Dueling Grounds Derby winner Kitodan Named HBPA’s Claiming Horse of 2022

Turf specialist Kitodan, who went from being claimed twice last year to winning Kentucky Downs's GIII $750,000 Big Ass Fans Dueling Grounds Derby, has been selected the National HBPA's 2022 Claiming Horse of the Year, the group announced Friday morning.

“We are blessed that we were able to claim that kind of horse compared to where we were just a few years ago,” said western Kentucky-based trainer Eric Foster,  whose wife Brooklyn's Foster Family Racing and partners Doug Miller and Bill Wargel campaign the now 4-year-old colt after claiming him for $80,000 in May. “We're really happy and humble to own him and thank the National HBPA for having this award. Winning Claiming Horse of the Year came out of the blue, but we are honored and so proud of Kitodan. People like us, we can't go to the Keeneland sale, pick the ones we want and hold our hand up until we come home with them.”

Kitodan will be honored at the awards luncheon Tuesday March 7 as part of the annual National Horsemen's Benevolent & Protective Conference March 6-10 at the historic Hotel Monteleone in New Orleans's French Quarter.

“Kitodan exemplifies what we look for in the National HBPA Claiming Horse of the Year,” said Todd Mostoller, chair of the National HBPA's awards committee. “He ran at five different tracks on grass, synthetic and dirt and showed that it's better for a racehorse to have a big heart than a big price tag while going from three claiming races to graded-stakes winner. We love these stories. It gives hope to horsemen everywhere that you don't have to buy six- and seven-figure babies to come up with a good horse.”

Kitodan, a $9,000 yearling purchase, made money for his three sets of owners as a 3-year-old. After running in stakes at age 2 for Joker Racing, Kitodan was claimed in his first start of 2022 for $35,000 by trainer Mike Maker on behalf of owners Paradise Farms Corp. and David Staudacher, who campaigned 2021 Claiming Horse of the Year Special Reserve. Kitodan promptly won another optional allowance race at Churchill Downs while again in for the $35,000 claiming price before taking Turfway Park's $200,000 Rushaway S. by 3 3/4 lengths.

When Maker subsequently ran Kitodan for the $80,000 price tag in an optional claiming race at Churchill Downs, Foster was the only one to put in a claim.

The partners recovered their investment just three weeks later when Kitodan won Churchill's $200,000 Audubon S. at 40-1 odds, and went on to win at a mile and five-sixteenths in the Dueling Grounds race.

“It's one of those things you only dream about in racing to come up with a horse like this,” said Miller, of Junction, Ill.  “If we were trying to do this individually, we wouldn't even have thought about it. Partnering gave us the opportunity.”

It was the first graded-stakes victory for the owners and by far the biggest purse.

“There are a lot of people who have a lot more money and investment in the horses and never get this kind of horse,” said Wargel, of Ridgway, Ill., 50 miles from Kentucky's Ellis Park. “We're just old farm boys, me and Doug. Whether we never have another one or that horse never wins another race, he made a dream come true for us.”

Foster said that Kitodan winning Claiming Horse of the Year is a team award that includes his partners who made it possible, along with the trainer's staff and family, who help with the stable.

“We would never want to accept an award like this without thanking Juan Medina,” Foster said of his assistant trainer. “He not only takes care of Kitodan but is also his regular exercise rider. We also very appreciative to (jockey) Geraldo Corrales and his agent Cliff Collier.”

Kitodan is getting time off at Foster's farm in Utica, Ky., near Owensboro, with a major goal being Kentucky Downs' $1 million GII Kentucky Turf Cup in September and hopefully a trip to Santa Anita for the $4 million Longines Breeders' Cup Turf, a race he missed last year with a minor leg issue.

“He's probably put on 100, 150 pounds. The time off has really done him some good,” Foster said. “We're hoping to start back with him at the end of February. We'd love to get back to Kentucky Downs.”

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Special Reserve Named HBPA Claiming Horse of the Year

Special Reserve (Midshipman) started last season being claimed for $40,000 and ended 2021 as the National HBPA Claiming Horse of the Year. In between, the 5-year-old gelding won two graded stakes and three stakes overall, finished second by a half-length in Saratoga's GI Alfred G. Vanderbilt H.and concluded the season with a fourth in the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint.

“It's been such a great experience, and he's such a great horse,” said David Staudacher, who co-owns the Mike Maker-trained Special Reserve with Peter Proscia's Paradise Farms Corp. “This award means a lot. I've been in the business over 40 years, and I had my first stakes win with Mike four or five years ago. I've been claiming horses a long time–claimed some good ones, claimed some not-so-good ones. Love the sport, love the people involved. It's just so much fun.”

Echoed Proscia: “He's been a great horse to watch. He tries all the time, and Mike did a great job with him. [The award] was a pleasant surprise. This horse has brought us a lot of fun and success. We're looking forward to his 2022 campaign.”

Each year the National HBPA Industry Awards Committee, chaired by Pennsylvania HBPA Executive Director Todd Mostoller, reviews nominated horses to choose the one most exemplifying the spirit of a National HBPA Claiming Horse of the Year.

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Special Reserve Named National HBPA Claiming Horse Of The Year

Special Reserve started last season being claimed for $40,000 and ended 2021 as the National HBPA Claiming Horse of the Year. In between, the 5-year-old gelding won two graded stakes and three stakes overall, finished second by a half-length in Saratoga's Grade 1 Vanderbilt and concluded the season with a very competitive fourth in the $2 million Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1).

“It's been such a great experience, and he's such a great horse,” said David Staudacher, who co-owns the Mike Maker-trained Special Reserve with Peter Proscia's Paradise Farms Corp. “This award means a lot. I've been in the business over 40 years, and I had my first stakes win with Mike four or five years ago. I've been claiming horses a long time – claimed some good ones, claimed some not-so-good ones. Love the sport, love the people involved. It's just so much fun.”

Echoed Proscia: “He's been a great horse to watch. He tries all the time, and Mike did a great job with him. (The award) was a pleasant surprise. This horse has brought us a lot of fun and success. We're looking forward to his 2022 campaign.”

Each year the National HBPA Industry Awards Committee, chaired by Pennsylvania HBPA Executive Director Todd Mostoller, reviews nominated horses to choose the one most exemplifying the spirit of a National HBPA Claiming Horse of the Year.

“Claiming horses are the hard-knocking heroes of this industry, who must prove themselves every day through sweat, muscle and heart,” said National HBPA CEO Eric Hamelback. “Each year our awards committee seeks to reward the best representative. As the heart, soul and brawn of American Thoroughbred racing, they are extremely popular competitors. Their stories, and those of their owners, are often easily identified with and appreciated by all racing's fans.

“This year the committee had several quality horses to decide from, and it was a tough choice. In the end, Special Reserve and his connections proved the quality of horses that are found within the claiming ranks, the horses that make this industry's foundation. We are honored to recognize the connections at our 2022 Conference at Oaklawn and recognize them for the accomplishments of such a great horse.”

The National HBPA Annual Conference will be March 1-4 at the Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort in Hot Springs, Ark.

Maker, headquartered in Louisville and with divisions throughout the Midwest and East, has made a career out of claiming horses and turning them into graded-stakes winners.

“He's just phenomenal,” Staudacher said. “His program and his team, they're able to move horses up. He's got a real eye for the ones he claims. Winning a couple of stakes races and finishing fourth in the Breeders' Cup was like a dream come true.”

Proscia and Staudacher both utilize handicapping “sheets” and liked what they saw in Special Reserve, with Maker in agreement that they try to claim the horse. Proscia, of Garden City, N.Y., said the gelding fit other parameters they use for identifying horses to claim. That Special Reserve was the longest shot (and the only horse in for the claiming price) in the tough second-level allowance/optional claiming race Feb. 6 at Oaklawn didn't bother them. Their faith was rewarded when the gelding won by a neck at 22-1 odds.

“I thought he could move forward,” Proscia said. “Did I know he was going to be in the Breeders' Cup? No, not a chance. But he started to develop. We gave him the time he needed, spaced the races out and he rewarded us.”

Five weeks after the claim, Maker ran Special Reserve right back for the second-level allowance condition at Oaklawn, resulting in another victory. The gelding subsequently was second in Keeneland's Grade 3 Commonwealth, won Pimlico's Grade 3 Maryland Sprint Match Series Stakes and the $100,000 Iowa Sprint before his narrow defeat in Saratoga's Alfred G. Vanderbilt.

Special Reserve earned his spot in the Breeders' Cup by taking Keeneland's Grade 2 Stoll Keenon Ogden Phoenix, a “Win and You're In” qualifying race for the $2 million Qatar Racing Sprint (G1). That day he defeated eventual Sprint winner Aloha West by a neck. A month later at Del Mar, Special Warrior pressed the very fast favorite Jackie's Warrior, fighting gamely in the stretch before getting passed late to lose the Sprint by a total of 2 1/4 lengths.

The 2021 Claiming Horse of the Year is getting a break after a hard campaign that saw the gelding go 5-2-0 in eight starts, earning $617,100. A son of 2008 juvenile champion Midshipman, Special Reserve has a career record of 8-2-7 in 23 starts while accruing $738,647.

Maker said he is particularly happy to see Proscia and Staudacher recognized.

“They love the game, whether it's claiming, buying, betting,” he said. “Just great guys. It's a very big deal. They get satisfaction at any level of race and any track. If it was up to Peter, he'd have a horse in every race at every track in America.”

Proscia in turn said Special Reserve's award is a credit to Maker's entire staff.

“I want to give them a shout out,” he said. “The people who should really get the kudos are the ones who work in the barn area. They work all kinds of hours. The people Mike employs are excellent. I've been owning horses since 1989. I have to say, they're exceptional, between the exercise riders, the grooms and the assistants, they do a great job.”

Maker said Special Reserve's 6-year-old campaign could resemble last year's path. A definite goal is trying to repeat in Keeneland's Phoenix, especially with the Breeders' Cup being at the Lexington track.

“Hopefully we can duplicate the success,” he said.

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