Christophe Clement and his brother Nicolas have been among the best scouts of European talent to bring over to dominate American turf racing for decades now. The two were determined to bring home a budding star from the Arqana Saint-Cloud Sale, and they did, buying ascendant 3-year-old Winning Spirit, who is now an exciting part of the West Point roster.

Bred in Germany, Winning Spirit is by the great Soldier Hollow, a nine-time Group stakes winner who raced on three different continents and has been both a German Horse of the Year and champion sire. He’s out of a dam by Breeders’ Cup turf champion Shirocco, while his second dam is by Danehill, one of the greatest sires and broodmare sires in European history. This is a pedigree chock full of horses who get better with age and racing, an exciting prospect considering what Winning Spirit has already shown on the track.

A stakes winner and Group stakes placed as a juvenile, our new colt developed beautifully from two to three, returning off the bench with a dominant four-length conquest of the 1 1/4-mile Premio Emanuele Filiberto at San Siro in Italy. He backed that up in a big way, moving forward again to run a big second in the prestigious 1 3/8-mile Italian Derby with a career-best 107 Racing Post Rating before running fourth of 20 horses in the 1 1/2-mile Group 1 German Derby last time out.

The American turf landscape is ripe for some new blood, and with another moderate step forward from three to four, Winning Spirit will be right there with the top horses in the division. This is a unique opportunity for an improving, turnkey colt primed to contend in some of the country’s biggest distance grass races in 2024 and beyond.