Hall of Fame Profile: Salute The Sky

Original article written by Dan Kauffman posted 8 years 1 week ago

Her parents are both Hall of Famers with Triple Crown championships to their credit. Her grand sire is the legendary A.P. Indy. With those bloodlines, greatness appeared to be in the cards for Salute The Sky, who largely delivered on her promise for owner/breeder Brianna McKenzie.

Salute The Sky's sire is California, whose resume is lengthy -- a Long Island Classic, Arcadia Handicap and Pacific Classic winner who was runner-up in the Year 18 Steward's Cup Classic and earned American Champion Three Year Old Colt and American Champion Older Horse honors, along with more than $4.2 million in earnings. He also was a prolific stud, with his progeny earning more than $66 million in all, including 12 millionaires. Among them are Hall of Famer Whitney (a Long Island Classic and Desert World Cup winner), Louisville Derby champion Frisco Kid and Steward's Cup Juvenile Fillies winner Sport of Queens, all of whom surpassed the $3 million mark.

Salute The Sky's dam is Piece of the Moon, a winner of 7 of 8 starts, including the Louisville Derby (the second of four fillies to win the race) and Steward's Cup Distaff. She produced six millionaires out of 10 foals (with three others earning at least $650,000), including Hall of Famer Piece of the Dream (a Steward's Cup Distaff champion) and Canadian Triple Crown winner Life Worth Living (who won each of the three legs by at least 3 1/2 lengths).

Despite the impressive pedigree, Salute The Sky did not start out as a freak of nature. She also didn't start out on dirt. Instead, McKenzie tried her out on synthetic for her first two races as a juvenile. Her debut came in the Cheese and Crackers Stakes, a 6 1/2-furlong sprint for juvenile fillies at Artificial Arena in Illinois midway through Year 22. There was no greatness on this day, as Salute The Sky finished fourth in a mediocre seven-horse field (to say the least; no other horse in it earned even as much as $50,000) with a piddling 37 speed figure.

Clearly, sprinting was not Salute The Sky's cup of tea. She fared significantly better on the same track six weeks later in a maiden special weight miler for juvenile fillies. While her speed figure (56) was nothing to write home about, nonetheless she made a strong move inside down the stretch to produce a one-length victory over a full field.

Now it was on to the dirt route races her bloodlines said she would thrive in -- and it was straight into top-shelf competition as Salute The Sky was entered into the Grade 1, 1 1/16-mile Inglewood Starlet. It was too big a challenge to meet at that time, as she finished third in the six-horse field with a 54, three lengths behind winner Earhart (who scored the biggest victory of her career) and one behind Becoming (who never won a stakes race).

Needless to say, there wasn't a lot of attention paid to Salute The Sky as she began her 3-year-old season in Year 23. But that would quickly change.

Salute The Sky traveled to New Orleans Park in Week 2 for the Silver Bullet Stakes, covering 1 1/16 miles. The seven-horse field included Commanding I and Salty -- both listed stakes winners as juveniles -- as well as future Grade 1 stakes winner Ornament, future Grade 2 stakes winner Awed and future listed stakes winners Big Dream's and Shocking Blue. Salute The Sky got a wide trip around the first turn, but moved inside on the far turn and was strong down the stretch for an impressive 1 1/4-length victory with a 74.

Four weeks later, Salute The Sky made the trip to Mexico for the Grade 2, 1 1/16-mile Mexican Oaks. Once again she faced six challengers, including Phenomenal and Loki Haunting (both Grade 2 winners as juveniles), Grade 3 winners Donate and Epic Legacy and future listed stakes winner Money Tree I. Salute The Sky repeated her pattern from her previous race, finding running room inside on the far turn. But this time, she was far more impressive, leaving everyone in her dust in winning by a jaw-dropping seven lengths with an equally jaw-dropping 98, crossing the wire in 1:43.60. Now everyone took note of the fast-rising filly with the impeccable pedigree.

Even with the breakout performance, it was considered a bit of a surprise when Salute The Sky was entered in the Long Island Classic three weeks later. It would be her first race against the boys, and at 1 1/2 miles it was more than three furlongs farther than any of her previous outings. The storyline coming into the race was the attempt by the undefeated Awake As I Am to become the fifth SIM Triple Crown winner in addition to his eight-length Steward's Cup Juvenile victory. Also in the field were Grade 1 winners Making History and Flying Past, and Grade 2 winners New Yorker and Of The Best Ones. Flying Past set the tempo for the first mile, but by the final two furlongs, race became a duel between Awake As I Am -- bidding for history -- and Salute The Sky, as the filly gave the favorite everything she had. It was a thrilling stretch drive, and while Awake As I Am managed to get to the wire a half-length in front -- his closest finish ever -- to secure the Triple Crown and finish 9-for-9 lifetime on the way to the Hall of Fame, Salute The Sky's top-notch effort in defeat also earned rave reviews.

The filly stayed in New York for the Grade 1, 1 1/4-mile Midsummer Oaks at The Spa in Week 12. The six-horse field included Grade 1 winners Thorn Bird (the Long Island Acorn champion) and Anticlimactic (the Baltimore Oaks champion), as well as future Grade 1 winner Sauveur and future Grade 3 winners Gangster and Revolution. Salute The Sky took the lead early on the rail and comfortably held off the challenge from Thorn Bird in the stretch to win by 1 1/2 lengths with a 75 for her first Grade 1 victory.

Salute The Sky entered the Year 23 Steward's Cup Distaff at Toronto Racecourse having won 3 of 4 -- and with the lone loss possibly being her most impressive performance, to boot. She was one of the favorites, but the 13-horse field had plenty of contenders:

* Hall of Famer Babe Ruth, the Year 22 Steward's Cup Juvenile Fillies champion and Year and North American Champion Two Year Old Filly who was coming off a win in the Grade 1 Rags to Riches Stakes.

* Defending champion Shining On, a four-time Grade 1 stakes winner.

* Theonethatgotaway, a five-time Grade 1 winner entering on a four-race winning streak, three of them Grade 1s (Orange Blossom Handicap, Faith Unwavering Stakes, Loki Reflection Stakes).

* Five Fading Lights, a two-time Grade 1 winner (Louisville Oaks and Toronto Oaks).

* Desert Lights, a four-time graded stakes winner, including the Grade 1 Lexington Oaks.

* It Is What It Is, a two-time graded stakes winner coming off an 83 in the Grade 2 Kentucky Crown Distaff.

* Spree, entering off two graded stakes wins, including the Grade 2 Dream of Summer Stakes.

Salute The Sky went straight to the front out of the gate, where she battled Desert Nights and Theonethatgotaway in the slop through the first turn and down the backstretch. As those two faded, Salute The Sky remained strong on the lead through the far turn and into the stretch, comfortably holding off It Is What It Is by 1 1/2 lengths with a 78 to become a Steward's Cup champion and wrap up North American Champion Three Year Old Filly honors.

The filly opened her 4-year-old season in Year 24, Week 5 with a race named in her honor -- the Grade 3, 1 1/8-mile Salute the Sky Stakes -- at Middleground Park in Tennessee. The five-horse field also featured multiple graded stakes winners Errant and California Girl and multiple listed stakes winner When The War Ends. Salute the Sky was nine lengths behind front-runners Errant and California girl with four furlongs to go, but wasn't about to lose in her own race, as she stormed around the far turn and down the stretch to pass both and win by 1 3/4 lengths with a 73.

Three weeks later, Salute The Sky traveled to Marathon Racecourse in South Dakota for the Grade 3, 1 1/4-mile Shake Stakes. The seven-horse field included former foe Awed and listed stakes winner Without Measure. Salute The Sky was a heavy favorite to hit the wire first in the mud, but once again found herself needing to make a rally when sitting in sixth, eight lengths behind longshot Melusine I. And rally she once again did, blasting to the front with relative ease down the stretch to win going away by 2 1/2 lengths with a 76.

Salute The Sky took on a stiffer challenge in Week 11, heading to The Spa for the Grade 1, 1 1/4-mile Cadeauja Stakes. The lack of quantity in the four-horse field was made up for by the presence of It Is What It Is and Wondrous Places, a Grade 1 winner as a juvenile the previous year. Even the longshot -- Moorpark I -- was coming off a Grade 2 victory, but she would not be a factor. It Is What It Is led the way, building a lead of more than two lengths with two furlongs to go, with Wondrous Places second and Salute The Sky needing to find her high gear down more than five lengths. Once again, she produced a sizzling stretch run to kick past her challengers, romping to the wire to win by a length and make it five straight wins.

Next up was the Grade 1, 1 1/4-mile Rags to Riches Stakes at Wilmington Park in Delaware, where Salute The Sky would face her toughest challenge of the year to that point. The stacked eight-horse field featured Babe Ruth, It Is What It Is, Anticlimactic, Grade 1 stakes winner Djembe, multiple graded stakes winner Semper Fi and Grade 2 winner Our One Heart. With two furlongs to go, Semper Fi had rallied from third to take the surprising lead, while Salute The Sky was back in fifth, with four lengths to make up. She gave it everything she had -- running a 91 to edge Babe Ruth by a head for second -- but Semper Fi ran the race of her life, posting a 96 for a one-length victory that was easily the biggest of her career.

It was on to the Steward's Cup, being held in Year 24 at Sunshine Park in Florida. Most expected Salute The Sky to try to repeat as the Distaff champion, especially coming off her first loss in more than a year. But McKenzie had her eyes on a bigger prize for her star filly's racing finale: The Classic. Contenders in the 11-horse field included:

* Reigning Desert World Cup champion Born The Best, a winner of nine Grade 1 titles (including the Arcadia Million and the Long Island Gold Cup his last time out) who was the Classic runner-up the previous year.

* Reigning Long Island Classic champion Sun Tzu.

* Reigning Midsummer Classic champion Landing On Dust.

* Reigning Oceanside Classic champion Much Like Falling.

* Year 22 Long Island Classic champion King Of The Desert, entering on a 6-for-7 streak compiled mostly in weaker graded stakes races.

* Chretiens, the South American Horse of the Year and Champion 3 Year Old Colt in Year 22. He was a former Midsummer Classic winner and Desert World Cup runner-up who had won the Inglewood Gold Cup earlier in the year.

* East, 3-for-4 in Year 24 and coming off a Grade 1 win in the Long Island Handicap. He won the Queen's Derby and hit the board in both the Louisville Derby and Baltimore Crown in Year 23.

* Year 23 Midsummer Classic winner Anvil, who had won the Grade 1 Louisville Classic earlier in Year 24.

* Multiple Grade 2 stakes winner Heed the Warning.

* Last but not least, Semper Fi, who had just handed Salute The Sky a rare loss.

The good news: The Year 24 Steward's Cup Classic would end with a massive surprise winner.

The bad news: It wasn't Salute The Sky, who ran a very respectable 79 to finish fourth.

The surprise of the race -- and maybe the entire Steward's Cup that year -- was massive longshot Heed The Warning, who steadily moved through the field to take the lead with two furlongs left and produce a shocking 1 1/2-length victory over Born The Best for his first-ever Grade 1 win. He would win four more Grade 1s, including the Oceanside Classic and Long Island Gold Cup, over the next two years to prove he wasn't just a one-hit wonder.

Salute The Sky finished her racing career 8-for-13 (7-for-10 after a rough juvenile season) with earnings of more than $2.25 million. It was off to the breeding shed, where she would produce three millionaires and seven runners who earned at least $500,000. The millionaires:

* Grant, 7-for-16, more than $3.75 million, Year 38 Louisville Derby champion, North American Champion Three Year Old Male, South American Champion Three Year Old Male.

* Triumph, 9-for-22, more than $2.9 million, Year 28 Midsummer Classic champion.

* The Other Man, 10-for-21, almost $1.6 million, three-time Grade 1 winner.

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