Star Midwest Sprinter Skelly Heads to Saudi Sprint

Red Lane Thoroughbreds' graded stakes winner Skelly  is taking a long road trip for his next scheduled start, but it's a round-trip ticket.

A regional star in the Midwest, Skelly will be on the global stage for the $1.5 million Riyadh Dirt Sprint (G3) going about six furlongs Feb. 24 in Saudi Arabia, Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen said Feb. 4.

The freakishly fast Skelly, in his 5-year-old debut, ran his winning streak to seven with a front-running 3 1/4-length score in the six-furlong $150,000 King Cotton Stakes for older horses Feb. 3 at Oaklawn Park. Racing over a sloppy, sealed surface, Skelly clocked a meet-best 1:09.38 to generate a career-best Equibase Speed Figure of 114.

With six victories at the track, Skelly surpassed champion Mitole   and Terra Promessa  to become the winningest horse at Oaklawn for Asmussen, its all-time leading trainer.

"Unbelievable horse," Asmussen said. "Seven wins, nine and change every time. Came out of it in very good shape. Saudi, here we come again. Going to try again."

Gunite  , Asmussen's now-retired millionaire grade 1 winner, finished second in the 2023 Riyadh Dirt Sprint after capturing the King Cotton in his 4-year-old debut.

While Gunite remained in the Middle East for his next start, the $2 million Dubai Golden Shaheen (G1) in the United Arab Emirates, Asmussen said Skelly would be pointed to the $500,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap (G3) April 13 at Oaklawn.

"He'll go and come back," Asmussen said. "I don't want to miss the Count Fleet with him at Oaklawn."

Six of Skelly's victories during the win streak, starting with a first-level allowance in February 2023, have come at Oaklawn. All seven victories have been at six furlongs. Skelly has flourished at that distance since being gelded and adding blinkers approximately a year ago.

Freshened after winning the $100,000 Speightstown Sprint Stakes in late May at Lone Star Park, Skelly stretched his winning streak to six in a Dec. 30 allowance race at Oaklawn. His time of 1:09.66 had been the fastest six furlongs of the meeting until the King Cotton. 

A son of Practical Joke  , Skelly has an 8-3-0 record from 12 lifetime starts and earnings of $875,163. Bred by Allen Poindexter, Skelly was purchased by Red Lane Thoroughbreds for $250,000 at the 2020 Fasig-Tipton Selected Yearlings Showcase.