Istan’s brilliant 3-year-old son Chief Istan ran his record to an unblemished, and wholly unchallenged, two for two with a jaw dropping score at Keeneland on Friday. While the $60,000 allowance looked like a loaded and competitive field on paper, Chief Istan managed to erase all drama by the quarter pole as he effortlessly left his competition en route to a facile 8-length score. His time of 1:09 and 2/5ths for the 6 furlongs was extraordinary for a three-year-old colt entering off a 7-month layoff, and his 101 Beyer Speed Figure placed him in the elite tier of three-year-old competitors.
The win marks another big score for Airdrie’s Istan, who continues to produce absolute top class performers despite being handicapped by small book sizes. Chief Istan is 1 of only 10 Istan 3-year-olds and this follows on the heels of last year’s amazing 3-year-old crop, a group that incredibly included 3 Graded Stakes stars from just 12 named foals. Despite the small book sizes, it has become abundantly clear to those in the know, that Istan is siring absolute top class runners.
An Airdrie homebred, we’d like to congratulate and thank our racing partner Sagamore Farm, trainer Larry Jones and jockey Kerwin Clark on this big win by a very special colt.
