Smart Strike
| Smart Strike | |
|---|---|
| Sire | Mr. Prospector |
| Grandsire | Raise a Native |
| Dam | Classy 'n Smart |
| Damsire | Smarten |
| Sex | Stallion |
| Foaled | 1992 |
| Country | Canada |
| Colour | Bay |
| Breeder | Sam-Son Farm |
| Owner | Sam-Son Farm |
| Trainer | Mark Frostad |
| Record | 8: 6-1-0 |
| Earnings | $337,376 |
| Major wins | |
|
Salvator Mile Handicap (1996) Philip H. Iselin Handicap (1996) | |
| Awards | |
| Leading sire in North America (2007, 2008) | |
| Honours | |
| Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame (2008) | |
Smart Strike (foaled May 21, 1992 in Ontario – died March 25, 2015)[1] was a Canadian Thoroughbred racehorse. The son of the Champion sire, Mr. Prospector, and out of the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame mare Classy 'n Smart, Smart Strike is a half-brother to 1991 Canadian Triple Crown champion Dance Smartly.
Owned and bred by Sam-Son Farm, on the racetrack, Smart Strike's most important win came in the Grade I Philip H. Iselin Handicap. However, he was just developing into a top-flight horse when his career was cut short by injury. He suffered a condylar fracture during a workout while preparing for the Breeders' Cup.
At maturity, he reached 16 hands (64 inches, 163 cm) high.[2]
A Champion sire
Since he was retired to stud duty at Lane's End Farm in Versailles, Kentucky in 1997, Smart Strike's value as a stallion rose dramatically as a result of the performance of his offspring. Twice honoured as the leading Sire in North America, he was the sire of 113 stakes winners, 12 champions, four Breeders' Cup winners, and two Classic victors.
- Fleetstreet Dancer (b. 1998) - won Japan Cup Dirt
- Tenpins (b. 1998) - Philip H. Iselin Handicap
- Soaring Free (b. 1999) - Canadian Horse of the Year (2004), set North American record for 7 furlongs on turf
- Portcullis (b. 1999) - 2002 Champion Grass Horse in Canada
- Added Edge (b. 2000) - Canadian Champion 2-Year-Old Colt (2002)
- Eye of the Sphynx (b. 2001) - Canadian Champion 3-Year-Old Filly, dam of Eye of the Leopard
- English Channel (b. 2002) - American Champion Male Turf Horse (2007), multiple Grade 1 winner including the Breeders' Cup Turf
- Gold Strike (b. 2002) - wins included the Woodbine Oaks. Voted 2005 Canadian Champion 3-Year-Old Filly (2005)
- Fabulous Strike (b. 2003) - earned a "huge" 118 Beyer Speed Figure in his first race of 2007 then won the Aristides Breeders' Cup Stakes
- Strike a Deal (b. 2004) - won the Laurel Futurity (2006), Straight Deal Stakes (2007)
- Curlin (b. 2004) - 2007 / 2008 American Horse of the Year, wins include Preakness Stakes, Breeders' Cup Classic, Dubai World Cup
- Square Eddie (b. 2006) - won 2008 Breeders' Futurity Stakes, 2nd Breeders' Cup Juvenile
- Papa Clem (b. 2006) - won 2009 Arkansas Derby
- Lookin at Lucky (b. 2007) - at two, won three Grade 1 races. 2010 Champion Preakness Stakes Winner. Winner of over 2 million dollars at the age of 3. Voted 2009 American Champion Two-Year-Old Colt
- My Miss Aurelia - undefeated as winner of the 2011 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies
Damsire:
- Mine That Bird (b. 2006) - won 2009 Kentucky Derby
- First Dude (b. 2007) --Won 2011 Hollywood Gold Cup, second in 2010 Preakness Stakes, Pennsylvania Derby, 3rd in 2010 Belmont Stakes
For his contribution to Thoroughbred racing, Smart Strike was inducted in the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 2008. While remarkably healthy and fertile until early 2015, Smart Strike was humanely euthanized on March 25th, 2015 as a result of complications due to laminitis.