Catching Up With Believe You Can

Believe You Can photo by Melissa Bauer-Herzog
The 2012 Kentucky Oaks proved unforgettable for Believe You Can and jockey Rosie Napravnik, but had things gone a little bit differently when Believe You Can was a yearling, that memorable afternoon might have never happened.
Believe You Can was entered in the 2010 Keeneland September yearling sale and went through the ring as Hip No. 642, bringing a closing bid of $70,000. But the bid wasn’t enough to buy Believe You Can from breeder Brereton Jones and she returned home to his Airdrie Stud to enter early training.
After completing her early preparation for the racetrack, Believe You Can was sent to trainer Larry Jones, who had trained Brereton Jones’ 2008 Kentucky Oaks winner Proud Spell (the pair also won the 2015 Kentucky Oaks with Lovely Maria).
After finishing fourth in her debut, Believe You Can won three straight races, including the Tempted Stakes to flash plenty of promise.
BELIEVE YOU CAN WINNING TEMPTED STAKES

Photo by Eclipse Sportswire
From the beginning of her 3-year-old year, the target for Believe You Can was the Kentucky Oaks trail and she was united with Napravnik. Believe You Can kicked off the season with a win in the Silverbulletday Stakes and added a Fair Grounds Oaks win to her résumé before heading to Churchill Downs.
In a full Kentucky Oaks field, Believe You Can lost her footing at the start but she was able to recover quickly. Believe You Can settled about three-quarters of a length behind leader Broadway’s Alibi and waited for Napravnik’s cue to pass the leader. Napravnik asked her to accelerate in the middle of the far turn but Broadway’s Alibi was hard to pass, putting up a battle into the stretch.
Believe You Can stuck her nose in front right before the final sixteenth of a mile but Broadway’s Alibi battled back for a few more strides. She finally yielded and Believe You Can edged away to a three-quarter-length advantage as they passed the finish line to make Rosie Napravnik the first female jockey ever to win the Kentucky Oaks.
2012 KENTUCKY OAKS

Courtesy of Kentucky Derby
Napravnik had finished second in the Oaks the year before and was determined to visit the winner’s circle with Believe You Can in the 2012 edition of the race.
“Last year was kind of a tease,” she told the Blood-Horse. “I was so close but not there, and this year I was determined to be the one in the winner's circle and I had the right horse to do it.”
Believe You Can and Napravnik came back in the Mother Goose Stakes in late June and finished a distant third, 9 ¼ lengths behind winner Zo Impressive. She was off for the rest of the year but when she returned the following February, Larry Jones had her ready to fire.
Napravnik was back aboard for Believe You Can’s 4-year-old debut in the Tiffany Lass Stakes and there was really no threat for the pair as they led from start to finish, winning by 10 ¼ lengths.
Believe You Can again overwhelmed the opposition a month later when she took down five other fillies in the New Orleans Ladies Stakes. Leading from start to finish, Believe You Can had a six-length lead with a furlong to go and was eased down to win by 5 ¾ lengths over Imposing Grace.
Returning to Churchill Downs the weekend of the 2013 Kentucky Oaks, Believe You Can returned to graded company in the La Troienne Stakes. She had trouble at the start and dropped back to fifth in the field of seven, the farthest back she’d been in a race since she finished sixth as a 2-year-old in the Pocahontas Stakes. When it came time to go in the stretch, Believe You Can was able to pass horses but settled for third behind Authenticity.
In her final career start, the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps Stakes, Believe You Can had Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez aboard for the first time. She chased the two leaders for most of the race but had no response when Velazquez asked her to run on the far turn and finished last. Believe You Can was given time off with the plan being to bring her back in the Falls City Handicap that November.
After not acting like herself in training, Believe You Can was taken out of consideration for that race after her final workout and retired. She returned to Airdrie Stud, where she was greeted by the people who had raised her.
“Everybody loves her, she was raised here, she grew up here, we put her through a sale and weren’t able to get a price we thought was fair for her, so we broke her here at the farm,” said Airdrie’s Bret Jones recently. “She’d come back between seasons here to the farm and now, of course, is retired for hopefully about the next 25 years of her life. This is home and she is completely loved.”
Believe You Can left the track with earnings of $1,280,324 and eight wins in 14 starts with two thirds. She won six stakes races, including three graded races. The filly was the second Kentucky Oaks winner for her sire, Proud Citizen, who also sired Proud Spell.
PROUD CITIZEN

Photo by Melissa Bauer-Herzog
Proud Citizen stands at Airdrie Stud, living just a few miles from his daughter’s barn on the farm.
In addition to boosting her sire’s stallion career, Believe You Can is also special to Airdrie for providing it with a second Oaks winner.
“It was such a big deal for our whole operation to have a Kentucky Oaks winner that was bred and raised at the farm,” Jones said. “We still have the dam, we have half siblings and three-quarter siblings that we’ve raced and that we’ll have as broodmares, and we showed that Proud Citizen is as capable as any stallion in America of throwing you a really top-rated racehorse. That was his second Kentucky Oaks winner so that had real benefits for his stallion career, so she’s really been a Godsend.”
BELIEVE YOU CAN

Photo by Melissa Bauer-Herzog
Even after leaving the track, Believe You Can has proved a fan favorite with supporters coming out to visit her. Jones said the mare loves the attention she gets from those visits, in addition to the attention she gets from barn staff.
“We’ve had people come out and take some great pictures with her. Just like she did on the racetrack, those ears come up and she’s one, like a lot of the really great fillies, she likes the attention and she definitely knows when the camera is on,” he said.
Believe You Can was bred to Tapit in 2014 for her first foal. She made an appearance in the sales ring that November but did not meet her reserve on a final bid of $4.9 million.
On Jan. 20, 2015, she foaled a gray Tapit colt and proved a willing mother.
“She couldn’t be better, she is as good as her second job as she was at her first,” Bret Jones said. “She’s been a great mama, she’s got a beautiful Tapit colt next to her and is handling herself with the same class as she did on the racetrack.”
BELIEVE YOU CAN AND FOAL

Photo by Melissa Bauer-Herzog
With the good-looking colt as an example of what the mating produces, Believe You Can returned to Tapit in 2015 and it looks like she may visit him again in 2016.
“Tapit is obviously special, she deserves the best and right now, a very compelling argument could be made that he is the top sire in America,” he said. “We like the pairing physically, as well and on paper, and thankfully it worked out very well. She’s got a beautiful colt next to her and has another date with Tapit coming.”
Today, Believe You Can is turned out nearly full time with her colt and a pasture full of horses that includes a half-sister to champion Beholder and another mare who is related to Believe You Can. She has adjusted well to broodmare life and, in a few years, the Jones hope her name is written in the history books as a successful broodmare in addition to being a Kentucky Oaks winner.
BELIEVE YOU CAN FOAL, BY TAPIT

Photo by Melissa Bauer-Herzog