Ferdinand

Jared Shoemaker, co-managing partner of Pocket Aces Racing, grew up in Lexington and fondly remembers going to Keeneland with his extended family from the time he could walk. It was one of his favorite things to do as a child. By the time he was in high school, he admits to spending a lot of afternoons at the track while supposedly in class. Not one to miss a good day of racing--no matter the reason--he scheduled all of his lectures at the University of Kentucky to be done by noon...

Chris McCarron won his first of two Belmont Stakes in 1986 with Danzig Connection (Danzig) at odds of 8-1, unexpectedly defeating that year's Kentucky Derby winner and Preakness runner-up Ferdinand (Nijinsky II) and giving trainer Woody Stephens the last of five consecutive victories in the Test of the Champion. The next year, he found himself on the other side of the fence aboard Alysheba (Alydar). Alysheba and McCarron had won the first two legs of the Triple Crown and were on track to complete the series when, coming around the...