Skelly

Skelly earned his maiden win in his second lifetime start as a 3-year-old in a six-furlong race at Churchill Downs on Oct. 2, 2022. He finished his 3-year-old season with a record of 1 win and 2 seconds in four outings.

Skelly opened his 4-year-old season at Oaklawn Park with a second-place finish on Jan. 20, and then reeled off back-to-back allowance wins on Feb. 25 and March 17 - the latter coming by 4 3/4 lengths in a time of 1:09.2 for six furlongs.

Skelly tried stakes competition for the first time in his following start, which came in the Grade 3 $500,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap at Oaklawn Park on April 15, and he was immediately successful. Skelly was sent off as the 6-1 odds third choice on the tote board in a 10-horse field and immediately sped to the lead in a :21.2 first quarter mile and could not be caught, going wire-to-wire to win by 2 1/4 lengths in a time of 1:09.1 for the six furlongs.

Including the victory in the Count Fleet, Skelly fired-off six straight wins during 2023 including in further stakes wins in the Lake Hamilton Stakes on May 6 at Oaklawn and in the Speightstown Sprint Stakes on May 29 at Lone Star.

Skelly returned for his 5-year-old season in 2024 looking better than even before. He began his campaign with a win in the King Cotton Stakes at Oaklawn Park on Feb. 3, 2024, which he used as a prep for the rich Group 3 Sports Boulevard Riyadh Dirt Sprint Stakes where he finished second on Feb. 24.

Skelly was back in the United States for this next outing and showed no ill effects from his trip overseas when he took the Grade 3 $500,000 Count Fleet Stakes in dominating fashion going six furlongs at Oaklawn Park on April 13, becoming a repeat winner the Count Fleet for the second year in a row.

Skelly is trained by Steve Asmussen. He was bred in Kentucky by the sire Practical Joke out of the mare Adande by Bwana Charlie.