Midnight Bourbon – Photo Credit: Coady Photography
Winchell Thoroughbreds’ Midnight Bourbon will make his fourth straight start going one mile in Saturday’s Grade 1, $250,000 Champagne at Belmont Park.
Trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, Midnight Bourbon arrives at the Champagne from a second-place finish in the Grade 3 Iroquois on September 5 at Churchill Downs, where he established a 1 ½-length lead at the top of the stretch but was ultimately passed up by upset winner Sittin On Go. The graded stakes placing came just two weeks after a decisive 5 ½-length maiden victory at second asking at Ellis Park, where he defeated next out winner Aktulgali.
“I’m not sure what happened in the Iroquois,” said Winchell’s racing and bloodstock manager David Fiske. “Steve said he should’ve never got run down. The race may have been a little bit quick back coming off his race at Ellis.”
Prior to scoring at a second-out graduation, Midnight Bourbon displayed pacesetting tactics in his debut, where he faltered to a well-beaten third beaten 10 ½ lengths.
“He went pretty fast early on in his first start. In some ways, it was a little disappointing, but he sure made up for it in his second start,” Fiske said. “He’s never run shorter than a mile, so all along we’ve always thought he would be capable of being a distance horse. It’s interesting how we were able to find four races at one mile at three different tracks.
“He’s a big horse,” Fiske added. “I think moving forward, he’s going to have a lot to work with. He’ll get better as the distances get longer. But he’s got his work cut out for him trying to catch [Grade 1-winning stable mate] Jackie’s Warrior.”
Bred in Kentucky by Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings, Midnight Bourbon is by Tiznow and is the fourth offspring out of the Malibu Moon mare Catch the Moon, whose other progeny are all graded stakes winners and include Girvin, who won the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational in 2017. Midnight Bourbon is also a half-brother to graded stakes winners Cocked and Loaded and Pirate’s Punch.
