awake As I Am and his contemporary East were evenly matched. Not on the racetrack of course but when both went to stud. Both proved to be great successes with statistical averages that were closely matched.
When it came to exiting the state, interestingly enough they also did so nearly at the same time which only seemed fitting. They’ve both left as legends with Awake As I Am already a Hall of Famer and East one of the most powerful successes at stud.

Now it’s up to their progeny to pick up their respective mantles to carry on the tradition of siring and producing top class dirt racers for the generations to come.

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