Calculator Adds to Ocala Stud Legacy

Richard Pell's Calculator did more than just break his maiden Jan. 10 in the Sham Stakes (gr. III) at Santa Anita Park—he put himself on the Triple Crown trail. The Florida-bred son of In Summation   closed with authority, finishing a final quarter in :24.45, to win the one-mile Sham by 4 1/4 lengths in 1:34.88 for the mile.



An unlikely maiden in the Sham, in his final two starts at 2 Calculator ran second behind Eclipse Award finalist American Pharoah in the seven-furlong Del Mar Futurity (gr. I) and 8.5-furlong FrontRunner Stakes (gr. I), with open lengths back to the third-place finisher.



Calculator was bred by the O'Farrell family's Ocala Stud. They purchased Back to Basics, the dam of the Sham winner, for $17,000 during the seventh session of the 2010 Keeneland November sale. In Summation (Put It Back—Fiesta Baby, by Dayjur) stands at Ocala Stud. Calculator is from his second crop of the grade I-winning millionaire sprinter.



"Calculator is not an overly big horse but he was always a good-looking, handy kind of colt; well put together," said David O'Farrell. "He always looked like he'd be a good 2-year-old. He was really hard to fault. I'm not going to say we thought he'd be this good, but when we put him into training he was just one of those colts who never had a bad day.



"We didn't know how good he was until the first time we breezed him," he said. "He really separated himself when we got down to it. It's the way he carries himself. After those breezes, he just showed the signs of being a good, quality colt."



Ocala Stud's business model is based on selling their stock at the 2-year-old sales. Calculator was no different. A few days prior to last year's Ocala Breeders' Sales Co.'s April sale the farm had to make a call to one of their clients, Pell.



"I had to call Mr. Pell with some bad news," O'Farrell said. "We had a horse with him in training at the farm that he bought as a yearling that needed some time off, so I had deliver that news. He asked if we had anything in our consignment for the sale that we liked. I told him we had a colt we really liked that we thought was a runner. He expressed that he was not interested in buying any 2-year-olds and was going to sit tight, but he said he'd have (trainer) Peter Miller come check him out."



Miller liked the horse, but there was an issue.



"The horse worked extremely well in the breeze show, and we had him X-rayed after the sale and it wasn't a clear-cut situation," O'Farrell said. "The horse did have some issues on the vet report and we notified all the potential buyers. The vet didn't think it was bothersome, but at sales it raises a red flag. We guaranteed the horse and knew he was a quality horse and as it turns out, it never really did hinder him. We knew he was a really nice colt but a difficult sale situation under the circumstances."



Miller purchased the gray/roan colt at the sale for Pell for $132,000.



While In Summation's race record and pedigree doesn't exactly say "classic"—all of his 11 stakes wins came at seven furlongs or shorter—the female side of Calculator's pedigree will help him around two turns. Christy Love, the second dam of Calculator is a half sister to With Every Wish, the dam of 2011 Kentucky Broodmare of the Year Oatsee. Oatsee is the dam of Preakness Stakes (gr. I) winner Shackleford   and Alabama Stakes (gr. I; 10 furlongs) winner Lady Joanne. Oatsee is also the dam of grade III winners Baghdaria and Afleeting Lady.



Calculator's fourth dam is Taminette, a full sister to champion miler and top sire Known Fact, and a half sister to grade I winner and sire Tentam, and the blue hen Secrettame, the dam of Gone West.



"We had a lot of the family here at the farm," O'Farrell said. "We had Christy Love here at the farm for Vernon Heath. We were very familiar with the family. It's just a really nice pedigree. With In Summation being a sprinter, that would give a lot of people at first glance reason to believe he is not going to stretch out, but all you have to do is look at the mare, (Back to Basics) who is by Alphabet Soup  , a Breeders' Cup Classic (gr. I) winner,  and Christy Love is by Unbridled.



"Shackleford, who won the Preakness, is by Forestry, who was a sprinter, and Lady Joanne won the Alabama and she was by (champion sprinter) Orientate  . It gives you hope there is enough class and stamina in the family that this colt can continue to stretch out."



And stretching out, especially at this time of year, is what really adds up.