Medina Spirit a Diamond in the Rough for Whitman

Christy Whitman of Whitman Sales approached the 2019 Ocala Breeders' Sales Winter Mixed Sale exactly as she does every horse sale—sitting in the back ring. Instead of working the barns, carrying her catalog to and fro, examining horses in the barns of their consignors, Whitman takes a more impulsive approach to buying Thoroughbred pinhooks; if she likes what she sees and it's affordable, it goes home with her. If it's too expensive for her tastes, it leaves with another buyer. 

Like buying a lottery ticket, making a quick decision doesn't always pay off, but when it does, the rewards can be life-changing. 

Whitman's split-second decision that January at OBS was eventually named Medina Spirit . The $1,000 she gave for the colt could now be considered a down payment on what has developed into a stellar career. On May 1, beneath the historic Twin Spires at Churchill Downs, Medina Spirit became the 147th winner of Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1). 

"I was shaking," said Whitman of watching the Derby. "I wanted it to happen so bad because it's the Derby. It's just a really amazing feeling to know that you bought and sold a horse that not only made it to the Derby but won the race. I have so much respect for (trainer) Bob Baffert. He's one of the greatest trainers, and I feel fortunate that he ended up with the horse and that he was able to work with him and bring out his best attributes. Everything fell into place, and it's an amazing feeling." 

When Whitman first saw Medina Spirit, the dark bay was little more to her than Hip 448—a short yearling with a surprisingly strong physical. While his page was relatively unimpressive and his sire, Protonico  , was one that Whitman knew virtually nothing about, there was something in the way the young horse carried himself that made Whitman take a second look. 

"I just bought him out of the back ring. I've told several people before that that is how I buy horses, and I know it doesn't always work for everybody, but I've always been on a budget as far as what I can spend on horses," said Whitman. "I usually can't afford to buy the ones that I pick out at the barns, and in the meantime while I'm out there, I've missed something that I could afford in the ring that was a really good horse. 

"I've pretty much stopped going to the barns and sit in the back ring so I get to see every horse that comes up. I check every horse until I see ones that I like. I look them over and I bid on them and if I can afford them I get them, but if not, I look for the next one. I find a lot of diamond-in-the-rough types of horses that way and he was one of them. I just really liked him. He was really well-balanced. He had a great build to him with a good hip and great top line. He was very correct and athletic. He was all the things I look for when looking for horses but no one was looking at him. I knew he was going to go cheap because of his pedigree, but I liked the horse."

Bred in Florida by Gail Rice, Medina Spirit is out of the Brilliant Speed mare Mongolian Changa and was from a relatively modest female family. Offered to the sale by Summerfield, agent, Whitman thought the colt would make the perfect buy for one of her exercise riders, who had asked her to keep an eye out for an inexpensive yearling that they could pinhook to the juvenile sales. 

"He was just a really nice physical," said Whitman, whose operation is based in Florida. "He went through the ring, and I was the only one that bid. After he sold, Gail Rice, his breeder, came up and thanked me for buying him and asked where he would go next. I told her that he would end up at one of the 2-year-old sales because I was actually buying him for one of my breeze riders who works the sales for me. 

"He went back to the farm and the rider did most of the work on him, I have to give him credit, but I would watch him train all the time. He was a really good mover and had a great disposition. He was super chill and easy to work with but because of his purchase price, we couldn't get him in to any of the earlier sales. He ended up going to OBS June, what became OBS July, because the sale was pushed back because of the pandemic."

At the rescheduled OBS July 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale, Medina Spirit performed well during the under tack show despite the oppressive weather, working three-eighths of a mile in :33. Amr Zedan of Zedan Racing Stables, who had been tipped off to the colt by Protonico's owner, Oussama Aboughazale—who stands the stallion at Castleton Lyons—called his bloodstock agent Gary Young and asked him to make a bid. For only $35,000, Medina Spirit went home to California and into the barn of Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert. 

Medina Spirit broke his maiden on debut at 2 at Los Alamitos Race Course. He returned at 3 run second in the Jan. 2 Sham Stakes (G3) before finally jumping up to take the Jan. 30 Robert B. Lewis Stakes (G3), both at Santa Anita Park. That victory would put him among the possible Derby contenders in Baffert's barn, but despite another second in the March 6 San Felipe Stakes (G2) and another in the April 3 Runhappy Santa Anita Derby (G1), the colt didn't make as much of a splash with the bettors.

While Medina Spirit clearly had talent, Whitman didn't want to get her hopes up. She'd been down the same road the year before with another pinhook turned classic contender in Wells Bayou , who never made it to the first Saturday in May. 

"Wells Bayou was a horse that I bought and resold last year who was briefly on the Derby trail," said Whitman."He won the (Twinspires.com) Louisiana Derby (G2) and ended up in the Arkansas Derby (G1) where the divisions were split, and he ended up in the harder of the two with Baffert's Nadal  and came out of that race with bone bruising and ultimately didn't make it to the Derby. That was disappointing. 

"When this horse started running well this year, I just hoped he would make it to the Derby. When Life Is Good  was running and he was getting overshadowed, I thought, 'Well, if he makes it to the race, he has a shot.' But then Life Is Good got hurt and Concert Tour  was out and he ended up being Baffert's only horse. I know a lot of people overlooked him and discredited him because he didn't have a million-dollar price tag or a flashy pedigree, but he's always shown he has a lot of heart. I told people, 'Yes, he's been beaten three times but he was beaten by really good horses who got out on easy front-end leads. I just never thought the horse got the credit he deserved. If you look at the race he ran in the Robert B. Lewis, he was pressured right out of the gate and along the backside but the other horses fell off, then two more came at him, and when he got to the top of the lane, I thought, 'He's done. They'll run right by him.' But that race was just insane. When he came back, I thought, 'Wow.' To me that was the best race I'd seen a 3-year-old run all season. 

"Medina Spirit has never been beaten by any horse that has come to him. If you look at the Santa Anita Derby and take out (winner) Rock Your World  and look just at the second and third-place finishers, the horse that came to him in that race, he battled back and put that horse away. He just keeps surprising me. I thought all week leading up to the Derby that that was exactly the way he would have to run. If he's up there near the lead where he can stare horses in the eye, he will fight. Credit to the jockey (John Velazquez) who gave him the perfect race. When those horses came to him, he wasn't going to let them by." 

In celebration of Medina Spirit's Derby win, Whitman took her daughters out to dinner for the evening to revel in the moment. As a horsewoman and consignor, Whitman said there was no greater validation that her system for buying and pinhooking horses can yield talent at the highest level. 

"It's great because sometimes you start second-guessing," Whitman said. "The way I work doesn't work for a lot of people because most like to watch horses walk at the sales and have them vetted. I've just got a few minutes to decide if I like or don't like a horse. It's really worked out well for me and that is how I've gotten to where I am now with my consignment and my business. It's about finding horses others are overlooking and seeing the potential. I never would have guessed he'd be a Derby winner, but he had all the things I look for in a horse.

"One thing I've always said is that they don't know what their pedigree looks like. People go way too much off the page in the catalog and need to go more off the individual. After 15 years of buying and selling horses, it's so much easier to have a horse that's an athlete with no page than to have one with lots of pedigree and it's just an average individual. They don't know what their price tags are or what their pedigrees are. If they have the ability and the heart it goes a long way. I hope it does bring some people to take a second look at my consignment at some of the horses I have. I don't have sale-toppers right now. Maybe one day, but at the moment, the horses I have are the best ones I can pick out from what I have to work with. If I can find better ones to work with maybe I'll have more superstars. Who knows?"