This is what you actually need to know:
He‘s named after an NBA legend: Owned by DJ Stable, West Point Thoroughbreds and Kenneth Freirich, Ewing honors Hall of Fame center Patrick Ewing, who managed the paint for the New York Knicks from the mid-1980s to the late 1990s. Griffin Johnson has an ownership interest in the colt through Terry Finley’s West Point Thoroughbreds. After winning the 1984 NCAA Championship with the Georgetown Hoyas, Patrick Ewing led the Knicks to two NBA Finals appearances.
He‘is undefeated: Ewing started his career last summer, going 2-for-2 at Saratoga Race Course. The upstate New York location is known as the launching pad for many standout 2-year-olds (most horses begin racing at age 2), and Ewing made his debut on July 5 with a standout victory by 12 lengths. Translation: He looked legit. He then ran again in the $200,000 Saratoga Special Stakes on August 2, winning that six-furlong sprint by a length over the highly regarded Obliteration.
He‘I return after a rest period of more than seven months: Ewing’s owners and his trainer, Hall of Famer Mark Casse, planned to race him in the fall of 2025 but instead gave him time off due to a minor injury. That’s quite normal in racing, as those in charge of horses would rather protect their talented athletes than rush them. Ewing eventually made the trip to Oaklawn Park to train this winter and has been gearing up for his comeback since mid-December.
He‘There’s a red-hot trainer-jockey combo in his corner: Mark Casse and jockey Cristian Torres recently scored big wins together at Oaklawn. On February 6, they won two stakes races for 3-year-olds, the Martha Washington Stakes (Search Party) and the Southwest Stakes (Silent Tactic). Those races are preparations for the Kentucky Oaks and the Kentucky Derby, respectively. Overall, Mark Casse has won a whopping 45 percent of his races so far at the Oaklawn Park meeting.
He‘a long shot to run in the Kentucky Derby: The Ozark Stakes is a six-furlong (three-quarters of a mile) sprint. That’s a distance Ewing was successful at Saratoga last summer. The Kentucky Derby, on the other hand, is a route race held at a mile and a quarter (10 furlongs) and around two turns. The Kentucky Derby is a very different challenge than sprinting, which requires a horse to have built up a lot of endurance. Ewing has a promising pedigree (family history) to compete in endurance races, but the fact is that he has stayed on sprints so far and will be back after a long break.
Mark Casse is very patient as a horse trainer, so it is very likely that this talented colt will not be rushed in his development, especially since the 152i.e Kentucky Derby is just over two months away. The future looks bright for this colt, regardless of the distance he travels, and Griffin Johnson, Ewing’s other owners and many horse racing fans have high hopes for the coming months – starting on President’s Day! The Ozark Stakes will be broadcast live FS2 and on FanDuel TVwith a scheduled post time of 5:42 PM ET.
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