LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Terry Bradshaw didn’t just win a horse race Saturday. He won the weekend.
And if you tuned in to FOX NFL Sunday, you saw him celebrate like he’d just thrown a game-winner to Lynn Swann in the Super Bowl.
“A 2-year-old filly I own out of the great young stud Rock Your World, they're winning the Pocahontas Stakes,” Bradshaw said. “You know what this does? This sends me and my family to California for the Breeders' Cup."
The legendary Steelers quarterback — long a mainstay on Sundays as a football analyst — made headlines for something other than football. His bargain $20,000 filly Taken by the Wind crushed the field in the Grade III Pocahontas Stakes at Churchill Downs, pulling away by 5¼ lengths under Irad Ortiz Jr.
She earned $136,710, picked up 10 points on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks, and may now head to the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies on Oct. 31 at Del Mar.
Not bad for a guy who once said horses were just a hobby. It was all part of a big weekend in Louisville for the Hall of Fame. On Thursday, he was at Bourbon & Beyond leading a "Family Cookin'" demonstration with his son-in-law, chef Noah Hester.
“I offered Curt half the horse…”
On Sunday’s broadcast, host Curt Menefee tried to congratulate Bradshaw — only to find himself at the center of the story.
“I bought the horse, I offered Curt half the horse,” Bradshaw said, grinning. “But Curt said, ‘You don’t know what you’re talking about.’”
Menefee’s response?
“That’s why Curt is still here working right now.”
A “poor man’s trainer,” a pedigree play
Taken By the Win, a filly co-owned by NFL Hall of Famer Terry Bradshaw, won the Grade III Pocahontas at Churchill Downs.
Bradshaw co-owns the undefeated filly with trainer Kenny McPeek — who was off scouting yearlings at Keeneland during the race — and partners Graham Leveston and Magdalena Racing.
“Kenny’s personality fits my personality,” Bradshaw said. “I just like being around him. We’re friends and he’s a really good horseman. He knows what he’s looking for.”
Bradshaw joked that McPeek is a “poor man’s trainer.” As a winner of the Oaks-Derby double, I don’t know that I’d call McPeek a “poor man’s” anything, but Bradshaw is an NFL Hall of Famer, so I’ll let it pass.
“It’s hard to compete with the billionaires out there like Mike Repole and some of the others,” Bradshaw said. “But you have to have a trainer that’s willing to take on people like myself who invest what we consider a substantial amount of money. It’s just a great experience all around.”
Bradshaw isn’t new to this game. He’s been involved in racing for years, starting with Mission Impazible, who ran in the 2010 Kentucky Derby, and Graydar, who was sold for big breeding dollars after a successful career.
In fact, Bradshaw says he’s more into breeding than racing. But that can change pretty fast with a really good filly.
“Primarily, I like to buy fillies so I can breed them,” he said. “If you don’t win the big three or Grade Is with a stud, then their value is hard to come by.”
Taken by the Wind … and running with it
The filly, by Rock Your World out of Up for Grabs (by First Samurai), was a Keeneland yearling sale find. She ran like a seasoned pro Saturday — stalking the pace, finding a rail opening, and blowing past the field.
“She ran like an older filly today,” said Ortiz. “She’s very exciting.”
Bradshaw, who is 77, called the victory “cloud nine.”
And in truth, you can’t buy this kind of PR. Not just the win, but a mention to millions of football fans on national TV, at the start of the NFL season, from a Hall of Fame QB talking about a Kentucky Oaks hopeful.
It’s not just good for Bradshaw. It’s good for the game.
Final furlong
So now Bradshaw’s got Taken by the Wind pointed toward the Breeders’ Cup.
He’s still got his spot on Sundays. Still got the laugh. And four Super Bowl Rings. And one undefeated fily.
And a Fox co-host kicking himself all the way to the paddock.
Quick sips
• A scary moment for Racing Louisville’s Savannah DeMelo in the first half of a game Sunday night in Seattle. The star midfielder felt lightheaded, sat down on the pitch, then passed out. An ambulance responded and she was taken to a local hospital. Read an update here.
• Kentucky football won big against Eastern Michigan on Saturday, but Mark Stoops isn’t ready to commit to redshirt freshman Cutter Boley as his new starting quarterback. Read about it here.
• Indiana won even bigger against Indiana State on Friday night. But the cupcake buffet closes this coming Saturday when No. 9 Illinois visits Bloomington. Read more here.
• Bradshaw wasn’t the only big winner at Churchill on Saturday. Winchell Thoroughbreds’ Spice Runner earned a gutsy victory in Saturday’s Iroquois Stakes (Grade III), turning the tables on Comport from the Ellis Park Juvenile four weeks ago. That puts Spice Runner into the early Road to the Triple Crown points lead. The next races in the North American series are the Breeders’ Futurity (GI) at Keeneland, American Pharoah (GI) at Santa Anita and Champagne (GI) at Belmont at the Big A on Saturday, Oct. 4.
The Last Drop
“I was pleased with the way he operated; I really was. I don’t think it would be right for me to make that decision (on whether to start Boley) right here and now. I was pleased with the way he played. We will get some time and look at it and get back on the practice field.”
Kentucky coach Mark Stoops, when asked if redshirt freshman Cutter Boley is his new starter.
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