Wizard’s Former Career as a Racehorse

©1999 Equi-Photo. Used with permission.

Wizard is a New Jersey bred Thoroughbred and was foaled on February 5, 1996. Wizard’s registered name is Doctor’s Secret. His sire is Secret Hello and his dam is Slewper Girl, by Slewpy.

Wizard:

Wizard

Wizard’s sire, Secret Hello:

Secret Hello

Wizard’s grandsire, the beautifully-bred and influential sire Private Account. Sire of Secret Hello:

Private Account

Wizard’s great-grandsire, Damascus. Sire of Private Account:

Damascus

Wizard’s broodmare sire (maternal grandsire), Slewpy. I think that Wizard strongly resembles this sire line.

Slewpy

Wizard’s great-grandsire, Seattle Slew. Sire of Slewpy:

Seattle Slew

Aside from conformational similarities, Wizard has also inherited an attractive and unusual trait from the Seattle Slew line: his honey-colored eyes…

It is a pet peeve of mine to hear people brag about a horse being related to Man O’War or Secretariat somewhere on the 10th generation. It is quite common for Thoroughbreds have some very impressive names in the 3rd and 4th generation and beyond. I usually look at the immediate generations for class and racing ability. Although Wizard’s pedigree is considered working-class for a racehorse, it contains the names of some racehorses commonly sought-after for sport horse breeding, such as Damascus, Buckpasser, Bold Ruler, and Princequillo in the first four generations. He also has Alibhai on his 5th generation, making him a verrrrrry distant cousin to Alibar :^)

Wizard’s pedigree is free of Northern Dancer, Raise A Native, and Mr. Prospector lines, which is a little unusual. His tail female line is Reine-de-Course Beaming Beauty. This is one of Colonel Bradley’s great families, and it contains Bubbling Over, Bymeabond, Damascus, Native Charger, Banshee Breeze, C P West, Buddha, Echo Lass, and All At Sea. Moreover, he is line bred 4×4 to Kerala, the dam of Damascus; this is a term called the Rasmussen Factor, which is the inbreeding of superior female families through different individuals. Wizard is also line bred 4×4 to leading broodmare sire Prince John.

Wizard raced at ages 3 and 4 at Monmouth Park, the Meadowlands, and Philadelphia Park. His official workouts were at Monmouth Park and Garden State Park. He raced 15 times, winning once and coming in third twice- his earnings total $11,500. He ran nine times as a 3 year old and raced six times at age 4. Wizard’s lone victory came when he was a 3 year old at The Meadowlands in October 1999 and is pictured above. He raced at a sprint distance of 6 furlongs for the majority of his starts and always raced on dirt. He was ridden by jockeys Felix Ortiz, Stewart Elliott, Mark McCormick, Luis Romero Rivera Jr., and Miguel Angel Espindola. His career started at the end of May of his 3 year old year, which indicates to me that he was a bit of a late developer. He was gelded before his first start. He raced without Lasix/Salix until his 4th start.

In his first few starts, he ran in state-bred maiden races. His typical pattern was to run mid-pack and make his move around the turn. For most of his first few races, he finished mid-pack. Later in his 3 year old year, he was moved to press the pace a little bit. When he won in October (the day before my birthday :^), he won from the front of the pack. He finished in fractions of :22 4/5, :46 2/5, :58 4/5, 1:11 1/5 and this was his last race of the year. It was a state-bred maiden claiming race and he defeated 10 other horses age 3 and up. It seems like he ran best at the Meadowlands- perhaps he liked the firm base.

Wizard’s 4 year old season started at Monmouth Park in July. He made little impact in any of his starts that year, and is listed as “DNF” (did not finish) for one race in August. He finished close to last in most starts, racing at Monmouth, the Meadowlands, and his last race was at Philadelphia Park. The charts indicate that he started awkwardly and flattened out soon after. My best guess is that this would indicate an issue with breathing, soreness, or he was simply not competitive anymore.