Drefong (USA)
February 19, 2013 – Living
Gio Ponti (USA) x Eltimaas (USA), by Ghostzapper (USA)
Family 1-n
February 19, 2013 – Living
Gio Ponti (USA) x Eltimaas (USA), by Ghostzapper (USA)
Family 1-n
The best runner sired by three-time American champion Gio Ponti, Drefong was a perfect four-for-four in 2016 and nailed down a championship in the American male sprinter division with a determined win over Masochistic in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint (USA-G1). He was a Grade 1 winner again at 4 but raced poorly in his two 2017 starts at Del Mar (losing his jockey in the Bing Crosby Stakes, USA-G1, and breaking poorly in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint) and ended his racing career on a down note. Exported to Japan, he has started well at stud there.
Race record
9 starts, 6 wins, 0 seconds, 0 thirds, US$1,538,385
2016:
2017:
Honors
Eclipse Award, American champion male sprinter (2016)
Assessments
Rated at 118 pounds for his Breeders’ Cup Sprint performance on the 2016 Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings, 16 pounds below overall highweight Arrogate (who earned his rating in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, USA-G1) and 4 pounds below Australian champion sprinter Chautauqua in the Sprint category; he was tied with Priority One Jets Forego Stakes (USA-G1) winner A. P. Indian for best among sprinters on dirt.
Rated at 121 pounds in the Sprint category on the 2017 Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings, 13 pounds below overall highweight Arrogate, 4 pounds below top-rated sprinter Harry Angel (2017 European champion sprinter), and 1 pound below top dirt sprinter Roy H (2017 American champion male sprinter).
As an individual
A well-made bay horse, with an excellent shoulder and the strong hip typical of the Storm Cat tribe, Drefong is on the leggy side and does not have the blocky build considered typical of the sprinter although he is well muscled. Bob Baffert described him as being “quiet” with “a good mind.” Drefong was on the sidelines for close to nine months between his Breeders’ Cup Sprint win and his first start at 4 and never made more than four starts in any of his three seasons on the track.
As a stallion
Drefong began his Japanese stud career auspiciously, siring 31 individual winners among his first 2-year-olds (foals of 2021) and earning a title as Japan’s leading freshman sire.
Notable progeny
Geoglyph (JPN)
Connections
Foaled in Kentucky, Drefong was bred by Frederick M. Allor, Michael T. Barnett, and Anthony M. Warrender, who sold the colt for US$200,000 as a weanling at the 2013 Keeneland November mixed sale. The colt went through the auction ring again as a yearling, fetching US$450,000 from Susan Chu’s Tanma Corporation at the 2014 Keeneland September sale, and became the property of Baoma Corporation, owned by Susan’s husband Charlie Chu. Drefong was trained by Bob Baffert and was ridden to his Breeders’ Cup Sprint win by Martin Garcia. At the end of his racing career, Drefong was exported to Japan to stand at Shadai Stallion Station beginning in 2018.
Pedigree notes
Drefong is outcrossed through five generations. His dam Eltimaas is an unraced half sister to 2003 American champion 2-year-old male Action This Day (by Kris S.).
Eltimaas is out of multiple Group 2-placed Najecam (by Trempolino), whose listed stakes-placed full sister Lady Ilsley is the dam of United Arab Emirates Group 2 winner Lord Admiral (by El Prado) and the second dam of multiple Group 1 winner Star Catcher, 2015 Pattison Canadian International Stakes (CAN-G1) winner Cannock Chase, and French Group 2 winner Pisco Sour. Najecam is also a half sister to listed stakes-placed Quiet Down (by Quiet American), dam of multiple Grade 3-placed restricted stakes winner Quiet Meadow (by El Prado).
Najecam, in turn, is out of Sue Warner (by Forli), a half sister to French Group 2 winner Beaudelaire (by Nijinsky II) and to Irish stakes winner Memento (by Roberto). Produced from 1973 English champion juvenile filly Bitty Girl (by Habitat), Sue Warner is also a half sister to Group 2-placed Nijit (by Nijinsky II), dam of listed stakes winner Spanish Parade by Roberto) and stakes winner Save the Doe (by Spend a Buck); second dam of Grade 2 winner Sherine and multiple Grade 3 winner Parade Queen; and third dam of 2007 Saudi Arabian champion imported handicap horse Obay, multiple Japanese Group 3 winner Keiai Elegant, and Grade 3 winner Untouched Talent. In addition, Sue Warner is a half sister to Size Six (by Caerleon), dam of Brazilian Group 3 winner Lady Six (by Sunny’s Halo) and Italian listed stakes winner New Capricorn (by Green Forest) and second dam of 2009 Grande Premio Asociacion Latinoamericano J. C. Hipodromos (BRZ-G1) winner Hot Six.
Books and media
Videos of Drefong’s win in the 2016 Breeders’ Cup Sprint and the colt’s other Grade 1 wins can be accessed at the Breeders’ Cup Hall of Champions (https://www.breederscup.com/history-tradition/hall-champions/drefong).
Fun facts
Last updated: April 17, 2022
Race record
9 starts, 6 wins, 0 seconds, 0 thirds, US$1,538,385
2016:
- Won TwinSpires Breeders' Cup Sprint (USA-G1, 6FD, Santa Anita)
- Won Ketel One King's Bishop Stakes (USA-G1, 7FD, Saratoga)
2017:
- Won Forego Stakes (USA-G1, 7FD, Saratoga)
Honors
Eclipse Award, American champion male sprinter (2016)
Assessments
Rated at 118 pounds for his Breeders’ Cup Sprint performance on the 2016 Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings, 16 pounds below overall highweight Arrogate (who earned his rating in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, USA-G1) and 4 pounds below Australian champion sprinter Chautauqua in the Sprint category; he was tied with Priority One Jets Forego Stakes (USA-G1) winner A. P. Indian for best among sprinters on dirt.
Rated at 121 pounds in the Sprint category on the 2017 Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings, 13 pounds below overall highweight Arrogate, 4 pounds below top-rated sprinter Harry Angel (2017 European champion sprinter), and 1 pound below top dirt sprinter Roy H (2017 American champion male sprinter).
As an individual
A well-made bay horse, with an excellent shoulder and the strong hip typical of the Storm Cat tribe, Drefong is on the leggy side and does not have the blocky build considered typical of the sprinter although he is well muscled. Bob Baffert described him as being “quiet” with “a good mind.” Drefong was on the sidelines for close to nine months between his Breeders’ Cup Sprint win and his first start at 4 and never made more than four starts in any of his three seasons on the track.
As a stallion
Drefong began his Japanese stud career auspiciously, siring 31 individual winners among his first 2-year-olds (foals of 2021) and earning a title as Japan’s leading freshman sire.
Notable progeny
Geoglyph (JPN)
Connections
Foaled in Kentucky, Drefong was bred by Frederick M. Allor, Michael T. Barnett, and Anthony M. Warrender, who sold the colt for US$200,000 as a weanling at the 2013 Keeneland November mixed sale. The colt went through the auction ring again as a yearling, fetching US$450,000 from Susan Chu’s Tanma Corporation at the 2014 Keeneland September sale, and became the property of Baoma Corporation, owned by Susan’s husband Charlie Chu. Drefong was trained by Bob Baffert and was ridden to his Breeders’ Cup Sprint win by Martin Garcia. At the end of his racing career, Drefong was exported to Japan to stand at Shadai Stallion Station beginning in 2018.
Pedigree notes
Drefong is outcrossed through five generations. His dam Eltimaas is an unraced half sister to 2003 American champion 2-year-old male Action This Day (by Kris S.).
Eltimaas is out of multiple Group 2-placed Najecam (by Trempolino), whose listed stakes-placed full sister Lady Ilsley is the dam of United Arab Emirates Group 2 winner Lord Admiral (by El Prado) and the second dam of multiple Group 1 winner Star Catcher, 2015 Pattison Canadian International Stakes (CAN-G1) winner Cannock Chase, and French Group 2 winner Pisco Sour. Najecam is also a half sister to listed stakes-placed Quiet Down (by Quiet American), dam of multiple Grade 3-placed restricted stakes winner Quiet Meadow (by El Prado).
Najecam, in turn, is out of Sue Warner (by Forli), a half sister to French Group 2 winner Beaudelaire (by Nijinsky II) and to Irish stakes winner Memento (by Roberto). Produced from 1973 English champion juvenile filly Bitty Girl (by Habitat), Sue Warner is also a half sister to Group 2-placed Nijit (by Nijinsky II), dam of listed stakes winner Spanish Parade by Roberto) and stakes winner Save the Doe (by Spend a Buck); second dam of Grade 2 winner Sherine and multiple Grade 3 winner Parade Queen; and third dam of 2007 Saudi Arabian champion imported handicap horse Obay, multiple Japanese Group 3 winner Keiai Elegant, and Grade 3 winner Untouched Talent. In addition, Sue Warner is a half sister to Size Six (by Caerleon), dam of Brazilian Group 3 winner Lady Six (by Sunny’s Halo) and Italian listed stakes winner New Capricorn (by Green Forest) and second dam of 2009 Grande Premio Asociacion Latinoamericano J. C. Hipodromos (BRZ-G1) winner Hot Six.
Books and media
Videos of Drefong’s win in the 2016 Breeders’ Cup Sprint and the colt’s other Grade 1 wins can be accessed at the Breeders’ Cup Hall of Champions (https://www.breederscup.com/history-tradition/hall-champions/drefong).
Fun facts
- Drefong won a record fifth title in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint for Bob Baffert, who had previously trained Thirty Slews (1992), Midnight Lute (2007 and 2008), and Secret Circle (2013). Ironically, Drefong’s stablemate Lord Nelson would probably have been the race favorite after three Grade 1 wins in sprint stakes in 2016, but he had to be scratched after developing an infection in a cut.
- Drefong’s performances played a major part in the selection of Susan and Charlie Chu for the 2017 New Owner of the Year Award. The award, presented by Fasig-Tipton at the Thoroughbred Owners Conference, is given to a new Thoroughbred owner who has been successful in the sport and who has had a positive impact on the Thoroughbred industry.
Last updated: April 17, 2022