Whether it's on the Triple Crown trail or the state-bred circuit, a Thoroughbred's 3-year-old season is often among their highest-earning campaigns on the racetrack.
In Pennsylvania, that high-earning season can lead to high earnings for several horsemen and women involved with the horse, if that horse was born and sired in the Keystone State.
Through the end of July, Nimitz Class leads all 3-year-olds by combined Pennsylvania incentive earnings, bringing in a total of $87,714 for a variety of connections.
The Munnings colt has been remarkably consistent during his 2022 campaign, winning four races at Penn National for owner Tom Coulter and trainer Bruce Kravets.
Nimitz Class started his 2022 campaign winning four of five, started by a six-length maiden special weight score on Jan. 4. After a fourth-place effort in his allowance debut, he got back on the winning track on March 22 with a front-running 3 1/2-length victory in the allowance ranks.
That was followed by another allowance score on April 21, where colt was once again never far from the front and drew off to win by 3 1/4 lengths.
From there, Nimitz Class made a successful leap to stakes competition in the Danzig Stakes on June 3. The colt had to employ different tactics in the Danzig, settling in seventh early on, and having early attempts to advance stalled by traffic. Under jockey Tyler Conner, Nimitz Class split horses and got up just in the nick of time to prevail by three-quarters of a lengths.
The Danzig Stakes is restricted to Pennsylvania-breds, providing a clear benefit to the racetrack connections of Nimitz Class for investing in a horse born in the state. However, the state's various awards ensured that Coulter saw additional rewards for investing in the Pennsylvania program.
Nimitz Class was bred by Coulter's Arrowwood Farm, out of the stakes-winning Flatter mare Five Diamonds.
Because Nimitz Class was bred in Pennsylvania, but his sire, Munnings, is a resident of Kentucky, the colt was eligible for a breeder's award of 25 percent on purse earnings for a maiden race run in the state, which he promptly cashed. After that, he was eligible for a 20 percent bonus on purse earnings for all other races.
In total, Nimitz Class brought in $24,102 in breeder's awards through the end of July.
Coulter saw further awards through the state's owner bonus program, which offers a 20 percent bonus on purse earnings for Pennsylvania-sired runners bred out-of-state that run at Penn National. With four wins at the track, that meant an extra $6,612 in bonuses from this category.
The post Pennsylvania Leaderboard Presented By PHBA: Nimitz Class Gets Hot At Penn National For Owner/Breeder Coulter appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
