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Wise Dan lights up rain-soaked Firecracker
Seruni wouldn't give an inch, though, keeping Wise Dan in tight on the inside and practically running through the hedge, until he finally managed to clear that rival and pull away to finish the one-mile contest in 1:39 4/5. Wise Dan paid $2.40 and $2.10 after show wagering was canceled as the 1-5 prohibitive favorite. Lea overtook Seruni late for runner-up honors, while Daddy Nose Best and Ol Army completed the order under the wire. Corporate Jungle, Dimension and Finnegans Wake were all withdrawn. Unraced as a juvenile, Wise Dan showed ability when winning four of six starts at three. During that 2010 campaign, he captured his stakes debut in the Phoenix Stakes at Keeneland and finished a creditable sixth, beaten just 2 1/2 lengths, in the Breeders' Cup Sprint. Wise Dan proved a triple-surface threat in 2011, winning the Firecracker in his turf debut, and adding the Presque Isle Mile on Tapeta, before romping in the Fayette over Keeneland's Polytrack and the Clark Handicap on the Churchill Downs dirt. The chestnut gelding kicked off his 2012 season at Keeneland with a scintillating 10 1/2-length conquest of the Ben Ali in a track-record time of 1:46.63 on the Polytrack. Wise Dan returned to Churchill for the Stephen Foster Handicap, only to lose by a head after a tough trip. That is his only loss in his past 11 races. Wise Dan reverted to turf for the Fourstardave Handicap last August at Saratoga, where he posted a five-length demolition job, and came back a month later to dominate the Woodbine Mile by 3 1/4 lengths. Wise Dan used the Shadwell Turf Mile in October at Keeneland as a virtual paid workout, with a 2 1/4-length jaunt that set him up perfectly for the November 3 Breeders' Cup Mile. In that championship-clinching victory at Santa Anita, he scorched in a course and stakes-record time of 1:31.78. By taking home Eclipse Awards as Horse of the Year, champion older male and champion turf male, Wise Dan joined the legendary John Henry as the only two to sweep those three honors in the Eclipse era. Now six-years old, Wise Dan figures to have much more time to polish his resume. He made a triumphant return in the April 12 Maker's 46 Mile at Keeneland and posted a 4 3/4-length score over yet another yielding turf at Churchill Downs in the Woodford Reserve Turf Classic last out on the Kentucky Derby undercard. The Kentucky-bred is by Wiseman's Ferry and out of the winning Wolf Power mare Lisa Danielle. He is a half-brother to multiple Grade 2 victor Successful Dan, who set a new Churchill track record when taking the Alysheba last May. Successful Dan recently returned from an injury-induced layoff to wire this year's Ben Ali on April 21, making it back-to-back wins in that race for the two "Dans." Another half-sibling to the "Dans," stakes winner Our Royal Dancer, is herself the dam of Argentinean Group 2-placed Bailando Voy. Lisa Danielle is in turn a half-sister to Grade 1-placed Carsona, who has produced Grade 2 victor Siphon City. This is the family of German Group 1-winning highweight Scalo, and further back, French champion, classic winner and noted sire *Val de Loir as well as dual classic heroine and Irish champion *Valoris II. Bet Horseracing Free Online at TwinSpires.com
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