Exaggerator (USA)
February 5, 2013 – Living
Curlin (USA) x Dawn Raid (USA), by Vindication (USA)
Family 3-g
February 5, 2013 – Living
Curlin (USA) x Dawn Raid (USA), by Vindication (USA)
Family 3-g
Although he was capable on a fast track and was a Grade 2 winner over such going, Exaggerator gained the reputation of an off-track specialist at 3, winning three million-dollar races in the slop. He entered stud in 2017.
Race record
15 starts, 6 wins, 3 seconds, 1 third, US$3,581,120
2015:
2016:
Honors
Eclipse Award finalist, American champion 3-year-old male (2016)
Assessments
Rated at 119 pounds on the Experimental Free Handicap for American juveniles of 2015, 9 pounds below divisional champion Nyquist.
Rated at 120 pounds on the 2016 World’s Best Racehorse Rankings for his performances in the Preakness Stakes and the Kentucky Derby, 14 pounds below overall highweight and American champion 3-year-old male Arrogate (who earned his rating in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, USA-G1).
As an individual
A well-balanced, correct dark bay or brown horse with athletic, efficient motion and plenty of energy, Exaggerator typically came from off the pace with a long, sustained rally. As a racer he was professional and willing to do what his jockey asked of him.
As a stallion
According to The Blood-Horse, Exaggerator was ninth on the American champion freshman sire list for 2020.
Connections
Foaled at Stoneleigh Farm in Kentucky, Exaggerator was bred by Joseph Murphy, who sold the colt for US$110,000 at the 2014 Keeneland September yearling sale. Exaggerator was owned by Matthew Bryan’s Big Chief Racing, which sold interests in Exaggerator to Sol Kumin’s Head of Plains Partners and Ronny Ortowski’s Rocker O Ranch following the 2015 Breeders’ Cup. He was trained by Keith Desormeaux and was regularly ridden by Desormeaux’s brother, Kent Desormeaux, who rode the colt to victory in the Preakness Stakes. WinStar Farms acquired the breeding rights to Exaggerator in April 2016, and the colt entered stud there in 2017. He has also shuttled to Haras Doña Ina in Chile since 2018.
Pedigree notes
Exaggerator is inbred 4x5 to 1963 American co-champion 2-year-old male Raise a Native and 5x5 to the great international sire Northern Dancer, who was the 1964 Canadian Horse of the Year and American champion 3-year-old male. He is the third foal of restricted stakes-placed Dawn Raid, a half sister to 2011 Canadian champion older female Embur’s Song (by Unbridled’s Song) and juvenile listed stakes winner Ten Flat (by Meadowlake).
Dawn Raid and her siblings were produced from multiple stakes-placed Embur Sunshine (by Bold Ruckus), whose half sister Private Villa (by Private Terms) is the second dam of 2011 Ecuadorean champion 3-year-old male Villa Madrid. The sisters are out of Vevila (by The Minstrel), a half sister to three-time Canadian champion Eternal Search (by Northern Answer), Australian Group 3 winner Raslaan (by Shareef Dancer), and multiple Canadian stakes winner Gone to Royalty (by Royal Chocolate). Eternal Search is the second dam of nine stakes winners including multiple Grade 2 winner Smokey Fire, Grade 2 winner Frumious, and Canadian Grade 3 winner Jiggs Coz, and Embur Sunshine is also a half sister to Finally Found (by Lord Durham), dam of Grade 2 winner Finality (by Dehere) and Grade 3 winner Stolen Beauty (by Deputy Minister) and second dam of Grade 2 winner This Ones for Phil. In addition, Vevila is a half sister to listed stakes-placed Savethelastdance (by Nureyev), dam of 2004 Queen’s Plate winner Niigon (by Unbridled) and second dam of 2004 Acorn Stakes (USA-G1) winner Island Sand and 2006 Mexican champion 2-year-old male Pozo de Luna.
Vevila and her siblings are out of unraced Bon Debarras, a daughter of 1972 Manhattan Handicap winner Ruritana (by Graustark). The next dam in Exaggerator’s tail-female line, Chou Fleur, is by 1960 Canadian Horse of the Year Victoria Park out of the Nearctic mare Orchestrina and is a winning half sister to 1971 Prince of Wales Stakes winner No Pro Escar (by New Providence).
Books and media
Footage of several of Exaggerator’s major wins (including the Preakness Stakes can be viewed accessed as part of Melissa Bauer-Herzog’s article “Getting to Know Exaggerator,” posted August 2, 2016, at America’s Best Racing (https://www.americasbestracing.net/the-sport/2016-getting-know-exaggerator).
Fun facts
Photo credit
Photo taken by Jessica Morgan at WinStar Farm in 2016. Used by permission.
Last updated: May 7, 2024
Race record
15 starts, 6 wins, 3 seconds, 1 third, US$3,581,120
2015:
- Won Saratoga Special Stakes (USA-G2, 6.5FD, Saratoga)
- Won Delta Downs Jackpot Stakes (USA-G3, 8.5FD, Delta Downs)
- 2nd Claiborne Breeders' Futurity (USA-G1, 8.5FD, Keeneland)
2016:
- Won Xpressbet.com Preakness Stakes (USA-G1, 9.5FD, Pimlico)
- Won Santa Anita Derby (USA-G1, 9FD, Santa Anita)
- Won betfair.com Haskell Invitational Stakes (USA-G1, 9FD, Monmouth)
- 2nd Kentucky Derby--Presented by Yum! Brands (USA-G1, 10FD, Churchill Downs)
- 2nd San Vicente Stakes (USA-G2, 7FD, Santa Anita)
- 3rd San Felipe Stakes (USA-G2, 8.5FD, Santa Anita)
Honors
Eclipse Award finalist, American champion 3-year-old male (2016)
Assessments
Rated at 119 pounds on the Experimental Free Handicap for American juveniles of 2015, 9 pounds below divisional champion Nyquist.
Rated at 120 pounds on the 2016 World’s Best Racehorse Rankings for his performances in the Preakness Stakes and the Kentucky Derby, 14 pounds below overall highweight and American champion 3-year-old male Arrogate (who earned his rating in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, USA-G1).
As an individual
A well-balanced, correct dark bay or brown horse with athletic, efficient motion and plenty of energy, Exaggerator typically came from off the pace with a long, sustained rally. As a racer he was professional and willing to do what his jockey asked of him.
As a stallion
According to The Blood-Horse, Exaggerator was ninth on the American champion freshman sire list for 2020.
Connections
Foaled at Stoneleigh Farm in Kentucky, Exaggerator was bred by Joseph Murphy, who sold the colt for US$110,000 at the 2014 Keeneland September yearling sale. Exaggerator was owned by Matthew Bryan’s Big Chief Racing, which sold interests in Exaggerator to Sol Kumin’s Head of Plains Partners and Ronny Ortowski’s Rocker O Ranch following the 2015 Breeders’ Cup. He was trained by Keith Desormeaux and was regularly ridden by Desormeaux’s brother, Kent Desormeaux, who rode the colt to victory in the Preakness Stakes. WinStar Farms acquired the breeding rights to Exaggerator in April 2016, and the colt entered stud there in 2017. He has also shuttled to Haras Doña Ina in Chile since 2018.
Pedigree notes
Exaggerator is inbred 4x5 to 1963 American co-champion 2-year-old male Raise a Native and 5x5 to the great international sire Northern Dancer, who was the 1964 Canadian Horse of the Year and American champion 3-year-old male. He is the third foal of restricted stakes-placed Dawn Raid, a half sister to 2011 Canadian champion older female Embur’s Song (by Unbridled’s Song) and juvenile listed stakes winner Ten Flat (by Meadowlake).
Dawn Raid and her siblings were produced from multiple stakes-placed Embur Sunshine (by Bold Ruckus), whose half sister Private Villa (by Private Terms) is the second dam of 2011 Ecuadorean champion 3-year-old male Villa Madrid. The sisters are out of Vevila (by The Minstrel), a half sister to three-time Canadian champion Eternal Search (by Northern Answer), Australian Group 3 winner Raslaan (by Shareef Dancer), and multiple Canadian stakes winner Gone to Royalty (by Royal Chocolate). Eternal Search is the second dam of nine stakes winners including multiple Grade 2 winner Smokey Fire, Grade 2 winner Frumious, and Canadian Grade 3 winner Jiggs Coz, and Embur Sunshine is also a half sister to Finally Found (by Lord Durham), dam of Grade 2 winner Finality (by Dehere) and Grade 3 winner Stolen Beauty (by Deputy Minister) and second dam of Grade 2 winner This Ones for Phil. In addition, Vevila is a half sister to listed stakes-placed Savethelastdance (by Nureyev), dam of 2004 Queen’s Plate winner Niigon (by Unbridled) and second dam of 2004 Acorn Stakes (USA-G1) winner Island Sand and 2006 Mexican champion 2-year-old male Pozo de Luna.
Vevila and her siblings are out of unraced Bon Debarras, a daughter of 1972 Manhattan Handicap winner Ruritana (by Graustark). The next dam in Exaggerator’s tail-female line, Chou Fleur, is by 1960 Canadian Horse of the Year Victoria Park out of the Nearctic mare Orchestrina and is a winning half sister to 1971 Prince of Wales Stakes winner No Pro Escar (by New Providence).
Books and media
Footage of several of Exaggerator’s major wins (including the Preakness Stakes can be viewed accessed as part of Melissa Bauer-Herzog’s article “Getting to Know Exaggerator,” posted August 2, 2016, at America’s Best Racing (https://www.americasbestracing.net/the-sport/2016-getting-know-exaggerator).
Fun facts
- Exaggerator was known as “Buster” as a foal. He liked to play with a Jolly Ball (a large ball with handles that was specifically designed as a horse toy) and would throw it over the fence when a visitor approached the paddock to initiate a game of “fetch.”
- Exaggerator was the first winner of the Delta Downs Jackpot to win an American Triple Crown race. The race has also been won by two-time Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (USA-G1) winner Goldencents and 2010 American champion sprinter Big Drama.
- Exaggerator made Keith and Kent Desormeaux the third set of brothers to participate in the Kentucky Derby as trainer and jockey of the same horse. Nick Combest (trainer) and Jimmy Combest (jockey) were 7th with Mr. Moonlight in 1964, while Gerald Romero (trainer) and Randy Romero (jockey) were 12th with Dixieland Heat in 1993.
Photo credit
Photo taken by Jessica Morgan at WinStar Farm in 2016. Used by permission.
Last updated: May 7, 2024