Keen Ice

Background

Keen Ice is a bay horse with a white stocking on his left hind leg. He is a son of Curlin who was voted American Horse of the Year in 2008 and 2009. His dam Medomak, a daughter of Awesome Again, finished unplaced on her only start. She was a distant descendant of the Epsom Oaks winner Monade who was the ancestor of several major winners including Sadeem. Keen Ice was bred by Glencrest Farm and first sold as a weanling for $48,000 at the 2012 Keeneland breeding stock sale. He was sold again the following year, as a yearling, for $120,000, purchased by Jerry Crawford, acting as the agent for Donegal Racing, an Iowa-based horse racing syndicate with about 25 members, led by Crawford.

Inspired by Curlin, the name of his sire, Keen Ice was named for a term in the sport of curling, describing ice that is particularly fast (or "keen") allowing a rock to travel further over it given the same amount of force.

2014: two-year-old-season

Keen Ice was placed into training with Dale Romans. He showed promise in his four races as a two-year-old winning a maiden race on his second start and later finishing third in the Grade I Remsen Stakes.

2015: three-year-old-season

As a three-year-old, he qualified for the Kentucky Derby, becoming eligible under the 2015 Road to the Kentucky Derby point system only after the 20th-qualifying horse, Madefromlucky, was not entered. He earned his Derby points with a third-place finish in the 2014 Remsen Stakes as a two-year-old, another third the following spring in the 2015 Risen Star Stakes and a fourth-place finish in the Louisiana Derby. He finished seventh in the Derby, after being stuck on the rail early on, then held up behind other horses before responding willingly in the stretch. He skipped the 2015 Preakness Stakes, then contested the 2015 Belmont Stakes, where he finished third by a neck, notably after being five wide at the top of the stretch. His next race was the Haskell Invitational, where he finished second by  2 ¹⁄₄ lengths to American Pharoah, and three lengths ahead of the rest of the field. Throughout his races, he was noted for his stamina-infused pedigree, late closing style and willingness; his low placings not viewed as reflecting the strong efforts he put forth in his races.

Entering the Travers Stakes, trainer Romans was confident. Having switched jockeys from Kent Desormeaux to Javier Castellano, Romans told the press prior to the race that he was grateful to the New York Racing Association for capping the Saratoga Race Course attendance at 50,000 people, thus limiting the numbers there to boo Keen Ice after he defeated Triple Crown champion American Pharoah. His prediction of a win proved accurate when the colt went off at 16-1, stalking front runners American Pharoah and Frosted before taking the lead at the sixteenth pole and winning by about  ³⁄₄ of a length.

In his two subsequent races as a three-year-old, Keen Ice finished twelve and a half lengths behind American Pharoah when fourth in the Breeders' Cup Classic and then finished fourth behind the four-year-old Effinex in the Clark Handicap at Churchill Downs on November 27.

2016: four-year-old-season

On his first appearance as a four-year-old, Keen Ice finished sixth in the Donn Handicap and was then shipped to Dubai to contest the Al Maktoum Challenge, Round 3 over ten furlongs on dirt at Meydan Racecourse on March 6. He mas made second favorite but started poorly and was never in contention, finishing seventh of the twelve runners, more than eleven lengths behind the winner Special Fighter.

Following an eighth place finish in the Dubai World Cup, Keen Ice was transferred from the barn of Dale Romans to Todd Pletcher and laid up for six months. He returned in an allowance optional claiming race at Belmont Park on October 7, finishing third. He completed his season with a third place finish in the Breeders' Cup Classic and a second place finish in the Harlan's Holiday Stakes at Gulfstream Park.

2017: five-year-old-season

Keen Ice's next expected start will be in the inaugural Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream. On the week of the race, owner Jerry Crawford announced that Keen Ice's breeding rights had been sold to Calumet Farm. The agreement with Calumet allows Keen Ice to continue racing until the end of 2017.