Half-Brother To Justify, Stage Raider Impresses In The Slop At Keeneland

The half-brother to 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify, Stage Raider made an impressive picture when breaking his maiden at second asking Saturday at Keeneland. Racing as a homebred for John Gunther's Glennwood Farm, the 3-year-old son of Pioneerof the Nile dominated the seven-furlong dirt event by 10 3/4 lengths despite racing greenly in the stretch. The final time was 1:22.62 over a course rated sloppy, earning a Beyer figure of 95.

Defeated in his first outing on Jan. 23 at Gulfstream Park by the highly-regarded Prevalence, Stage Raider is trained by Chad Brown and was ridden Saturday by reigning champion jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr.

Stage Raider is out of the 2018 Kentucky Broodmare of the Year Stage Magic, a Ghostzapper mare who is the dam of three winners from four foals to race.

Stage Magic's star offspring is Justify, a son of Scat Daddy who went undefeated in six career starts, winning on debut, then taking an optional claiming race and the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby before sweeping the Triple Crown. He finished the year earning Eclipse Award honors as champion 3-year-old male and Horse of the Year.

Justify now stands at Ashford Stud in Versailles, Ky., where his first foals will be yearlings of 2021.

The mare has also produced The Lieutenant, a Grade 3-winning son of Street Sense who stood one Northern Hemisphere season in New York, but was killed during a raid at Haras Barlovento in Peru while standing the 2019 Southern Hemisphere breeding season. His first foals are also yearlings.

Stage Raider was offered at the 2019 Keeneland September Yearling Sale by the Glennwood Farm consignment, but the Gunther family elected to hold on to the colt, after he hammered below his reserve with a final bid of $950,000.

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