Spirit Maker

The late longtime owner and breeder Paul Pompa, Jr., was a prominent figure in horse racing over the past two decades. The former owner of Truck Rite Corp. campaigned the likes of dual Classic winner Big Brown (Boundary) and champion Stardom Bound (Tapit) in partnership and was the sole owner of Grade I winners Connect (Curlin) and Backseat Rhythm (El Corredor). Several Pompa homebreds carried his silks to graded victories, such as Night Prowler (Giant's Causeway), Regal Glory (Animal Kingdom) and Turned Aside (American Pharoah). The latter two are among...

4th-Aqueduct, $80,000, Msw, 11-28, 2yo, 1 1/16mT, 1:45.62, gd, 1 3/4 lengths. SPIRIT MAKER (c, 2, Empire Maker--California Spirit, by Tale of the Cat), a $330,000 OBS April buy after breezing an eighth in :10 1/5, was given a 6-1 chance to graduate at first asking. Eighth through a half mile in :48.20, he began to wind up on the far turn, angled out five wide into the stretch and came charging down the center of the course to graduate by 1 3/4 good-looking lengths over Girl Dad (Malibu Moon)....