'Gifted' Gretzky the Great Set for Breeders' Cup

There is ample precedent for feeling confident if you like Gretzky the Great to win the Nov. 6 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Presented by Coolmore America (G1T) at Keeneland. Not only is the colt arriving in Lexington on the strength of three consecutive victories, but horses with hockey-related names have fared quite handsomely in World Championships events.

Gretzky the Great is named after Wayne Gretzky, whose 894 goals, 1,963 assists, and 2,857 points are all National Hockey League records, set over a 20-year career that saw Gretzky earn four Stanley Cups while with the Edmonton Oilers. Gretzky was famously traded to the Los Angeles Kings and delighted Tinseltown fans for years. One of those fans was film producer Gary Barber.

Bred in Ontario by Anderson Farms, Gretzky the Great failed to meet a $295,000 reserve at the 2019 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October Yearlings Sale. Following the auction, Aron Wellman of Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners received a call from David Anderson touting the colt.

"Jacob West, who works with us, and David Carroll (trainer Mark Casse's assistant) had positive notes on the horse, and David Anderson was gracious enough to give me an option until I could see the horse in person when I was in town for the November sale," said Wellman. "We loved him, got the deal done, partnered up with Gary Barber, and sent the horse to Mark Casse."

It was Barber who named the colt, who is by up-and-coming sire Nyquist , out of the Bernardini  mare Pearl Turn. Nyquist had been given a hockey name by his owner, Paul Reddam, who named him in honor of the Detroit Red Wings forward Gustav Nyquist because Reddam is a huge Red Wings fan. Nyquist proved best in the 2015 Sentient Jet Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) at Keeneland, and would go on to win both the 2016 Xpressbet.com Florida Derby and Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (both G1). 

Fittingly, Gretzky the Great has done all his racing to date in Canada, which is the cradle of hockey civilization. After finishing second in a five-furlong turf sprint at Woodbine in July, the colt broke his maiden in August over Woodbine's Tapeta surface before switching back to the turf, where he won the Soaring Free Stakes and then the Summer Stakes (G1) in late September by 3 1/4 lengths. 

"He's a really smart horse, and naturally gifted," noted Wellman. "From the first time Mark breezed him in Ocala he told us the colt could run. Mark likes to race them into shape, and we thought he'd get better with more distance. He really stepped up and was brilliant in the Summer Stakes, and he's continued to train beautifully since. We're trying to keep him in beast mode."

NHL defenseman Erik Johnson is also active in Thoroughbred ownership, sometimes in partnership with Wellman's group. Johnson co-owns another Nyquist 2-year-old that he named The Great One, which is the human Gretzky's nickname. The Great One is unplaced in two starts, so Gretzky the Great has the early advantage in that head-to-head match-up. Johnson has also named horses after his current teammates on the Colorado Avalanche, Gabriel Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen. The equine Landeskog is a 4-year-old graded stakes-placed winner of more than $211,000, while Rantanen is a 2-year-old who broke his maiden at Del Mar over the summer.

In 1994, a Pennsylvania-bred homebred for George Strawbridge Jr., named Tikkanen, won the Breeders' Cup Turf (G1T). Esa Tikkanen was a forward who played on all four of Gretzky's Stanley Cup-winning Edmonton teams, and then won a fifth Stanley Cup with the New York Rangers. Strawbridge was a longtime director of the NHL's Buffalo Sabres and named his horse after the hockey player. 

Gretzky the Great will have to outskate a deep field to win the Juvenile Turf, but thus far he's justified his lofty moniker. 

"I remember seeing Wayne Gretzky at Hollywood Park years ago," said Wellman. "He was connected to some horses through the Kings owner, Bruce McNall. We thought enough of this horse to name him after Wayne, and we're thankful that he's lived up to his namesake."