Brilliant Travers Stakes (G1) winner Epicenter, who suffered a career-ending injury in the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) earlier this month at Keeneland, is making a good recovery and will stand at Coolmore's Ashford Stud in Versailles, Kentucky, for 2023 at a fee of $45,000.
The son of Not This Time led the sophomore division in the winter and early spring following victories in the Gun Runner Stakes, the G2 Risen Star Stakes and the G2 Louisiana Derby. Sent off favorite for the first two legs of the Triple Crown he finished second on both occasions but lost none of his luster in defeat.
Skipping the G1 Belmont Stakes with an eye on the Travers, Epicenter was next seen in the G2 Jim Dandy, where he powered home to victory off a 10-week break.
However the best was yet to come, and it came in the Travers Stakes the following month. A dominating performance (To watch, click here.) saw him score by 5¼ lengths from multiple Grade 1 winner Cyberknife and cement his position atop the 3-year-old male division. His Beyer Speed Figure of 112 was the highest of any of his generation on dirt this year.
“Epicenter was solid all year and the Travers was the breakout performance he needed and deserved, and he did it in an emphatic way,” said trainer Steve Asmussen. “He put everything together on a grand stage.”
“He was a brilliant horse whose best racing days were still in front of him,” said Ron Winchell, who raced the colt. “Bred on the reverse of Gun Runner's Candy Ride/Giant's Causeway cross he's a hugely exciting stallion prospect.”
“Epicenter is the best son of Giant's Causeway's best sire son Not This Time and is out of a stakes winner by the sire of Gun Runner,” said Coolmore's Dermot Ryan. “His combination of speed and stamina made him a potent force and he's a very good-looking horse to boot. Breeders are going to love him.”
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