Litigate

W-o-w! Shipping to Tampa, dealing with the rain, a far outside post, and facing stakes company for the first time did little to phase Litigate! The exciting sophomore pulled clear to a powerful victory in the G3 Sam F. Davis. His victory earned him 20 points on the Kentucky Derby leaderboard. We’re incredibly grateful to everyone involved, starting with our outstanding partners. Dr. Stephen Carr and Paula Parsons selected him at the Keeneland September Sale, Parsons and her team developed him in Middleburg before he joined trainer Todd Pletcher‘s barn, and he was given a terrific ride by jockey Luis Saez. Litigate is a remarkably exciting colt and we couldn’t be more proud of him!

Recaps: The BloodHorse, Daily Racing Form, Thoroughbred Daily News.
Other features: Daily Racing Form post-race update, Thoroughbred Daily News breeder interview, Don Little, Jr. on At The Races with Steve Byk

Litigate, a debut winner at Aqueduct in November, officially turned three-years-old with the New Year! The changing of the calendar often means the launch of Kentucky Derby watch lists and Thoroughbred Daily News kicked off their “Derby Top 12” series on Monday, January 2. Our son of Blame checked in at number 10! The full piece is available here. Litigate makes his sophomore debut in Sunday’s ninth race at Gulfstream Park.

Aqueduct routinely hosts competitive maiden races in the fall, with graduates frequently proving to be among their generation’s best. Saturday’s fifth race had all the ingredients to add to that reputation, with a number of entrants coming in with some hype to them. Making his career debut, Litigate stalked the pace and came with a strong late move to pull clear of his rivals in deep stretch! The two-year-old is a member of the 2021 Elmont, LLC, selected by Dr. Carr and Paula Parsons at the 2021 Keeneland September Sale. The victory earned him a feature on TwinSpires’ Kentucky Derby maiden watch, found here.