By Elaine Belval
Midnight Lute had a busy weekend at Santa Anita. On Sunday, his son Shakin It Up won the G3 San Vicente S. at seven furlongs. Earlier on the card, the colt Govenor Charlie won a one-mile maiden race. And on Saturday, his filly Midnight Lucky won a 6.5 furlong maiden race. All three are trained by Bob Baffert, as was Midnight Lute.
Baffert said, “The thing about Midnight Lute was he was a brilliant racehorse. I think all his foals are a little bit slow coming around. We’ve taken our time with them, and they’re really maturing now and showing he looks like he’s going to be a real good sire.”
Shakin It Up is owned by Dennis A. Cardoza and Michael Pegram (also his breeder). His second dam is the Pegram/Baffert champion Silverbulletday and his broodmare sire is another Baffert-trained champion, Vindication. Â Jockey David Flores said after the race, “When I asked him to go he accelerated, a tremendous acceleration.”
That “tremendous acceleration” marked Midnight Lute’s race career. He won his first start, a maiden special weight at Del Mar at two, but proved a much better horse as he got older. At three, he won the G3 Perryville S. at Keeneland and finish third in the G1 Malibu to Latent Heat (defeating G1 Brother Derek). At four, the year he was awarded the Eclipse as champion sprinter, Midnight Lute won the Breeders’ Cup Sprint by four lengths, defeating such talented sprinters as Idiot Proof and Benny the Bull, immediately after setting a new stakes record in the 7 furlong G1 Forego S. He also finished second twice, by a nose (to Awesome Gem) in the 8.5 furlong G2 San Fernando Breeders’ Cup S. and in the G1 Hill ‘n’ Dale Cigar Mile H. A hock injury kept him to only two starts at five, but his win in the 2008 Breeders’ Cup Sprint was the fastest (at 1:07.08) in the race’s history.
Midnight Lute is one of three G1 SWs by Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Real Quiet. His dam is the unraced mare Candytuft, by Dehere. His female family traces to Italian champion Feria II, dam of the great runner and sire Gyr (a full brother to Midnight Lute’s third dam Berkut). Â This is a solid family with world influence. Other G1 winners from this family include French G1 Alydar’s Best and Brazilian G1 Lord Marco.
Midnight Lute proved popular his first year at stud, with almost 100 named foals. He had 11 individual winners in 2012, including the SW Midnight Ballet. Â He had another four stakes-placed horses and finished seventh on the freshman sire list. With Shakin It Up’s victory in the San Vicente, he is now ranked second on the second crop sire list, with nine winners already in 2013. As the icing on the cake for the young sire, on the same weekend that Shakin it Up, Govenor Charlie, and Midnight Lucky won their starts in California, Midnight Aria won a nine furlong maiden race at Gulfstream Park.
Midnight Lute stands at Hill ‘n’ Dale Farms in Kentucky and his 2013 fee is $15,000.