Street Sense (foaled February 23, 2004 in Kentucky at Chesapeake Farm) is a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 2006 Breeders' Cup Juvenile and 2007 Kentucky Derby and was the 2006 Champion Two-Year-Old.

Street Sense
SireStreet Cry
GrandsireMachiavellian
DamBedazzle
DamsireDixieland Band
SexStallion
Foaled2004
CountryUnited States
ColourDark Bay
BreederJames B. Tafel
OwnerJames B. Tafel
Darley Stud (June 2, 2007)
TrainerCarl Nafzger
Record13: 6-4-2
Earnings$4,383,200
Major wins
Breeders' Cup Juvenile (2006)
Tampa Bay Derby (2007)
Jim Dandy Stakes (2007)
Travers Stakes (2007)
Triple Crown race wins:
Kentucky Derby (2007)
Awards
U.S. Champion Two-Year-Old Colt (2006)
Honours
Grade III Street Sense Stakes at Churchill Downs (2013– )
Last updated on 23 July 2022

Background

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Owned and bred by James B. Tafel, Street Sense is out of Bedazzle, a granddaughter of Northern Dancer, and his sire is 2002 Dubai World Cup-winner Street Cry.

Racing career

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2006: Two-Year-Old Season

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Trained by Carl Nafzger and ridden by Calvin Borel, Street Sense broke his maiden at Arlington Park. He then finished third in the Arlington-Washington Futurity Stakes and third in the Lane's End Breeders' Futurity behind Great Hunter and Circular Quay.

On November 4, 2006, Street Sense won the most important race for two-year-old colts in the United States, the Breeders' Cup Juvenile, by a record 10 lengths. He was voted the 2006 Eclipse Award as the U.S. Champion Two-Year-Old Colt.

2007: Three-Year-Old Season

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Street Sense wintered at the Palm Meadows Thoroughbred Training Center in Florida. In 2007, he followed the trail to the U.S. Triple Crown series. On March 17, in his first race as a three-year-old, he won the Tampa Bay Derby by half a nose over Any Given Saturday in a track record-breaking time for the one-and-one-sixteenth-mile distance.

Street Sense was beaten by Dominican (11th in the 2007 Kentucky Derby, having broken from post 19) in his last start before the Derby, in a photo finish in the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland. The slow pace of the race meant most of the field had something left toward the finish - the first five horses home were separated by only a few lengths at the wire.

Street Sense won the Kentucky Derby on May 5, 2007, paying $11.80 to win on a $2 wager. He rallied from a second-to-last deficit to beat Hard Spun by 212 lengths. This victory made him the first winner of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile ever to win the Kentucky Derby and the first U.S. Champion Two-Year-Old Colt to win the Derby since Spectacular Bid in 1979.

Street Sense went into the second jewel of the Triple Crown as the favorite, but finished second by a nose to eventual two-time Horse of the year Curlin in the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course on May 19, 2007. The 9-horse field included Derby runner-up Hard Spun, Curlin, sixth-place finisher Circular Quay, Mint Slewlep, Xchanger, King of the Roxy, Flying First Class, and C P West.

 
Street Sense in the paddock prior to the 2007 Breeders' Cup

Owner James Tafel decided not to run Street Sense in the Belmont Stakes, looking to regroup for major races later in the year. On August 25, 2007, ridden by Calvin Borel, Street Sense won the Grade I $1-million Travers Stakes, at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York. He was the first horse to win both the Travers and Kentucky Derby since Thunder Gulch did it in 1995.

On September 29, he placed second in the 118-mile Grade II Kentucky Cup Classic Stakes on Polytrack at Turfway Park behind Hard Spun. In his racing career, he was 0 for 3 on Polytrack.

Street Sense closed out his career with a fourth-place finish on a sloppy track in the October 27, 2007, running of the Breeders' Cup Classic at Monmouth Park Racetrack. He retired to stud with earnings of $4,383,200.

Retirement

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On June 2, 2007, Tafel sold Street Sense's breeding rights to Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum's Darley Stud. The colt continued to be trained by Carl Nafzger and raced under Tafel's name through the 2007 Breeders' Cup Classic. His retirement was announced on October 30, 2007. He now stands at Darley's Jonabell Farm near Lexington, Ky. His stud fee in 2008 was $75,000, but was reduced to $40,000 per live foal for 2011. He was exported to Darley Japan in 2013, but only stood for one year before returning to the U.S. in 2014. After covering a few high quality books of mares and siring a slew of stakes winners in 2021 & 2022, Street Sense's fee gradually rose back to $75,000 (2020, 2022, 2023). [1]

Stud Record

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Notable progeny

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c = colt, f = filly, g = gelding

Foaled Name Sex Major Wins
2009 Aubby K f Humana Distaff Stakes
2010 Politeness f Myer Classic
2010 Sense Of Occasion g Doomben Cup
2010 Wedding Toast f Ogden Phipps Stakes, Beldame Stakes
2011 Hallowed Crown c Golden Rose Stakes, Randwick Guineas
2011 Sweet Reason f Spinaway Stakes, Acorn Stakes, Test Stakes
2012 Callback f Las Virgenes Stakes
2012 Dixie Blossoms f Coolmore Classic
2013 Street Fancy f Starlet Stakes
2015 McKinzie c Los Alamitos Futurity, Pennsylvania Derby, Malibu Stakes, Whitney Stakes
2017 Maxfield c Breeders' Futurity Stakes, Clark Stakes

Races

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Finish Race Distance Track Date
4th Breeders' Cup Classic 1+14 miles Monmouth Park October 27, 2007
2nd Kentucky Cup Classic Stakes 1 1/8 Turfway Park September 29, 2007
1st Travers Stakes 1 1/4 Saratoga August 25, 2007
1st Jim Dandy Stakes 1 1/8 Saratoga July 29, 2007
2nd Preakness Stakes 1 3/16 Pimlico Race Course May 19, 2007
1st Kentucky Derby 1 1/4 Churchill Downs May 5, 2007
2nd Blue Grass Stakes 1 1/8 Keeneland Race Course April 14, 2007
1st Tampa Bay Derby 1 1/16 Tampa Bay Downs March 17, 2007
1st Breeders' Cup Juvenile 1 1/16 Churchill Downs November 4, 2006
3rd Lane's End Breeders' Futurity 1 1/16 Keeneland Race Course October 7, 2006
3rd Arlington-Washington Breeders' Cup Futurity 1 mile Arlington Park September 10, 2006
1st Maiden Special Weight 6+12 furlongs Arlington Park August 19, 2006
2nd Maiden Special Weight 6 furlongs Churchill Downs July 9, 2006

Pedigree

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Pedigree of Street Sense
Sire
Street Cry (IRE)
Machiavellian Mr. Prospector Raise a Native
Gold Digger
Coup de Folie Halo
Raise the Standard
Helen Street Troy Petingo
La Milo
Waterway Riverman
Boulevard
Dam
Bedazzle
Dixieland Band Northern Dancer Nearctic
Natalma
Mississippi Mud Delta Judge
Sand Buggy
Majestic Legend His Majesty Ribot
Flower Bowl
Long Legend Reviewer
Lianga

References

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  1. ^ "Street Sense". Stallion Register Online. Bloodhorse.