Coolmore shuttles Lookin At Lucky to Australia

Coolmore has announced the addition of champion colt Lookin At Lucky to its roster for the 2011 Australasian breeding season.  The son of Smart Strike was last seen finishing midfield behind Blame and Zenyatta in the G1 Breeders’ Classic at Churchill Downs in November.

He is currently standing his first season at Ashford Stud in Kentucky at a $35,000 fee.

Lookin At Lucky became the first colt in 31 years to be named Champion 2yo and 3yo at the recent North American Eclipse Awards in Florida.  He joins an elite group of luminaries like Seattle Slew, Buckpasser and Secretariat to have achieved that double.

“Lookin At Lucky is the most striking of individuals,” Coolmore’s Demi O’Byrne said.  “He is without doubt the best stallion prospect I saw in America last year.”

Lookin At Lucky (3c Smart Strike – Private Feeling by Belong to Me) won 9 of his 13 starts and earned $3.30 million for trainer Bob Baffert and owners Michael Pegram, Karl Watson & Paul Weitman.  

Lookin At Lucky garnered championship honours at two with G1 victories in the G1 Del Mar Futurity, Norfolk Stakes and Cashcall Futurity.

Her resumed last year for a G2 win in the Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park but was unplaced in the as favourite in the Kentucky Derby after a nightmare trip.  He made amends in the G1 Preakness Stakes and followed up with another G1 in the Haskell Invitational.

Lookin At Lucky is by Champion sire Smart Strike and represents the Mr. Prospector – Danzig cross that also generated successful sire Distorted Humor.

He is a half-brother to Kensei (Mr Greeley), a G2 winner at Belmont and Saratoga, and is one of over 70 stakes winners worldwide for Smart Strike alongside champions like Curlin and brilliant turf performer English Channel.

“Lookin At Lucky is an outstanding young stallion prospect,” Coolmore’s Tom Magnier commented.  “His form, at both two and three marks him down as one the best horse of his generation in the United States.

“He’s an exceptional physical specimen, big and strong with great quality.  We can’t wait to get him out here.”