User:Jlvsclrk/McCraken

McCraken (foaled April 13, 2014) is an American Thoroughbred racehorse who was one of the early favorites for the 2017 Kentucky Derby. He won all three starts at age two, including the Street Sense and Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes. He debuted at age three with a win in the Sam F. Davis Stakes, but then suffered a setback and missed his next start. Returning in the Blue Grass Stakes in April, he finished third, earning enough points to qualify on the 2017 Road to the Kentucky Derby. In the Derby, he finished eighth despite being injured at the start. After some time off to recover, he returned in June to win the Matt Winn Stakes

Background
McCraken races as a homebred for Whitham Throughbreds, owned by Janis Whitham and her son Clay. The Whitham family had been involved in horseracing for over 30 years, having previously campaigned the Hall of Fame racemare Bayakoa and the 2012 Breeders' Cup Classic winner Fort Larned. In 1988, Whitham's husband Frank purchased a weanling filly named Tuesday Evening, who is McCraken's third dam. Tuesday Evening produced three stakes winners including Madame Pandit, McCraken's second dam. Madame Pandit was also a stakes producer but had only one daughter, Ivory Express, to continue the family. Ivory Express was a stakes-placed racehorse sired by Seeking the Gold, who in turn was by Mr. Prospector. She was bred to Ghostzapper, who is from the Northern Dancer sire line, as Whitham likes to cross sires descended from Northern Dancer with mares from the Mr. Prospector sire line. Ghostzapper was one of the most brilliant racehorses of his time, able to win at both sprints and classic distances. He has been a good sire whose offspring tend to develop late.

McCraken is named after a town in Kansas, located about 110 miles away from Whitham's home town in Leoti. He is trained by Ian Wilkes, who was once an assistant for Hall of Fame trainer Carl Nafzger. McCraken is Wilkes first Kentucky Derby entrant as a trainer but Wilkes was involved with Nafzger's Derby winners Unbridled and Street Sense.

2016: two-year-old season
McCraken made three starts at age two, all at Churchill Downs. His first start was on October 2, 2016 in a maiden special weight race over $6 1/2$ furlongs. He ran close to the early pace then made a strong run in the stretch to win by $2 1/2$ lengths.

On October 30, he was entered in the Street Sense Stakes, run at a distance of one mile, where he was the third favorite in the field of nine. Heavy favorite Speedmeister went to the early lead and set a brisk pace. McCraken was near the back of the pack in the early running, then moved wide around the turn to get racing room. In the stretch, he drew away by $3 3/4$ lengths, winning so convincingly that the Thoroughbred Daily News designated him as a "Rising Star". His time of 1:35.55 was a stakes record. "Anytime you win first time out with a 2-year-old you start dreaming and then you got to go to the next step and see how they handle that next step", said Wilkes. "I thought that this was a solid group of horses so to beat them like he did; I think he’s a nice horse."

On November 26, McCraken faced graded stakes horses for the first time in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes over a distance of $1 1/16$ miles. McCraken dropped behind the early pace set by Wild Shot then swung wide on the turn, starting in a sustained drive. In the stretch, he edged past Wild Shot to win by $1 1/4$ lengths. "I believe we are getting Derby fever," stated Clay Whitham. "Winning this race definitely gives us expectations that he's a good horse. We'll see how it goes. Obviously you don't want to get too far ahead in this business, but he's a very nice horse."

"A horse like this makes it easy," said jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. "He's a boy, but he's growing up, and he's getting it all together. He was a lot more settled today, and in his last race he hadn't run in a while, but today he did everything the right way."

2017: three-year-old season
McCraken made his three-year-old debut on February 11, 2017 in the Sam F. Davis Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs. The 3-2 favorite in a field of nine, McCraken scored another convincing victory while setting a new track record of 1:42.45 for $1 1/16$ miles. "We'e got a long way to go. This is not a one-race program," said Wilkes. "I want two more races for him, then the Derby. This is just one stepping stone, and we keep building."

The win moved McCraken to the top of the NTRA poll of top three-year-olds and made him the 5-1 favorite in the third of four Kentucky Derby Future Wagering Pools. However, McCraken then suffered a setback when Wilkes noticed that the horse had slightly injured his left front ankle after a workout on February 27. The next day, Wilkes announced that McCraken would miss his next scheduled start. "I just feel like... the horse comes first," he said. "And I don't want to come back and work him next week for the Tampa Bay Derby. If I have to miss a race, I would rather miss this one, take care of the horse, get him right and run him in the Blue Grass."

On April 8, McCraken returned in the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland, where he faced several highly regarded Derby hopefuls including Practical Joke, J Boys Echo and Tapwrit. McCraken settled into third, close behind a moderate pace set by longshots Wild Shot and Irap. In the stretch, McCraken tried to make up ground but failed to accelerate, finishing in third behind Irap and Practical Joke. Wilkes remained confident about his colt's Derby chances, believing the horse needed the race to regain the fitness level he had lost due to the injury. "He's a little tired," said Wilkes the next day. "He got something out of it and... you know, (the loss) takes the pressure off trying to stay unbeaten. He made some mistakes, faced some adversity but he kept running. He didn't quit on me."

Though suffering his first loss, McCraken earned enough points to qualify on the 2017 Road to the Kentucky Derby. He trained well in the weeks leading up to the Derby and was installed as the co-second choice at odds of 5-1 on the morning line. However, McCraken was severely impeded at the start due to a "chain reaction" that began when Irish War Cry, in the 17th post position, ducked to the inside at the start, pushing over number 16 Tapwrit. Tapwrit then bumped into McCraken in post 15 who bumped heavily with Classic Empire. After recovering his stride, McCraken eventually settled in mid-pack and tried to make a run in the stretch but bumped again with Classic Empire, losing momentum and settling for eighth place. He came out of the race with a puncture wound on his left hind ankle and was given some time off to recover.

McCraken returned on June 17 in the Matt Winn Stakes at Churchill Downs, where he went off as the heavy 1-5 favorite. He started near the pack of the pack then made his move on the far turn, pulling away down the stretch for an easy win. "His last couple races, in the Derby and even in the Blue Grass, he left a little on his toes and today he was kind of back to his old self, where he got into a nice rhythm around there and wasn't wanting to overdo it in the first part," said jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. "Then he kind of just built his confidence up as he went along and he went on by those horses pretty easily. You always hear it, but it really was the perfect race for a horse coming back."



Pedigree
McCraken is inbred 5S x 3D to Mr. Prospector, meaning Mr. Prospector appears in the fifth generation of the sire's side of the pedigree and in the 3rd generation of the dam's side.