Whitmore

Whitmore won his debut before finishing fifth in the $1-million Delta Downs Jackpot Stakes. He then won a nice confidence-building allowance race at Oaklawn Park that set up another test in stakes competition.

Whitmore rallied strongly to finish second in the Grade 3 Southwest Stakes and stamp himself one to watch on the Triple Crown trail and followed with another second in the Grade 2, $900,000 Rebel Stakes, which solidified his credentials for the Kentucky Derby. He punched his ticket to the first jewel of the Triple Crown with a third-place finish in the Grade 1, $1 million Arkansas Derby.

After finishing 19th in the 2016 Kentucky Derby, Whitmore was given an extended break. Her returned in December 2016 and won an allowance race at Aqueduct. Trainer Ron Moquett then shipped him to Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark. for the winter and he won another allowance race as well as the Hot Springs Stakes in March. He made it four straight with a 3 3/4-length romp in the Grade 3 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap and extended his winning stretch to five with a win in the Grade 3 Maryland Sprint.

Whitmore cooled off a bit in the summer with back-to-back third-place finishes in the Grade 2 True North Stakes at Saratoga and the Grade 3 Frank J. DerFrancis Memorial Dash at Laurel Park. He got back on track with a hard-fought victory in the Grade 2 Stoll Keenon Ogden Phoenix Stakes on opening day at Keeneland to punch his ticket to the 2017 TwinSpires Breeders' Cup Sprint. He closed his 4-year-old campaign with an eighth-place finish at the Breeders' Cup.

In his 5-year-old bow, Whitmore regained his winning form in the six-furlong Hot Springs Stakes at Oaklawn Park, which set him up perfectly for a repeat bid in the Count Fleet. He rallied powerfully in the stretch in the Count Fleet on Arkansas Derby day to begin his season with back-to-back victories. He followed with a fourth-place finish in a Grade 2 race on the Kentucky Derby undercard on a sloppy main track at Churchill Downs, before back-to-back seconds in the Grade 2 True North Stakes and Grade 2 Belmont Sprint Championship Stakes, both at Belmont Park.

Whitmore got back to his best at an opportune time, rallying through an opening on the rail to post a decisive victory in the Grade 2 Forego Stakes on Aug. 25 at Saratoga Race Course. The victory in the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series “Win and You’re In” race earned Whitmore a guaranteed starting spot in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile. In his final prep for the Breeders' Cup, Whitmore finished a hard-fought second to Promises Fulfilled in the Grade 2 Stoll Keenon Ogden Phoenix Stakes at Keeneland on Oct. 5.

Whitmore ended up running in the TwinSpires Breeders’ Cup Sprint rather than in the Dirt Mile at Churchill Downs, and made a closing rally under Ricardo Santana, Jr. to finish second behind repeat Sprint winner Roy H.

After a four-month break, Whitmore returned and posted a clear win in the Hot Springs Stakes in his first start in 2019. He then ran second in the Grade 3 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap before an unplaced finish in the Grade 1 Churchill Downs Stakes presented by Twinspires.com. Following another disappointing effort in the Grade 2 True North Stakes, Whitmore was given a few months off and he returned refreshed with a runner-up finish in the Grade 2 Stoll Keenon Ogden Phoenix Stakes at Keeneland. Four weeks later, Whitmore ran third in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint before an unplaced finish in the Grade 1 Cigar Mile Handicap to close out his 6-year-old season.

After running second in the King Cotton Stakes in February 2020 at Oaklawn in his 7-year-old debut, Whitmore won the Hot Springs Stakes by 2 ½ lengths. That was his fourth straight win in that race. Six weeks later he closed from just off the pace to win the Grade 3 Count Fleet Sprint for the third time in four years.

In July, Whitmore ran second in the Grade 1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap at Saratoga, but after that he went off form a bit with back-to-back unplaced finishes at Saratoga and Keeneland, respectively. He bounced back with a monster effort in the Nov. 7 Breeders’ Cup Sprint, when he pulled away to an overpowering victory in the stretch at Keeneland after finishing in the top three in that race in 2018 and 2019. That victory helped the venerable fan favorite earn an Eclipse Award as champion male sprinter, beating out Met Mile winner Vekoma.

In his 8-year-old debut, Whitmore was the favorite to win the Hot Springs Stakes for the fifth consecutive year. Although he turned in a game effort, he was run down in stretch by  C Z Rocket, ending up with a second-place finish. He was once again second behind C Z Rocket in the Grade 3 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap on Apr. 10.

In his next start, the Grade 1 Churchill Downs Stakes Presented by Ford on May 1, Whitmore surged late and briefly had the lead in the stretch, but finished third, beaten less than a length.