Afleet Again (April 28, 2007 - April 12, 2018) was an American

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are ...

racehorse best known for winning the 2011 Breeders' Cup Marathon Stakes as a 41–1 upset.

Background

Afleet Again, a gray horse, was foaled in Kentucky. He was bred by Roll Z Dice Racing Stable. He was sired by Afleet Alex, the 2005

Preakness Stakes The Preakness Stakes is an American thoroughbred horse race held on Armed Forces Day which is also the third Saturday in May each year at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. It is a Grade I race run over a distance of 9.5 furlongs () o ...

and Belmont Stakes winner. His dam, Lucky Again, is a daughter of inaugural

Breeders' Cup Classic The Breeders' Cup Classic is a Grade I Weight for Age thoroughbred horse race for 3-year-olds and older run at a distance of on dirt. It is held annually at a different racetrack as part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships in late October ...

winner

Wild Again Wild, wild, wilds or wild may refer to: Common meanings * Wild animal * Wilderness, a wild natural environment * Wildness, the quality of being wild or untamed Art, media and entertainment Film and television * ''Wild'' (2014 film), a 2014 A ...

. Lucky Again has also produced Oh So Bella, a full sister to Afleet Again, who is graded stakes-placed.

Northern Afleet Northern Afleet (January 23, 1993 - June 1, 2018) was an American thoroughbred racehorse and sire. He is best known as the sire of dual Triple Crown Classic winner Afleet Alex and Breeders' Cup winners World Approval and Amazombie Background ...

, Afleet Again's grandsire, is the sire of

Breeders' Cup The Breeders' Cup World Championships is an annual series of Grade I Thoroughbred horse races, operated by Breeders' Cup Limited, a company formed in 1982. From its inception in 1984 through 2006, it was a single-day event; starting in 2007, ...

winners Amazombie and World Approval, as well as Afleet Alex. Afleet Again was trained by Robert "Butch" Reid, Jr. and owned by Cash Is King Racing Stable (owners of Afleet Alex) and Kasey K Racing Stable during his career.

Racing career

Two and three-year-old seasons

Afleet Again broke his maiden as a juvenile in his fourth start at

Parx Casino and Racing Parx Casino and Racing (formerly Philadelphia Park Racetrack and Casino) is a thoroughbred horse racing venue and the largest casino gaming complex in Pennsylvania. Parx is located in Bensalem Township in Bucks County, northeast of the city of P ...

. Afleet Again opened his sophomore season with a fifth-place finish in the

Count Fleet Stakes The Count Fleet Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race run at Aqueduct Racetrack, located in Jamaica, New York, at the beginning of January each year. It is the first stakes race of the year run in New York City for three-year-olds. Nam ...

at Aqueduct Racetrack, and returned to the winner's circle in his next race, an allowance. After running second in the Whirlaway Stakes, he contested his first graded stakes race, the 2010 Gr.III Gotham Stakes, finishing a poor 10th. Afleet Again's first big win came next when he upset the Gr.III Withers Stakes, defeating multiple graded stakes winner D'Funnybone and stakes winner Ibboyee. The following month in March, he finished second in the Spend a Buck Stakes, and then third in the Gr.III Pegasus Stakes. Afleet Again stepped up into

Grade One Grade 1 may refer to: *First grade, the first school year of primary education. *A Grade 1 Graded stakes race horse race * ''Grade One'' (TV series), a 2014 Chinese TV variety show *Grade 1 listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed b ...

company for the first time in the

Haskell Invitational The Haskell Stakes is a Grade I American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds run over a distance of miles on the dirt held annually in July at Monmouth Park Racetrack in Oceanport, New Jersey. The event is a signature event at Monmouth ...

. The 2010 Haskell field included Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver, Kentucky Derby-placed

Ice Box An icebox (also called a cold closet) is a compact non-mechanical refrigerator which was a common early-twentieth-century kitchen appliance before the development of safely powered refrigeration devices. Before the development of electric refrig ...

winner

Lookin At Lucky Lookin At Lucky (foaled May 27, 2007 in Kentucky) is a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 2010 Preakness Stakes. He was the 2009 Champion Two-Year-Old and 2010 Champion Three-Year-Old, becoming the first horse in 32 years to ...

, Preakness-placed

First Dude First Dude may refer to: * First Dude (horse), an American Thoroughbred racehorse * First Gentleman First lady is an unofficial title usually used for the wife, and occasionally used for the daughter or other female relative, of a non-monarch ...

, and stakes winner Trappe Shot. Afleet Again finished fifth in a field of six. He ran once more in top company, contesting the

Travers Stakes The Travers Stakes is an American Graded stakes race, Grade I Thoroughbred horse race held at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York. It is nicknamed the "Mid-Summer Derby" and is the third-ranked race for American three-year-olds acco ...

. The race was won by Afleet Express, another son of Afleet Alex, with Fly Down and First Dude behind in second and third; Afleet Again finished a good fourth. Afleet Again's last race of 2010 was the Gr.II Pennsylvania Derby, where he finished fifth. Afleet Again began 2011 with a runner-up finish in an allowance race, followed by a pair of fifth-place runs in the One Count Stakes and Brooklyn Handicap. He then finished second in the Greenwood Cup Stakes.

2011 Breeder's Cup

Despite a string of poor performances in stakes races, Afleet Again was entered in the 2011

Breeders' Cup Marathon The Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance Stakes, is a Grade II American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds and up, and contested on dirt at usually at a distance of miles. The race has a purse of US$350,000. It is run as part of the undercar ...

at 1 3/4 miles. He was the longest shot on the board at 41–1. The field included fellow distance runners Eldaafer, the 2010 Marathon winner, Brooklyn Handicap winner Birdrun, and

Clark Handicap The Clark Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually in late November at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. Among the oldest races in the United States, it was first run in 1875, the year the racetrack opened for business. C ...

winner Giant Oak, among others. Graded stakes winner Pleasant Prince led throughout most of the race, fading around the turn, with a string of horses, including Afleet Again, taking over at the front. Cease, a son of War Front, took the lead down the stretch, but was overtaken by Afleet Again, who was piloted by Cornelio Velasquez, flew on the outside to win by 2 1/4 lengths, defeating Birdrun and Giant Oak. He finished the race in a final time of 3:00.39 and paid $85.20 to win. His win snapped an eight race losing streak. Robert Reid, Afleet Again's trainer, said after the race, “He ran fabulously. It's so rare to get this kind of distance, so we decided to take a shot. We always thought he could go this far. There's no limit to how far he can run. When I saw a 48 (fraction) for the first half and we were only seven or eight lengths out of it, I thought we were in pretty good shape.” Afleet Again's final race came in December 2011 at

Woodbine Racetrack Woodbine Racetrack is a race track for Thoroughbred horse racing in the Etobicoke area of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Owned by Woodbine Entertainment Group, Woodbine Racetrack manages and hosts Canada's most famous race, the King's Plate. The tra ...

, when he contested the

Valedictory Stakes The Valedictory Stakes is a Canadian Thoroughbred horse race run annually in late November or early December at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario. Open to horses age three and older, the Grade III stakes is contested on a synthetic "all weat ...

. He finished fourth behind

Queen's Plate The King's Plate (known as the Queen's Plate between 1860 to 1901 and 1952 to 2022) is Canada's oldest Thoroughbred horse race, having been founded in 1860. It is also the oldest continuously run race in North America. It is run at a distance of ...

winner Eye of the Leopard, Harrods Creek, and Eagle Poise. He retired after 2011 with a record of 25: 4-5-3 and earnings of $695,299.

Stud career and death

Afleet Again was consigned as a stallion prospect at the

Keeneland Keeneland Association, Inc. is an equine business based in Lexington, Kentucky. It includes two distinct divisions: the Keeneland Race Course, a Thoroughbred racing facility, and Keeneland Sales, a horse auction complex. It is also known for its ...

2012 Breeding Stock Sale, and was purchased for $30,000 by Yoon Heung Yul of

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

. Sent to South Korea, Alfeet Again stood stallion duties at Happy Farm, a small farm home to a broodmare band and other stallions. Afleet Again's progeny have yet to win stakes races, though they are multiple winners. Afleet Again succumbed to colic on April 12, 2018, at the age of 10.

References

{{reflist 2007 racehorse births 2018 racehorse deaths Racehorses bred in Florida Racehorses trained in the United States Thoroughbred family 5-g Breeders' Cup Marathon winners