Future WinStar stallion Country Grammer, Thoroughbred racing’s leading active money earner with a bankroll of $11.2 million, dominated five rivals in winning the $200,000 San Antonio S. (G2) at Santa Anita on Monday, Dec. 26.
Ridden by Frankie Dettori, Country Grammer defeated Stilleto Boy by 4 ½ lengths in the rousing win. Owned by Commonwealth Thoroughbreds, WinStar Farm, and Zedan Racing Stables, Country Grammer now owns a record of 14-5-5-1, and the $120,000 winner’s share of the purse increased his lifetime earnings to $11,277,320.
Trained by Bob Baffert, Country Grammer appears set for a return to the middle east where he finished second in the $20 million Saudi Cup and was victorious in the $12 million Dubai World Cup earlier this year. He has also won the 2021 Hollywood Gold Cup (G1) and the 2020 Peter Pan S. (G3). Additionally, he won the 2021 Hollywood Gold Cup (G1) and the 2020 Peter Pan S. (G3) and was runner-up in this year’s Awesome Again S. (G1), the Pacific Classic (G1), and the San Diego H. (G2).
“This horse is the neatest, coolest horse,” Baffert told FanDuel TV. “He has really brought us up when we were really down. He has come through, he’s a clutch horse. That little freshening really helped him, and he’s been doing so great. He likes a deep track.”
A $110,000 purchase by WinStar from the Lane’s End consignment at the 2021 Keeneland January Sale, Country Grammer sold previously at the OBS Spring Sale in 2019 for $450,000. Bred in Kentucky by Scott and Debbie Pierce, Country Grammer is by Tonalist out of the Forestry mare Arabian Song and hails from the Juddmonte family of Grade 1 winners Obligatory and Etoile Montante, as well as Graded winners Starformer and Bonny South.
