PULPIT

Pulpit (A.P. Indy - Preach, by Mr. Prospector) stormed onto the Kentucky Derby scene with more hype than any other contender for the 1997 classics. The Claiborne Farm homebred had not run as a 2-year-old, but trainer Frank Brothers made up for lost seasoning by putting the impeccably bred colt through his conditions at an alarming rate. He won a maiden race, then a low-level allowance race very easily in Florida. Then he won the Fountain of Youth (gr. III), finished second in the Florida Derby (gr. I) and triumphed for the hometown crowd in the Bluegrass Stakes (gr. II) at Keeneland. Pulpit faded to fourth in the Derby, and the Monday afterward a radiograph revealed that his left front knee had a chip in it. Despite rumors of his eventual return in the fall, the colt never ran again, retiring to Claiborne with a $35,000 stud fee.

Return to The Shedrow