Breeders' Cup Legends: Wise Dan

Wise Dan streaks to a second consecutive victory in the Breeders' Cup Mile in 2013. (Photos by Eclipse Sportswire)
Thoroughbreds are born to run, and perhaps none more so than Wise Dan. Witnessing the gallant gelding lay it all on the line each time he steps on the track leaves little doubt that he knows where the finish line is and he wants nothing more than to get there first.
Wise Dan is in a different realm than most of today’s Thoroughbreds. He has won Grade 1 races on dirt and turf, tallying top-level scores as a 4-, 5-, 6- and 7-year-old. His two Breeders’ Cup Mile wins have capped off two consecutive Horse of the Year seasons. Through five years of racing, the 7-year-old son of Wiseman’s Ferry has earned more than $7.5 million while capturing 23 of his 31 career starts and six Eclipse Awards for trainer Charlie LoPresti.
Owner Morton Fink bred Wise Dan from his Wolf Power mare Lisa Danielle, and Wise Dan began his career with all the fanfare one might expect from a seemingly modest pedigree – not much. He debuted in fifth place in a maiden special weight race at Turfway Park as a 3-year-old.
His second start, however, turned a few more heads as he romped to a 15 ¼-length victory at Turfway a month later. He won his next race by open lengths and returned after a layoff to win the Phoenix Stakes at Keeneland. The effort was enough for the gelding’s connections to enter him in his first Breeders’ Cup event, the Sprint. Wise Dan was never comfortable in the race and finished in mid-pack.
After two lackluster graded-stakes efforts as a 4-year-old, Wise Dan responded well when he tried turf for the first time. The gelding won the Firecracker Handicap followed by the Presque Isle Mile on synthetic, and he finished fourth to Gio Ponti in the Shadwell Turf Mile in October. Rather than give the Breeders’ Cup another try, the Finks and LoPresti elected to keep him at home at Keeneland and run in the Fayette at the end of the meet. The decision proved to be a good one as Wise Dan romped by four lengths. He captured his first Grade 1 in his final start as a 4-year-old, the Clark Handicap on the Churchill Downs dirt.
WISE DAN WINS THE 2011 CLARK HANDICAP

“It was perfect and I was pretty confident going into the race, other than about whether he could go the 1 1/8 miles on the dirt," Lopresti said in an interview with The Blood-Horse after the race. "But I thought he was going to run one of his best races today. I would have been disappointed if he didn’t do it. ... He’s a pretty good horse.”
That assessment would prove to be understated. Wise Dan got 2012 off to a strong start by setting a track record in winning the Ben Ali on synthetic before missing a second Grade 1 dirt triumph by a head in the Stephen Foster. He then morphed into a turf terror, winning the Fourstardave, the Woodbine Mile and the Shadwell Turf Mile to set himself up for a second Breeders’ Cup appearance.
Southern California was the stage for the 2012 Breeders’ Cup and Wise Dan certainly put on a show at Santa Anita Park. He enjoyed a dream trip from the number two stall with jockey John Velazquez biding his time behind Obviously and Suggestive Boy. Turning for home Wise Dan swept past the leaders and drew off, defeating Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom in the process. The gelding earned himself Horse of the Year honors by winning his fourth Grade 1 in a track record-setting time of 1:31.78. 
2012 BREEDERS' CUP MILE

As a 6-year-old Wise Dan continued his dominance on the grass, winning four graded stakes to extend his winning streak to eight races. He then set a track record in the Woodbine Mile and headed into the Shadwell Turf Mile a heavy favorite. It was a stormy day in Lexington, Ky., and champion Groupie Doll was defeated on the soggy Keeneland Polytrack earlier in the card, perhaps foreshadowing what was to come. The Shadwell ‘Turf Mile’ was no more; though the name remained the race was rained off the turf and run at 1 1/16 miles on the soggy synthetic. Wise Dan lost the race to Silver Max, and he had doubters heading into his Breeders’ Cup title defense.
There would be no raining on the Wise Dan parade in sunny Arcadia, Calif. The 2013 Breeders’ Cup Mile brought together 10 high-class milers who would prove no match for Wise Dan regardless of a poor trip. The gelding stumbled at the start and wound up racing near the back of the field. After being carried wide around both turns, Wise Dan and stand-in rider Jose Lezcano cleared a group of horses at the top of the lane and reeled in Za Approval to win by a three parts of a length. Wise Dan would again sweep Horse of the Year, champion turf horse and champion older horse to bring his career Eclipse Award count up to six.
2013 BREEDERS' CUP MILE

After his customary winter vacation, Wise Dan’s 7-year-old season began in April 2014. He captured two Grade 1 races to start the year, but then disaster struck. Wise Dan showed signs of colic after a routine gallop in May and underwent emergency colic surgery for a twisted intestine. Despite the gravity of the operation, the gelding made an outstanding recovery and resumed light training just one month post-surgery.
The team aimed for a title defense in the Fourstardave at Saratoga, but when LoPresti felt Wise Dan wasn’t quite where he needed to be, he waited.
"I was trying to make a race that he won last year and I realized that, you know, it's just not going to happen," LoPresti said in an interview with America’s Best Racing’s Tom Pedulla. "We're just a little bit short of where we need to be."
Wise Dan instead made his comeback in the Bernard Baruch Handicap on closing weekend at the Spa. Toting highweight of 127 pounds and giving eight to 11 pounds to his rivals, the connections would have been happy if Wise Dan had just run well. Instead, the race was a thriller with Wise Dan surging to the lead mid-stretch and holding off a fast-closing Optimizer to win by a long nose.
WISE DAN WINS THE 2014 BERNARD BARUCH

“We wanted a good race for him to get started with,” LoPresti said. “He’s been through a lot. I knew he was training good and I knew he was going to run good. I wouldn’t have been disappointed if he was beat today; it would have been something to build on. He showed today why he is the two-time Horse of the Year.”
Another chapter was added to the Wise Dan fairy tale at Keeneland on Fall Stars weekend. The gelding ran in the Shadwell Turf Mile for a fourth consecutive year, but this time the purse was boosted to $1 million, and the best milers in the country lined up to face him. It was one of Dan’s best performances yet.
Wise Dan and jockey John Velazquez spotted the field multiple lengths after a tardy start, and the gelding fought Velazquez’ restraint before settling into stride around the first turn. The pair was still seventh of eight with a quarter-mile to run. They wheeled outside at the top of the lane to find running room, and when they did Wise Dan was electric. He powered down the stretch and swept past the leaders, eventually winning by a dominant length to the cheers of the Keeneland crowd.
2014 SHADWELL TURF MILE

After the race LoPresti entertained the idea of Wise Dan running on the dirt, whether in the Breeders’ Cup Classic or the Clark Handicap at Churchill Downs in late November. However, in mid-October it was revealed that Wise Dan had sustained a cannon bone fracture and would be unable to compete for his third Breeders’ Cup victory this year. The gelding will be given 30 days rest before his connections determine whether he’ll return to the races in 2015.
Though he won’t tie Goldikova’s record of three Breeders’ Cup wins this year, Wise Dan is a rare horse, with the talent, durability and determination to continuously excel at the highest level. With 14 wins from his last 15 tries, Wise Dan is a horse whose legend has grown with time, a trend that is sure to endure through coming decades.