Pyro (foaled on February 19, 2005 in Kentucky) is 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 and sire. His sire is Pulpit, a son of the 1992

Eclipse Award The Eclipse Award is an American Thoroughbred horse racing award named after the 18th-century British racehorse and sire, Eclipse. An Eclipse Award Trophy is presented to the winner in each division that is made by a few small selected American ...

Winner for American Horse of the Year, A.P. Indy. His dam is the mare Wild Vision, sired by the 1984

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 ...

Racing Career (2007)

At age two Pyro won an allowance race by a nose and notably ran second to

War Pass War Pass (April 17, 2005 – December 24, 2010) was an American champion Thoroughbred racehorse and winner of the 2007 Breeders' Cup Juvenile. Owned by Robert V. LaPenta and bred by Cherry Valley Farm, he was out of the mare Vue, a daughter of th ...

in the

Grade 1 First grade (also called Grade One, called '' Year 2'' in England or Primary 2 in Scotland) is the first grade in elementary school and the first school year after kindergarten. Children are usually 6–7 years old in this grade. Examples by ...

Champagne Stakes at Belmont Park in

Elmont, New York Elmont is an unincorporated hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) located in northwestern Hempstead in Nassau County, New York, United States, along its border with the borough of Queens in New York City. The population was 35,265 at the 2 ...

and in the

Breeders' Cup Juvenile The Breeders' Cup Juvenile is a Thoroughbred horse race for 2-year-old colts and geldings raced on dirt. It is held annually in late October or early November at a different racetrack in the United States or Canada as part of the Breeders' Cup W ...

Monmouth Park Monmouth Park Racetrack is an American race track for thoroughbred horse racing in Oceanport, New Jersey, United States. It is owned by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority and is operated under a five-year lease as a partnership with ...

Oceanport, New Jersey Oceanport is a borough in Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States census, the borough's population was 5,832,Risen Star Stakes The Risen Star Stakes is a Grade II American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-old horses at a distance of one and one-eighth miles on the dirt run annually in February, usually during the President's Day weekend at Fair Grounds Race Course ...

at the

Fair Grounds Race Course Fair Grounds Race Course, often known as New Orleans Fair Grounds, is a thoroughbred racetrack and racino in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is operated by Churchill Downs Louisiana Horseracing Company, LLC. As early as 1838 Bernard de Marigny, Ju ...

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

. In a ten-horse race marked by a very slow pace, Pyro was last at the top of the stretch but moved between three horses and, as the track announcer said, he was "coming like a rocket" when he passed the rest of the field and won the 1 1/16 miles Risen Star Stakes by two lengths. The

Daily Racing Form The ''Daily Racing Form'' (DRF) (referred to as the ''Racing Form'' or "Form" and sometimes "telegraph" or "telly") is a tabloid newspaper founded in 1894 in Chicago, Illinois, by Frank Brunell. The paper publishes the past performances of raceh ...

said: "His rally to win the Risen Star Stakes at the Fair Grounds in February was so phenomenal that he evoked comparisons to the legendary

Silky Sullivan Silky Sullivan (February 28, 1955 – November 18, 1977) was an American thoroughbred racehorse best known for his come-from-behind racing style. Racing style There were other great closers— Whirlaway, Stymie, Calidoscopio, Needles ...

." On March 8, Pyro won the Grade 2

Louisiana Derby The Louisiana Derby is a Grade II American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at the Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans, Louisiana. Run in late March, the race is open to horses, age three, willing to race miles on the dirt. It currently o ...

at the Fair Grounds. On April 12, Pyro finished a distant 10th, beaten by 39 lengths in the

Blue Grass Stakes The Blue Grass Stakes, currently the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes due to sponsorship by the Toyota Motor Corporation, is a horse race for 3-year-old Thoroughbreds held annually in April at Keeneland Racecourse in Lexington, Kentucky. The race is ru ...

Keeneland Race Course 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 i ...

in Lexington, Kentucky. Pyro might have disliked the

Polytrack The track surface of a horse racing track refers to the material of which the track is made. There are three types of track surfaces used in modern horse racing. These are: *Turf, the most common track surface in Europe *Dirt, the most common trac ...

at Keeneland, as opposed to conventional dirt tracks where he had never finished a race worse than third. On May 3, he finished 8th in the 2008 Kentucky Derby. On June 14, Pyro regained his form in the Northern Dancer Stakes, winning decisively against a top-notch field. In order: My Pal Charlie, Visionaire (12th in the Kentucky Derby), Recapturetheglory (5th in the Derby), Texas Wildcatter, and Unbridled Vicar. On July 27, he came in a late charge to take second to

Macho Again Macho Again (foaled 2005 in Florida) is a retired American thoroughbred racehorse and sire. He was sired by the 2000 American Champion Two-Year-Old Colt Macho Uno, who in turn was a son of leading sire Holy Bull. He is out of the mare Go Donna ...

, (runner up in the

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 ...

), in the Grade II

Jim Dandy Stakes The Jim Dandy Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race. The Grade II race has been held annually since 1964 at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York. The race is open to horses age three over one and one-eighth miles on the dirt. ...

Saratoga Race Course Saratoga Race Course is a Thoroughbred horse racing track located on Union Avenue in Saratoga Springs, New York, United States. Opened in 1863, it is often considered to be the oldest major sporting venue of any kind in the country, but is actu ...

. Pyro placed second by 1/2 length. On August 23, he made a late closing finish to finish behind Colonel John and Mambo in Seattle in 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 ...

. Then he was prepped for the

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, ...

at Santa Anita to run in the Dirt Mile. It was well known that the synthetic track at Santa Anita was far from being the poly-track at Keenland. Nevertheless, it was obviously not his day and he raced way behind the leaders and never made a late move. In his first race in 2009 after a long lay-off, he took the Grade 1, 7 furlong Forego Stakes against grade 1 winning sprint horse

Kodiak Kowboy Kodiak Kowboy (foaled April 16, 2005 in Kentucky) is a retired American Thoroughbred racehorse owned by Vinery Stables and Fox Hill Farms and trained by Steve Asmussen. He was also trained by Larry Jones for part of his career. In 2007 he won a ...

Stud career

Pyro was retired to stud in 2010 and currently stands at the Darley Japan Stallion Complex for a fee of 2,000,000

yen The is the official currency of Japan. It is the third-most traded currency in the foreign exchange market, after the United States dollar (US$) and the euro. It is also widely used as a third reserve currency after the US dollar and the e ...

References

{{reflist
Pyro's pedigree and partial racing stats

NTRA article and video of Pyro's win in the 2007 Risen Star Stakes

2005 racehorse births Thoroughbred family 8-d Racehorses bred in Kentucky Racehorses trained in the United States Racehorses trained in the United Arab Emirates