Michael E. Pegram (born February 16, 1952 in

Fort Knox Fort Knox is a United States Army installation in Kentucky, south of Louisville and north of Elizabethtown. It is adjacent to the United States Bullion Depository, which is used to house a large portion of the United States' official gold res ...

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

) is the co-owner of the 2010

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 () on ...

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 t ...

and owner of the 1998

Kentucky Derby The Kentucky Derby is a horse race held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, almost always on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The competition is a Grade I stakes race for three-year ...

and

winner

Real Quiet Real Quiet (March 7, 1995 – September 27, 2010) was an American Champion Thoroughbred racehorse. He was nicknamed "The Fish" by his trainer due to his narrow frame. He is best remembered for winning the first two legs of American Triple ...

. He grew up in

Princeton, Indiana Princeton is the largest city in and the county seat of Patoka Township, Gibson County, Indiana, United States. The population was 8,301 at the 2020 United States Census, and it is part of the greater Evansville, Indiana, Metropolitan Area. Hi ...

going to the races at

Ellis Park Racecourse Ellis Park is a thoroughbred racetrack near Henderson, Kentucky, just south of Evansville, Indiana. It is owned and operated by Churchill Downs Incorporated. While the track is located north of the Ohio River that forms the border between Kentuc ...

and

Churchill Downs Churchill Downs is a horse racing complex located on Central Avenue in south Louisville, Kentucky, United States, famed for hosting the annual Kentucky Derby. It officially opened in 1875 and was named for Samuel Churchill, whose family was ...

and dreamed of someday owning a Kentucky Derby winner. He also won the 1998

Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies The Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies is a -mile thoroughbred horse race on dirt (although the distance has varied, depending on the configuration of the host track) for two-year-old fillies run annually since 1984 at a different racetrack in the Uni ...

with

Silverbulletday Silverbulletday (foaled January 22, 1996 in Kentucky) is an American Thoroughbred champion racehorse. Bred in Kentucky, she was sired by Silver Deputy and out of the GII winning mare Rokeby Rose. Her damsire was Tom Rolfe, the 1965 Preakness Sta ...

and after she was voted that year's

Eclipse Award for Outstanding 2-Year-Old Filly The American Champion Two-Year-Old Filly is an American Thoroughbred horse racing honor awarded annually to a female horse in Thoroughbred flat racing. It became part of the Eclipse Awards program in 1971. The award originated in 1936 when both t ...

, came back in 1999 to win the

Kentucky Oaks The Kentucky Oaks is a Graded stakes race, Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred Filly, fillies staged annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. The race currently covers at Churchill Downs; the horses carry . The Kentucky O ...

. In 2013

Rosie Napravnik Anna Rose "Rosie" Napravnik (born February 9, 1988) is a former American Thoroughbred horse racing jockey and two-time winner of the Kentucky Oaks. Beginning her career in 2005, she was regularly ranked among the top jockeys in North America in ...

, rode Midnight Lucky to victory in the

Acorn Stakes The Acorn Stakes is an American Grade I race at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York for three-year-old Thoroughbred fillies. It is raced on dirt over a distance of one mile with a current purse of $500,000. It is the first leg of the US Triple Tiara ...

, Pegram was a co-owner of Midnight Lucky. Among his other horses, Pegram owned

Captain Steve Captain Steve (March 1, 1997 – April 21, 2013) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse. He was bred by Roger Laubach, raised by Cecil "Buddy" Williams, owned by Michael E. Pegram, and trained by Bob Baffert. A Chestnut foal by Fly So Free out ...

, High Stakes Player, Queen of Money, Miss Gibson County, Wheeler Oil, Argolid, Favored One, Arches of Gold, Pussycat Doll, The Texas Tunnel, and Uncle Chuck. Pegram became successful as owner of several

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechri ...

restaurant franchises in the state of

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

, a business that his father Jim had been involved with. Pegram has since moved his restaurant empire to

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

, where he lives part-time. Pegram also resides in

Del Mar Del Mar is Spanish for "of the sea" or "from the sea". It may refer to: Places in the United States * Del Mar, California * Del Mar High School, located in San Jose, California * Del Mar racetrack, located in Del Mar, California * Del Mar Fai ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. He has three children: Amie and Tim Pegram and Tiffany Peach and three brothers: Jim (a jockey agent), Demont and Gil. Pegram also enjoyed success by winning the $2 million

Breeders' Cup Sprint The Breeders' Cup Sprint is an American Weight for Age Grade I Thoroughbred horse race for horses three years old and older. Run on dirt Corrected grade for Santa Anita sprintover a distance of 6 Furlongs ( mile), the race has been held annually si ...

at Monmouth Park in 2007 with

Midnight Lute Midnight Lute (foaled May 13, 2003, in Versailles, Kentucky) is an American Thoroughbred racehorse. He was named American Champion Sprint Horse in 2007. Background Midnight Lute was bred by Tom Evans, Macon Wilmil Equines & Marjac Farms, Inc. ...

, who trainer

Bob Baffert Robert A. Baffert (born January 13, 1953) is an American racehorse trainer who trained the 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah and 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify. Baffert's horses have won a record six Kentucky Derbies, seven Preakne ...

stated was the best horse he'd ever brought to the

Breeder's 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, i ...

. His champion returned the following year at Santa Anita Park to capture the same race, first sprinter to ever do so.

References

Mike Pegram profile
at the

National Thoroughbred Racing Association The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) is a broad-based coalition of American horse racing interests consisting of leading thoroughbred racetracks, owners, breeders, trainers and affiliated horse racing associations, charged with incr ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pegram, Michael E. American businesspeople American racehorse owners and breeders Owners of Kentucky Derby winners Owners of Preakness Stakes winners 1952 births Living people People from Kentucky People from Princeton, Indiana