Owner Jim Bakke always dreamed of winning a graded stakes for 3-year-olds on Kentucky Derby Day at Churchill Downs.
It finally happened May 7, though not exactly in the most euphoric way he had pictured it.
While the undefeated Jack Christopher started his 3-year-old campaign too late to qualify for the Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve (G1), Bakke and his fellow co-owners in the grade 1-winning son of Munnings were able to savor the joy of a first Saturday in May stakes win at Churchill Downs when the chestnut colt triumphed in the Pat Day Mile presented by LG&E and KU (G2) in his third career start earlier on the Run for the Roses card.
"It was everyone's dream to make the Kentucky Derby with Jack Christopher but it was still gratifying to win on Kentucky Derby Day at Churchill Downs. Jim said he had more fun winning the Pat Day Mile than the Champagne," said Brad Weisbord, racing manager for Bakke and president and founder of BSW/Crow Bloodstock and ELiTE sales. "For the last 20 years he's gone to the Derby with family and friends and to win a prestigious race on that day was Jim's dream."
Trained by Chad Brown, Jack Christopher is owned by Bakke along with Gerry Isbister, Cooolmore Stud, and Peter Brant's White Birch Farm.
Following Saturday's win in his eagerly awaited 3-year-old debut, he is likely to run next in the seven-furlong Woody Stephens Stakes Presented by Mohegan Sun (G1) on the June 10 undercard of the Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G1).
"I'm leaning that way but I haven't made my mind up," Brown said May 9. "The Preakness Stakes doesn't seem the right way to go. He's up there with the top 3-year-olds, but he's never really been tested yet."
The TVG.com Haskell Stakes (G1) at Monmouth Park is also on the horizon for the unbeaten runner. If he runs in the Woody Stephens, the July 23 Haskell at 1 1/8 miles would be his first trip around two turns and could put him in the thick of the chase for the 3-year-old championship.
"From July on, you have to start looking for the champions," Weisbord said. "Championships are decided in the second half of the season and we are excited to get 'Jack' back for that part of the year."
Jack Christopher, bred by Castleton Lyons & Kilboy Estate, won his Aug. 28 career debut at Saratoga Race Course at six furlongs by 8 3/4 lengths. He then captured the Champagne by 2 3/4 lengths to become a favorite for the TVG Breeders' Cup Juvenile Presented by Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (G1) but was scratched a day before the race on the advice of BC veterinarians.
Afterwards he had a shin procedure and a screw inserted in his left leg which sidelined him for a total of seven months and knocked him off the Triple Crown trail.
The $621,400 earner was bought for $135,000 from the Paramount Sales consignment by Weisbord and Liz Crow at the 2020 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Yearling Sale.
