Closing day at Lone Star Park July 13 brought an important milestone for Lexitonian as the grade 1 winner was represented by his first winner: Ritzaphena, a juvenile filly from his first crop.
A Calumet homebred who stood at the Lexington farm this season for a fee of $7,500, Lexitonian was a winner in each of his four seasons on the track while facing the country's best sprinters from coast to coast.
His greatest triumph came in his 5-year-old season, winning the 2021 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap (G1) at Saratoga Race Course in a field that included 2020 champion sprinter Whitmore.
Overall, Lexitonian posted a 5-2-2 record from 21 starts for earnings of $718,682. For this season, he has six starters to date from 59 2-year-olds. He also has 53 reported yearlings.
Making her career debut in a 7 1/2-furlong turf race, Ritzaphena found herself in good stalking position beneath jockey Floyd Wethey Jr. Taking the lead in the stretch, the filly battled hard to the wire to emerge a head winner in 1:31.18.
Bred in Kentucky by Brandywine Farm, Ritzaphena is out of the Desert Party mare Ritz and Glitz. She most recently was purchased for $75,000 by Scott Gelner from the SGV Thoroughbreds consignment in April's Ocala Breeders' Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training. Jayde Gelner trains the filly for owner Sandeep Patel.
