Next is not the first horse who turned into a graded stakes winner after he was claimed.
Yet his ascent into a black-type performer may be the most surprising in quite a while given the manner of his turnaround.
Prior to April 16, 2022, when trainer Doug Cowans claimed the son of Not This Time from Wesley Ward for $62,500, Next fit the profile of a useful turf miler. In his longest and most important dirt race, the 2020 Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1), he finished 14th and last.
So, how did the now 6-year-old Next become America's best and most dominant dirt marathoner?
"Early on we noticed he likes to get in a rhythm no matter what he did. When I saw he had that stamina, I told these guys we have to try some different things with the horse," said Cowans, whose four career graded stakes wins are all courtesy of Next. "The horse has showed up every time we asked him to. So, here we are again."
Where Cowans was standing as he spoke was the winner's circle at Aqueduct Racetrack, where he was joined by owner Michael Foster and jockey Luan Machado after Next turned in another dazzling effort in a marathon, winning the $200,000 Brooklyn Stakes (G2) July 5 for the second straight year.
The victory in the 1 3/8-mile test was not only his eighth in 10 starts since the claim—including those four graded stakes scores—but the 9 1/4-length demolition of six rivals featured Next running his 11th and final furlong in :11.89, a remarkable clocking considering the gray or roan gelding pressed the early pace from second at such a taxing distance.
"(Cowans) gets all the credit for that," Foster said. "All I do is write the checks. These guys right here are the team. They do a phenomenal job."
The victory, by a decisive margin over grade 2 winner Crupi, was the fifth straight for the son of the Awesome Again mare Bahia Beach, who has registered a cumulative winning margin of 59 1/2 lengths in those victories.
While that record might encourage some folks to consider trying Next at a shorter distance, like a mile-and-a-quarter or a mile-and-an-eighth, Cowans is concerned that the faster pace in those races could be problematic for the gelding bred by Silverton Hill in Kentucky.
The time for six furlongs in Friday's race was 1:14.07.
"The problem is, the pace is going to change when you start shortening things down. I worry about that with him. Early on he likes to be up close, and he has some natural speed but he likes to get into a rhythm once he breaks out of there with that natural speed. I don't know about putting him into a :46 half. That's not his style," said Cowans after Friday's race, which was the shortest distance in Next's last eight starts. "He just loves this, and we're going to try and keep doing it with him. We'll run him four or five times a year, whatever the marathon races are. Just keep doing it with him and hope he's around for a while because he's fun to be around and he's fun to watch do this."
Given that preference, the Aug. 4 $150,000 Birdstone Stakes at Saratoga Race Course at a 1 3/4-mile distance, a race Next won last year, would seem a likely target for the $1,145,861 earner.
Next, the 2-5 favorite ($2.90) off an 11 1/4-length victory May 1 in the Isaac Murphy Marathon Overnight Stakes at Churchill Downs, was second by about a half-length much of the way behind the pacesetting Drake's Passage.
Machado guided him to the lead leaving the quarter pole and he rocketed away from his rivals. Ahead by 4 1/2 lengths at midstretch, he doubled that margin while crossing the wire in 2:13.68 after handling the mile and a quarter in 2:01.79.
"He's a naturally speedy horse, that helps everything out. He always gets himself in a good spot," Machado said.
Repole Stable and St. Elias Stables' Crupi, a son of Curlin who won the Spa's Suburban Stakes (G2) at 1 1/4 miles in his last start, rallied from last to take second by a half-length for trainer Todd Pletcher.
Robert Evans' Drake's Passage, a Tonalist colt trained by Christophe Clement, finished third.
Next is the fifth graded stakes winner of the year for sire Not This Time. Other graded winners of 2024 include turf sprinters Cogburn, Arzak, and Shareholder, and Sam F. Davis Stakes (G3) winner No More Time. Not This Time stood the 2024 breeding season at Taylor Made Stallions for a fee of $150,000.
Next is the third and most recent foal from Bahia Beach and her third winner.
