Pedigree fun facts: Medina Spirit
Feb 6, 2021
Kellie Reilly/Brisnet.com
When
Medina Spirit dug in gamely to withstand all comers in the Jan. 30 Robert B. Lewis (G3), he was expressing tenacity reminiscent of grandsire Giant’s Causeway – and a more distant ancestor, Wild Again.
Medina Spirit’s pedigree isn’t fashionable up front, as implied by the bidding in both of his sales appearances. Sold for a paltry $1,000 as a yearling, he brought $35,000 as a two-year-old in training.
That’s because his first-crop sire,
Protonico, wasn’t very commercial. The four-time graded stakes winner scored his marquee victory in the 2015 Alysheba (G2), where he channeled the fighting spirit of his sire Giant’s Causeway, and left Honor Code back in fifth. Protonico earned just shy of $1 million, but didn’t win a Grade 1, although he was runner-up in the 2014 Clark H. (G1) (with Constitution third) and also placed in the 2016 Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) in his final start. In the hotly competitive stallion world, he isn’t flashy, and thus stands for a low fee of $5,000.