1998 Breeders' Cup Classic winner Awesome Again was recently pensioned from stud duty after having sired 14 Grade I winners, 13 millionaires and four Breeders' Cup Champions. We spoke with the team at Adena Springs on what the 26-year-old stallion has meant to their program.
All eyes will be on Santa Anita for their opening weekend feature in the GI Awesome Again S. as Bob Baffert trainees Maximum Security (New Year's Day) and Improbable (City Zip) go head to head for the first time since that consequential first Saturday in May last year.
The $300,000 Breeders' Cup “Win and You're In” contest could mark the emergence of an unusual stablemate rivalry.
Over two decades ago, the race's namesake was part of a different rivalry- one for 1998 Horse of the Year.
Awesome Again had gone undefeated that year, claiming five consecutive victories in the GII Stephen Foster H., GI Whitney, GII Saratoga Breeders' Cup H., GIII Hawthorne Gold Cup H. and finally the GI Breeders' Cup Classic.