Moonshine Mullin Scores Over Bigger Names in Stephen Foster Handicap

Ridden by Churchill Downs master Calvin Borel and trained by Randy Morse for owner Randy Patterson, the six-year-old horse prompted the pace and fought valiantly on the front-end to hold off the cavalry charge of Departing (3-1) and Will Take Charge (favored at 5-2). D. Wayne Lukas’s big chestnut colt got a neck advantage over Departing to secure the runner-up position. A son of Albert the Great, Moonshine Mullin completed a mile and an eighth in 1:49.66 under the Twin Spires.

Winner has climbed back from out of the claiming ranks

Moonshine Mullin’s career has been one of peaks and valleys. After a runner-up effort in the Jim Dandy (G2) in 2011, he looked like a promising colt with a bright future. His form took a sharp nosedive after that and he went winless until the following summer when he won against allowance/optional claiming company. He switched barns several times and was ultimately claimed from trainer Steve Asmussen by Randy Morse.

Run of victories is capped with first Grade 1 triumph

He was claimed out of a runner-up effort for a modest price of $40,000 last November. He won his first race for his new connections in February after a handful of starts and has remained undefeated since then, winning five races and steadily climbing the ladder until he reached racing’s pinnacle – Grade 1 competition. The sky seems like the limit for this former stakes horse turned claimer turned stakes horse again.