Grateful Bred Displayed the Keys to Victory

Grateful Bred Displayed the Keys to Victory

At Saratoga Gordie Keys spent some time reading The Saratoga Special

Photo by Vicky Moon

Gordie Keys’ Grateful Bred won The Meadow Stable Stakes at Colonial Downs

Photo by Coady

By Leonard Shapiro

Not long before his then 3-year-old homebred gelding was being prepared to run in his first ever race, owner Gordie Keys went over to the Middleburg Training Center to catch a workout. Clearly, he liked what he saw that day, not to mention the last two years since Grateful Bred began collecting significant purse money,

After witnessing that session, Keys consulted with trainer Madison Meyers, who thought it might be wise to schedule one more workout, and enter him in his first race. Keys disagreed.

“Let’s run him now, get the workout in the race,” he said, a decision that paid off nicely when Grateful Bred won at Laurel in Maryland, and shows little sign of slowing down any time soon.

This past July 9, the now 5-year-old named by Keys’ wife, Robin and her son, David, both long-time fans of the Grateful Dead, was at Colonial Downs for his opening day race in the $100,000 Meadow Stable Stakes over five furlongs on the turf. He went off as the 2 to 1 favorite in a field of ten in a race for horses 3 and older. He won by 2 1/4 lengths.

Meyers, who has specialized in steeplechase training, said, “It’s pretty important and exciting to get my first stakes win. I can’t thank Mr. Keys enough for giving me a chance with a horse like this. We only have a handful of horses, so for him to leave him with me and let us go down this route is very special.”

And very special to Keys, as well. The Olney, Maryland native has been involved in either Thoroughbred or steeplechase racing for most of his life. And Grateful Bred, he said, is the best horse he’s ever had.

He’s by Great Notion out of Malibu Moment (by Malibu Moon). Keys stabled the mare on his Beaver Dam Farm near Middleburg for more than ten years. Malibu Moment died two years ago, and Grateful Bred was her final foal.

The horse was broken as a 2-year-old by Keys grandson, Sam, and Keys admitted: “We didn’t realize how good he was at first. He didn’t show anything special until we started running him.”

Keys took particular pleasure in winning that stakes, pushing his career earnings to $179,765. He knew many of the owners of horses in the same field, and most had high hopes. Keys did, too, so much so that he told his son, Chandler, who lives near Annapolis, to come to Colonial Downs and bring grandsons, Gordon, 9, and Theo 7, because he also had a good feeling.

“He won pretty easily, a nice win,” said Keys, who also had a $100 wager on Grateful Bred to win. That was pretty nice, too.