Fire and Wine Defies Speedy Pedigree for Route Triumphs

The destination of Canada's Sovereign Award for champion 3-year-old filly—and very likely Horse of the Year—was likely decided back in August when Luster dominated the colts to add the King's Plate Stakes to victories in the Woodbine Oaks and Selene Stakes (G3). The question of who will be declared top 3-year-old male is, however, a little more open. The leading candidate was probably Military Time, who followed up his King's Plate second with a triumph in the second leg of the Canadian Triple Crown, the Prince of Wales Stakes. Over the weekend, though, another candidate, Fire and Wine—winner of the third leg of the Triple Crown, the Breeders' Stakes, with Military Time absent—staked his claim, defeating Military Time by 2 1/2 lengths to take the Ontario Derby (G3). Given his status as a Sovereign Award contender, one might be surprised to discover that it took him six starts to break his maiden, and that when the win did arrive, it was for a $40,000 claiming tag—the third time he could have been haltered for that price. Looking back, it's clear that, despite a speedy pedigree, the key for the bay was added distance. Fire and Wine's first four starts came at 5, 6, and 7 (twice) furlongs, ending with a combined margin of defeat of nearly 39 lengths. A chance to go a mile on Woodbine's turf course saw him come closer to victory, missing by just a length as he finished third. Switching back to the all-weather, Fire and Wine finally broke through going a mile and 70 yards, making all the running and drawing off to score by 13 lengths. Adding Lasix for the first time, Fire and Wine concluded his first season with a front-running victory to claim the 1 1/8-mile Coronation Futurity by 5 lengths. This term, it took some time for Fire and Wine to return to that form. On his first three outings this year, he was beaten 11 1/4 lengths in the King Corrie Stakes, 25 1/4 lengths in the Marine Stakes (G3), and 11 3/4 lengths in the Plate Trial Stakes. The King's Plate saw a far better effort; while Fire and Wine had no chance with a rampaging Luster, he did keep on well enough to take third after setting brisk fractions. Fading to fifth in the Prince of Wales Stakes run over Fort Erie's dirt track, Fire and Wine rebounded in the 1 1/2-mile Breeders' Stakes, where he once again took the initiative from the off, drawing away to tally by 4 lengths. We mentioned that Fire and Wine owned a speedy pedigree, and indeed at a quick glance, one would have expected him to flourish at trips around half that of the Breeders' Stakes rather than in route events. He's a member of the first crop of the Speightstown horse Lexitonian, whose signature victory came in the 6-furlong Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap (G1) in 2021. Lexitonian also scored over 5 furlongs at 2, won the 6-furlong Chick Lang Stakes (G3) and 7-furlong Concern Stakes at 3 in 2019, and took second, beaten a nose in the 2020 Bing Crosby Stakes (G1) and a head in the 2021 Churchill Downs Stakes (G1). Fire and Wine is one of four stakes winners from 43 starters in Lexitonian's first crop, being joined by She Be Smooth, successful in the Davona Dale Stakes (G2) at Gulfstream Park; Revera, winner of the 2025 Desi Arnaz Stakes; and Ritzaphena, who took the 2025 Prairie Meadows Debutante Stakes. Fire and Wine's dam, Double Latte, only ran four times, coming closest to victory in a 1 1/16-mile Woodbine maiden special weight. However, her connections obviously thought she had stamina potential, as they tried her over 1 1/4 miles in the 2018 Wonder Where Stakes. There, she made the running for three-quarters of a mile before fading to finish a distant fourth of five. Double Latte's sire The Factor was a sprinter pure and simple, setting a track record of 1:06.98 for Santa Anita Park (on the newly installed dirt surface) when breaking his maiden in 2010, and numbering the 2011 Malibu Stakes (G1) and Pat O'Brien Stakes (G1) among five graded stakes victories. The Factor has generally been a propagator of speed, but we'll note that his most notable winner this year is Atitlan, who took the John Henry Turf Championship Stakes (G2T) over 1 1/4 miles. Some potential stamina does enter the pedigree through Double Latte's dam Latte, who is by the versatile Pleasant Tap. Third to Unbridled in the 1990 Kentucky Derby (G1), Pleasant Tap captured the Malibu Stakes at 3 and claimed runner-up in the 1991 Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) at 4. At 5, he added four more graded stakes successes and made a switch back to longer distances, which saw him capture the Suburban Handicap (G1) and Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) and take second behind A.P. Indy in the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1)—efforts that were sufficient to earn him an Eclipse Award as champion older horse. Latte, who could do no better than two seconds from eight starts as a runner, found a minor measure of success as a producer as the dam of Citizen Bags (by a son of Lexitonian's grandsire Gone West), a stakes winner in Panama; and Pancha Mancha, 2013 champion imported 2-year-old filly in Panama and dam of 2023 champion Panamanian 2-year-old filly Cumbia Pa Ti and Panamanian stakes winner Baster. One generation later, we come to a talented mare in Fire and Wine's third dam Madame Pandit. Although by the Breeders' Cup Classic victor Wild Again, she was a sprinter/miler whose three stakes scores included the 1998 Monrovia Handicap (G3), and she also took second in the 1998 Santa Monica Handicap (G1). At stud, Madame Pandit produced the 2005 Gamely Breeders' Cup Handicap (G1T) scorer Mea Domina, and through her graded stakes-placed daughter Ivory Empress, is the granddam of McCraken, a three-time graded stakes winner who also took second in the 2017 Haskell Invitational Stakes (G1), and the multiple graded stakes-winning and grade 1-placed Four Graces. The family goes back to a noted taproot mare General Store, the third dam of Madame Pandit. She is the ancestress of nearly 100 stakes winners—19 grade 1—among them the 2024 Epsom Derby (G1) victor City of Troy, and other such notables as Al Bahathri, Spanish Fern, Haafhd, Heatseeker, Gladiatorus, Lord Shanakill, Together Forever (IRE), Forever Together (IRE), and Havana Grey (GB). Fire and Wine and stakes winner Revera are the only two starters for Lexitonian out of mares by War Front and his sons. It's a version of the broader Speightstown/Danzig cross that has supplied close to 50 stakes winners, including grade 1 scorers I'm a Chatterbox, Firenze Fire, Mozu Superflare, Seek Again, Jersey Town, Irwin, and Puerto Manzano. We'll also note that Lexitonian and Double Latte, the sire and dam of Fire and Wine, are from the same "G" mtDNA line.