Shah Hoping for a Masterpiece from Klimt

Kaleem Shah laughed when it was suggested to him that he rent space in the paddock for a couple of folding chairs this weekend during the Breeders Cup World Championships.

During the course of the two-day event Shah will see his red, white, and blue colors carried to the post by American Gal in the Juvenile Fillies (gr. I), Enchanting Lady in the Filly & Mare Sprint (gr. I), Dortmund in the Dirt Mile (gr. I), and Klimt in the Sentient Jet Juvenile (gr. I).

Two years ago at Santa Anita, Shah reached the top of the racing world when Bayern sped his way to victory in the Breeders' Cup Classic (gr. I). He has also watched Dortmund win the Santa Anita Derby (gr. I) there, so the native of Bellary, India, is quite at home in Arcadia, which serves as the home base for his trainer, Bob Baffert.

"I've watched Bayern's Classic a few hundred times and it never gets old," Shah said a few days before his busy weekend was to start. "I wish we could have kept him going and had a long rivalry with California Chrome and Shared Belief, but that's history now."

Shah is well on his way to duplicating his success in private business with his good results in the horse industry. The son of a trainer in India, Shah founded CALNET and serves as its president and CEO. The company provides intelligence analysis and support services to the U.S. government and its military, a role that has increased since the terrorist attacks of 2001.

At the races, Shah has campaigned graded stakes winners Concord Point, May Day Rose, Edens Moon, and Fed Biz along with Bayern, Dortmund, and Klimt.

Beginning in June, Klimt put together a three-race win streak that had everyone looking at him as the next juvenile superstar from the Baffert conglomerate. The son of Quality Road—Inventive, by Dixie Union, won the Best Pal Stakes (gr. II) by 2 3/4 lengths and the Del Mar Futurity (gr. I) by 4 1/4, but he broke slowly in the FrontRunner Stakes (gr. I) and ended up second behind runaway winner Gormley, who he faces again in the Juvenile.

"I thought he was a star in the making so I was a little disappointed in the FrontRunner," acknowledged Baffert. "I thought he'd come running late. He took a lot of dirt and he never gave up, so he ran a credible race. But he's come back and worked well. We've put some speed into him since the FrontRunner, so we hope he's going to break better and run his race."

Gormley figures to have company on the early pace from Syndergaard, Theory, and Three Rules, so Klimt’s ability to sit off the lead should serve him well.

Shah also pointed out that no winner of the FrontRunner, which used to be called the Norfolk, has come back to win the Breeders' Cup Juvenile, a factor in his favor. Although he doesn't want to get too far ahead of himself, Shah noted that he'd like to see Klimt rise up and pick up the baton from Dortmund, who hit the Triple Crown trail last year, running third behind stablemate American Pharoah   in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands and fourth in the Preakness Stakes (both gr. I).

"Winning the Juvenile would be a big feather in his cap," Shah said.

Since naming Bayern and Dortmund after Eurpoean soccer teams, Shah said their success has caused a run on similar names by other owners, so he had to turn to the arts in the naming of Klimt.

"I made a trip to Austria and all around Vienna there are paintings by Gustav Klimt," he said. "I'm no student of art, but his work is in every hotel lobby and the parks have his statues. So I decided to go to the painters. You know, Bernardini   was a great Italian painter.

"Gormley is also named after a sculptor, so this is a very artistic race, and I hope Klimt can paint a beautiful picture, a masterpiece."