Preakness Hero Rombauer Seeks New Kentucky Home

Last year's edition of the GI Preakness S. marked one of the best days of John Fradkin's life when Rombauer (Twirling Candy-Cashmere, by Cowboy Cal), a second-generation homebred for the California native and his wife Diane, took the second leg of the Triple Crown.

Going off as the fifth choice, Rombauer stormed past favorites Medina Spirit (Protonico) and Midnight Bourbon (Tiznow) in the stretch to win by 3 1/2 lengths. It was the first Preakness victory for trainer Michael McCarthy and jockey Flavien Prat and the first Grade I win for his breeders and owners, the Fradkins.

“It was a glorious day,” John Fradkin said as he reflected on last year's achievement. “At the time I was not expecting to win, but I didn't think it was impossible. I knew the horse was doing really well and I knew he would run the race of his life, but I didn't think he would improve as much as he did.”

Since that unforgettable day, Fradkin has learned just what is meant when it is said that racing is a game of highs and lows. After another big-hearted effort to run third in the GI Belmont S., Rombauer enjoyed a 90-day layoff and returned to the racetrack last fall. He was preparing for bids in the G1 Dubai World Cup and GI Pacific Classic when he took a bad step during training and was officially retired early this year.

While the Fradkins were disappointed in how their stable star's racing career was put to a sudden end, they now have big plans for the Classic winner. This month, they launched a campaign for Rombauer's stud career and are hoping to send him to the big leagues in the Bluegrass.

“We would really like to see him stand in Kentucky,” Fradkin said. “He got hurt at a very inopportune time where it was too late to do anything for this year's breeding season. To give him the best chance, it made sense to do it right and wait until next year. Everyone likes first-crop stallions and I don't think it's impossible for him to get 150 mares in 2023.”

Rombauer won first time out as a juvenile, speeding home in :22.93 going a mile on the turf at Del Mar. Also at two, he ran second in his dirt debut in the GI American Pharoah S. and was fifth in the 2020 GI TVG Breeders' Cup Juvenile. He was successful on the Tapeta at Golden Gate in his winning sophomore debut in the El Camino Real Derby and was third in the GII Toyota Blue Grass S. ahead of his victory at Pimlico, which was the sixth-fastest running of the Preakness at its current distance.

Rombauer bests Medina Spirit and Midnight Bourbon in the 2021 Preakness S. | EquiSport Photos

“I always had high hopes for him,” Fradkin noted. “He seemed to always have the look of eagles and he was a good mover. He was also really intelligent, even from the times when I played with him in the field. Eddie Woods really liked him so I always had high hopes, but he obviously surpassed all our hopes.”

While Fradkin pointed to Rombauer's versatility and precocity as some of his best credentials as a future stallion, he said the 4-year-old's most attractive quality for breeders will be his pedigree. He explained how Rombauer is bred on a similar cross to hot sire Gun Runner, noting the success Candy Ride (Arg) and his sons have had with Storm Cat-line mares, and he also talked about the quality surrounding Rombauer's female family.

Rombauer's second dam, Ultrafleet (Afleet), was purchased by the Fradkins as a yearling for $10,500 in 1993. She never placed in a race, but went on to become a highly-successful broodmare. She produced five-time graded winner California Flag (Avenue of Flags) and MGSW Cambiocorsa (Avenue of Flags), the dam of four stakes winners including Grade II winners Moulin de Mougin (Curlin) and Schiaparelli (Ghostzapper). Cambiocorsa's GISP daughter Vionnet (Street Sense) produced European highweight and multiple Group 1 winner Roaring Lion (Kitten's Joy).

“Even if I didn't have anything to do with this horse, I would look at that pedigree and think, wow that's an amazing family,” Fradkin said. “It's done a lot of everything. Rombauer is a Classic winner on dirt. Roaring Lion is a Classic winner in Europe going a mile and a half. Then you have California Flag who won a Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint. Basically this family can do it all.”

Fradkin said he believes that Rombauer's dam, Cashmere (Cowboy Cal), has inherited her family's potent genetics. She has produced five winners from five to race. Three of those won as first-time starters. The mare's 3-year-old daughter Republique (Strong Mandate) just won on debut at Gulfstream in April and she also has a promising 2-year-old Cairo Prince colt named Alexander Helios in training with Michael McCarthy.

“There's a lot of precocity there and there's a good chance that Rombauer can pass that on,” Fradkin said. “I think if he gets a shot in Kentucky, he has a good chance to succeed. There's so much in that family that you know is going to come out eventually.”

Rombauer currently resides at WinStar Farm. There has already been interest in the stallion prospect, but Fradkin is biding his time and waiting for the right offer to come in.

“We're looking forward to supporting him and cheering on a whole crop of baby Rombauers in the future,” he said. “It's not all about the money. There is reason to believe that Japanese interests will come to look at him in September, but I would accept a lower offer from Kentucky because it would be more fun for us. If you look at history, almost every male Preakness winner who wasn't a gelding got a chance to stand in Kentucky, so why not Rombauer?”

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Preakness Stakes Winner Rombauer Retired; Stud Plans Pending

Rombauer, the upset winner of the 2021 Preakness Stakes, has been retired from racing after his comeback was halted by a Dec. 31 training injury at Santa Anita Park, Daily Racing Form and Thoroughbred Daily News report.

The 4-year-old son of Twirling Candy had not raced since a third-place effort in last year's Belmont Stakes, after which he'd developed some ankle issues. He'd returned to work in October with trainer Michael McCarthy, but following what owner John Fradkin called a “bad step” during morning training, it was decided to stop on the horse.

Fradkin told the TDN that Rombauer's projected 2022 campaign included the Dubai World Cup, the Grade 1 Pacific Classic, and perhaps a try on turf.

Rombauer retired with three wins in eight starts for earnings of $1,040,500. He won on debut as a 2-year-old at Del Mar, and he finished second in the G1 American Pharoah Stakes later in the year before ending his season with a sixth-place effort in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Keeneland.

He returned at three with a victory in the listed El Camino Real Derby at Golden Gate Fields, which earned him a guaranteed spot in that year's Preakness Stakes. Before that, he finished third in the G2 Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland, and his connections elected to skip the Kentucky Derby.

Rombauer came into the Preakness under the radar, with most of the attention going to Medina Spirit, Midnight Bourbon, and Concert Tour. However, his closing kick under jockey Flavien Prat engulfed the early speed of Medina Spirit and snuffed the stretch drive of Midnight Bourbon to win by 3 1/2 lengths at odds of 11-1.

The colt then finished third to Essential Quality in the Belmont Stakes in what would be his final start.

A homebred for John and Diane Fradkin, Rombauer is out of the unraced Cowboy Cal mare Cashmere, who is herself a Fradkin homebred.

Fradkin told DRF that stud plans were pending for the Preakness winner, acknowledging it was late in the commercial schedule to be making a deal on a new stallion and introducing him to the marketplace.

Read more at Daily Racing Form.

Read more at Thoroughbred Daily News.

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Classic Winner Rombauer Retired

Rombauer (Twirling Candy–Cashmere, by Cowboy Cal), who upset Midnight Bourbon (Tiznow) and GI Kentucky Derby first past the post Medina Spirit (Protonico) in last year's GI Preakness S., has been retired from racing, according to his owner John Fradkin, who bred and raced the colt in partnership with his wife Diane.

Trained by Michael McCarthy, Rombauer was an eye-catching maiden winner at first asking over the Del Mar turf course and finished runner-up when trying dirt for the first time in the GI American Pharoah S. before a creditable fifth behind champion Essential Quality (Tapit) in the 2020 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile. He displayed further versatility in annexing the El Camino Real Derby on the Tapeta at Golden Gate in his sophomore debut last February and was third to Essential Quality in the GII Toyota Blue Grass S. in April ahead of his fast-finishing, 3 1/2-length success at Old Hilltop. He was last seen reporting home a distant third in the GI Belmont S.

Rombauer emerged from the Belmont with some filling in his ankles and had lightened up, prompting a layoff. He returned to serious training this past October and recorded five workouts, but was beginning to carry pressure once again in his ankles. On Dec. 31, the first day of training at Santa Anita following three days of heavy rain, Rombauer “took a bad step” when galloping and connections elected to stop on him.

“We are very disappointed,” Fradkin said in an email. “We thought we were going to Dubai in March [for the G1 Dubai World Cup] and would make a good showing, and then we were hoping to run him in the [GI] Pacific Classic later in the year. We were also looking forward to trying him back on turf. I actually think turf was his best surface and he could have been one of the better turf horses in the country.

“That's the horseracing business for you,” he continued. “The highs are very high and the lows are very low, and both the good news and the bad news often come as surprises. Winning the Preakness was of course a very high high, as I did not expect to win that day. This is a pretty big low, but it's not a tragic one.”

One of seven Grade I winners for his sire, Rombauer is bred on the wildly successful cross of Candy Ride over Storm Cat-line mares responsible for the likes of Horse of the Year and top freshman sire Gun Runner, among others. A half-brother to SP Cono (Lucky Pulpit), Rombauer is out of a daughter of Ultrafleet (Afleet), purchased by Fradkin for $10,500 at Keeneland September in 1993 and who went on to produce MGSW Calfornia Flag (Avenue of Flags) as well as the tremendous MGSW producer Cambiocorsa (Avenue of Flags), dam of GSWs Moulin de Mougin (Curlin) and Schiaparelli (Ghostzapper); SW & GSP Bronson (Medaglia d'Oro); MSW Alexis Tangier (Tiznow); and GISP Vionnet (Street Sense), dam of the late MG1SW champion Roaring Lion (Kitten's Joy).

Rombauer retires with a record of 3-1-2 from eight starts and earnings of $1,040,500. No stud plans were immediately announced.

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Report: Preakness Winner Rombauer To Get Freshening, To Race As 4-Year-Old

John and Diane Fradkin's Rombauer, 3 1/2-length winner of the Grade 1 Preakness Stakes on May 15, is being sent to Peacefield Farm in Temecula, Calif., for a freshening of at least 60 days, according to a report by Jay Privman in Daily Racing Form.

Trainer Michael McCarthy said of the Twirling Candy colt: “He just hasn't been as sharp coming out of the Belmont. We didn't think the right thing to do was push it. He's done a lot for us. We'll do whatever he needs.”

Rombauer has raced four times this year, starting with a victory in the El Camino Real Derby at Golden Gate Fields in Northern California on Feb. 13. He shipped to Kentucky for the G2 Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland on April 3, finishing third, then returned to his base at Santa Anita to train up to the Triple Crown races.

The Fradkins opted to skip the G1 Kentucky Derby and instead point Rombauer for the Preakness, where he defeated Midnight Bourbon and Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit with a powerful stretch run.

He then finished third, beaten 12 1/2 lengths, by Essential Quality in the G1 Belmont Stakes on June 5.

Rombauer returned to the work tab June 25, going a half mile at Santa Anita, then recorded two additional five-furlong breezes on July 2 and 9.

McCarthy told Daily Racing Form that Rombauer will return to training in the fall and be pointed for a 4-year-old campaign, with the Saudi Cup and Dubai World Cup early season goals for the Kentucky-bred colt.

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