Upstart Retired to Airdrie Stud

Multiple graded stakes winner and multiple grade I-placed Upstart   has been retired to stud at Brereton and Elizabeth Jones's Airdrie Stud near Midway, Ky.

Racing in the colors of Ralph Evans, co-owned by Kenny Troutt's WinStar Farm, and conditioned by trainer Rick Violette Jr., the son of Flatter   retires with career earnings in excess of $1.7 million. The 4-year-old colt enters stud with a $10,000 fee and stands as a partnership between Airdrie Stud, WinStar, and Evans.

"Upstart is an absolutely gorgeous son of a fantastic sire in Flatter," said Brereton Jones. "We think he's the best 2-year-old Flatter has ever had and love that he trained on to be a top 3- and 4-year-old. I'll put his 102 Beyer as a 2-year-old and 108 at 3 up against any first-crop sire in America and to be right there in six grade Is from the Breeders' Cup Juvenile to the Whitney tells you what a top-class racehorse he was. He'll get our full support at stud and we couldn't be more excited or grateful to team with Mr. Evans and WinStar Farm in working to make him a great success."

A 2-year-old Saratoga debut winner at 5 1/2 furlongs, Upstart made it two-for-two with a win in Saratoga's $200,000 6 1/2 furlong Funny Cide Stakes. He followed that effort with a second-place finish in the Champagne Stakes (gr. I)—a race in which he earned a 102 Beyer Speed figure—before completing his juvenile campaign by placing in the Sentient Jet Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita.

At 3 Upstart became a leading contender for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) following a 5 1/2-length score in Gulfstream Park's Lambholm South Holy Bull Stakes (gr. II), in which he beat future grade I winners Frosted   and Keen Ice. The effort earned him a 105 Beyer. He would cross the wire first in the Besilu Stables Fountain of Youth Stakes (gr. II), this time by 2 3/4 lengths, but was subsequently placed second by a controversial steward's decision for interference in the stretch. Upstart would enter the Derby off a second-place finish in the Besilu Stables Florida Derby (gr. I), earning a 108 Beyer in that race. He followed an unplaced Derby effort with a third-place finish in William Hill Haskell Invitational Stakes (gr. I). 

As a 4-year-old this year, Upstart began the season with a victory in Oaklawn Park's Razorback Handicap (gr. III) before completing it with back to back placings in the Mohegan Sun Metropolitan Mile and Whitney Handicap (both grade I).

Bred in New York by Joanne Nielsen, Upstart is out of the Touch Gold mare Party Silks. He sold for $130,000 as a yearling through the Fasig-Tipton New York-bred preferred sale and concludes his career with $1,732,000 in earnings.