Giant Expectations Has Giant Shoes to Fill

Giant Expectations doesn't just have to live up to that name.

Two of his owners, Ryan Exline and Justin Border, experienced Breeders' Cup success last year when Champagne Room, in whom they own an interest, won the 14 Hands Winery Juvenile Fillies (G1). 

This year, not only is Champagne Room returning for the Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1), Giant Expectations brings a 'Win & You're In' berth to the Breeders' Cup Las Vegas Dirt Mile (G1). It's an exciting time for Exline and Border, who race in the name of Exline-Border Racing. Exline-Border owns the majority of Giant Expectations, with Dan and Nick Gatto's Gatto Racing having a minority interest.

"Ryan and I are tense and antsy when it's a claiming race, let alone the Breeders' Cup," Border said. "We just take it all in, though. We're just extremely grateful to have the opportunity. We owe it all to people like Marette Farrell and Pete Eurton."

Farrell helps them buy horses, and Eurton trains both Giant Expectations and Champagne Room.

Border, an occupational therapist, lives in Paso Robles, Calif., where he runs Titan Healthcare Solutions. Exline, who lives in the Los Angeles area, manages senior living communities.

"He also has a brewery out in Ventura," said Border, who noted that Paso Robles produces good beer and wine.

The two first became involved in Thoroughbred ownership with some others on the claimer Igotnosixes, trained by Armando Lage in Northern California. They decided to put together a 10-year business plan.

With the help of Ryan's father, Rick, they bought a Kentucky-bred daughter of Wilko —Avery Hall, by A. P. Jet, at the 2013 Ocala Breeders' Sales' select 2-year-olds in training sale for $100,000.

They named the filly Sheza Smoke Show and wanted to race her in Southern California with a couple of other partners.

"We didn't have a trainer, but we had a horse," Border recalled. "Ryan sends me a text and says, 'Ask Armando who we should use as a trainer.' So I did."

Lage had known Eurton for years and recommended him in glowing terms. Eurton won the 2014 Senorita Stakes (G3) with Sheza Smoke Show, and she subsequently sold in the 2015 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky February mixed sale for $205,000.

"We started our 10-year plan and had a lot of good fortune last year, to say the least," Border said. "Our 10-year plan kind of accelerated a little bit. We picked up a lot of horses this year to bring to Peter."

Again with Farrell's help, Ryan Exline purchased Giant Expectations for $135,000 at the 2015 OBS March 2-year-old sale.

"Marette's a godsend for us," Border said. "The first thing Marette loved was how he moved. He wasn't overly tight or tuned up. His work was very good. It all just kind of fell into place, and we loved him right away."

Sunrise Stables bred Giant Expectations (Frost Giant —Sarahisittrue, by Is It True) in New York.

Giant Expectations began racing at 3 in 2016, and while he came close in several of his first six starts, he never clicked with a victory. He then developed an abscess in a lung that kept him away from the races for a year. 

"All credit to Pete and his team," Border said. "They noticed the cough, and his blood was never just right. He caught it."

When Giant Expectations returned to the races, they took advantage of his New York-bred status to win back-to-back races at Belmont Park in late May and early June of this year. The 6 1/2-furlong New York-bred maiden race netted the team $37,200 as Giant Expectations won a by 9 3/4 lengths on a sloppy, sealed surface. He followed that with another $44,400 check, winning his next conditioned race, also for New York-breds, this time on a fast track at a mile.

At Del Mar, the colt finished second in an allowance optional claimer and then won the seven-furlong Pat O'Brien Stakes (G2) by 1 1/2 lengths with Gary Stevens now riding him. Giant Expectations flipped in the gate prior to the six-furlong Santa Anita Sprint Championship Stakes (G1) Oct. 7 and finished fifth behind winner Roy H., a candidate for the Breeders' Cup TwinSpires Sprint (G1).

"He didn't seem to be too bothered by flipping in the gate," Eurton said. "We're not going to pass the buck. That's not why we got beat. We got outrun—six furlongs is way too short."

The distance of the Dirt Mile would appear to suit Giant Expectations perfectly, though Eurton knows the competition is fierce.

"He's doing really well," said the trainer. "He had a lovely work (Oct. 27 at Santa Anita, running five furlongs in 1:00 4/5). Gary was all smiles. He galloped out strong too. I had him going out in 12 and change. His energy's good, and he was full of himself.

"But it's a very good race—probably one of the toughest races on the card."