Barn Tour: After winning Colonial title, Stidham looks ahead (2024)

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Michael Stidham is coming off the best earnings year in his career, $4.8 million in 2021. He also is coming off a Colonial Downs meet where he was the leading trainer with 13 wins from 61 starts, a 21 percent success rate.

Tuesday he was driving from Keeneland’s September yearling sale to Kentucky Downs, where he had horses entered in races on each of the last two days of the meet. He took time along the drive to provide updates on his top horses for the latest in Horse Racing Nation’s Barn Tour series.

Princess Grace. The 5-year-old mare became a millionaire this year with a win in the Dr. James Penny Memorial (G3) and runner-up efforts in the Beverly D. (G1) and last out in the Kentucky Downs Ladies Turf (G3), a race she won last year. “She made a really nice move to get to the leader Dalika, who had beat her in the Beverly D. the last time,” Stidham said. “And I've got to really take my hat off to Al Stall's filly, Dalika, because it almost looked like a repeat of the Beverly D., where we got to her, looked like we were going to go by her, and she had another gear and kept her neck in front of us. But Princess Grace ran huge, both races, actually. I'm not really disappointed other than not getting the win. The effort was there.”

Stidham planned to continue pursuing a Grade 1.“We obviously would love to have a chance to give her a Grade 1 win. There's a Grade 1 at Keeneland going a mile and then there's also the Matriarch at the end of the year. So those two races are probably going to be highest up on our option list.”

Proxy. The 4-year-old Tapit colt started the year with an allowance win in April after an eight-month layoff and finished second or third in four stakes starts since, including a third last out in the Stephen Foster (G2) in July. “We just had a little issue coming out of his last race. So we gave him a little break, and now he's back in training at Rice Road with Godolphin's training barn there with Johnny Burke. And we'll be picking him up when we get into Keeneland in October. … He's a very nice horse, and he's run against some of the top horses in the country and run well. He'll run again next year. So we're hoping to end this year and get him started next year with with some big wins.”

Catnip. Unraced as a 2-year-old, the 3-year-old Kitten's Joy colt is a half-brother to Princess Grace. “He broke his maiden in his second start at Colonial and then came back in the Virginia Derby (G3) and ran really well (finishing sixth). He wasn't on the board, but he was near the lead, took the lead on the turn for home, and he only got beat a few lengths against a really tough group of 3-year-olds coming out of his maiden win. So I think the future is pretty bright for Catnip.”

Ready To Venture. This 4-year-old daughter of Kingman came to Stidham after racing in England in 2020 and 2021 and has a record of 6: 2-2-2 this year. “She's kind of climbing the the condition ladder. She won the '2x' at Colonial and ran really well. She's been on the board in almost every start. And we did have her entered in a stakes at Kentucky Downs, and she was on the also-eligible but she didn't draw in. So we don't have a specific race picked out for her, but we think that she's good enough to try to earn some black type. So we'll be looking for those kinds of races.”

Alms. The 5-year-old mare, a Godolphin homebred who went 3-for-3 as a 2-year old, is looking for her first win since January 2020 and is entered in Wednesday’s restricted One Dreamer Stakes at Kentucky Downs. “She's very honest. She's already a graded-stakes winner, and we're just looking to add to her resume and picking spots that we think she's competitive in. I think she's 7-2 morning line Wednesday, and I think she's in a live spot there.”

Chardonnay. This 3-year-old Candy Ride filly finished fifth last out in the Charles Town Oaks (G3) and has yet to finish in the money in a stakes race. “We really don't have anything specifically picked out for her. She's another one that has got quite a bit of pedigree, so we're trying to get some black type. And she's been kind of fourth in some of those races. We're looking for any piece of black type for her, and we just haven't quite found it yet.”

Jeanie B. Stidham recently took over training this 4-year-old filly for CJ Thoroughbreds. She has a record of 5: 0-2-1 this year, and she likely will make her first start for Stidham in the Masters (G2) at Presque Isle Downs on Monday. “She's been competitive in a number of different stakes, and we're looking to pick up a race. It's a big purse, the Masters, and it's a graded stakes, so we think she'll be live in that spot.

2-year-olds

Tiki Bar. Stidham claimed the Karakontie filly for DARRS after her first race, a second-place finish in a maiden claiming race on July 26. Then she won a maiden special weight at Colonial on Aug. 16 and finished fourth in the Untapable at Kentucky Downs on Tuesday. Stidham said before the race, “we're asking a lot of her to step out of a maiden race into a stakes like this. But she ran huge in her second race, and we're hoping that she can make the big step up.”

Sir Lancelot. The gelded son of Goldencents won his debut Friday by 7 3/4 lengths. “Sir Lancelot is really exciting because he had been training well. He's owned by (John and Susan Moore), who own Princess Grace. And he broke his maiden by 7 3/4 lengths, and I just got the Ragozin number on it. He ran a 12 first time out, which is a really good number for a 2-year-old. So we're going to be looking at some stakes races for him. We haven't picked out a specific spot yet, but we'll be looking at a few different spots for him. His dam ran on the dirt, sprinting and routing, so we got a lot of options for him.”

Goldbuster. Another son of Goldencents, he broke his maiden on his second try, holding on to win by a neck in an Aug. 31 claiming race at Colonial. “He's another one that is kind of on the up and come, and we'll be looking for spots for him. I don't know that he would immediately be going into a stakes, but we'll be hoping that he's good enough for that.”

Marvelous Time. This Distorted Humor filly, a Godolphin homebred, won her debut by a nose on Aug. 31 at Presque Isle. “She's another one that will probably come back in an ‘a other than,’ probably back at Presque Isle. And then from there we're hoping that she also can climb the ladder into stakes company.”