WinStar Farm has entered a partnership with MyRacehorse to acquire the breeding rights to 2024 Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) winner and Eclipse Award champion male sprinter Straight No Chaser, the prominent Kentucky farm announced March 28.
Trained by Dan Blacker, the globetrotting 6-year-old son of Speightster is a prohibitive favorite in the $2 million Dubai Golden Shaheen Stakes (G1) at Meydan Racecourse April 5 on Dubai World Cup day. He punched his ticket to the Golden Shaheen with a resounding win in the $2 million Riyadh Dirt Sprint (G2), a Breeders' Cup Challenge Series event for the Nov. 1 Breeders' Cup Sprint, at King Abdulaziz Racecourse in Saudi Arabia in February to kick off his 2025 season.
"Acquiring the breeding rights to Straight No Chaser ensures that we will retire the fastest horse in the world two years in a row, following Cogburn this season," said Elliott Walden, president, CEO, and racing manager of WinStar. "Straight No Chaser has a profile very similar to his grandsire, Speightstown. He was a Breeders' Cup winner in the sprint division and a champion who retired at age 6. Straight No Chaser is an exceptionally good-looking horse, and he has demonstrated incredible speed. We're looking forward to working with Michael Behrens and the entire MyRacehorse team."
From his breakout win in the 2023 Maryland Sprint Stakes (G3) at Pimlico Race Course, a six-furlong fixture that he won by a commanding 7 1/2 lengths in stakes record time of 1:08.27, Straight No Chaser has been a force in the sprint division. In the fall of 2024, Straight No Chaser cruised to a front-running 6 1/4-length victory in the six-furlong Santa Anita Sprint Championship Stakes (G2). After setting all the pace, Straight No Chaser drew off in the lane, stopping the clock in 1:08.54. That score was just a preview of what was to come.
Straight No Chaser entered last year's six-furlong Breeders' Cup Sprint in top form. Under jockey John Velazquez, Straight No Chaser raced in third early, just outside the pacesetters. He remained three wide on the far turn, collared Bentornato inside the final furlong, and asserted his superiority late to win in 1:08.62.
All told, Straight No Chaser has won seven of his 11 career starts and amassed earnings of $2,616,300. He has recorded six career triple-digit Equibase Speed Figure performances, including a career-best 122 in the Santa Anita Sprint Championship. His win in last month's Riyadh Dirt Sprint guarantees Straight No Chaser a berth in this year's Breeders' Cup Sprint to defend his crown.
Bred in Kentucky by John Eaton and Steve Laymon, Straight No Chaser is produced from the winning Johannesburg mare Margarita Friday. Straight No Chaser is a half brother to stakes winners T Kraft and Hangover Saturday and hails from the female family of two-time sprint champion Housebuster.
Straight No Chaser's sire, Speightster, was bred and raced by WinStar Farm. A son of Speightstown, grade 3 winner Speightster stood his first five years at stud alongside his sire at WinStar before being relocated to Northern Dawn Stables in Ontario. He died shortly before his first season there, siring just five crops; members of his final crop are 3-year-olds of 2025.
