West Point runners Scholar Athlete and Kanthaka ended 2017 by adding Ws to their resumes.

On December 23, Scholar Athlete showed tremendous determination and got a whisker down on the wire first in a salty turf allowance race at Tampa Bay Downs.

“Scholar” as he’s affectionately known around the Graham Motion barn now has four wins to his credit. By Einstein, he finished fourth in the 2016 Queen’s Plate and was third in the Commonwealth Derby (G3) at Churchill Downs that fall.

West Point runners Scholar Athlete and Kanthaka ended 2017 by adding Ws to their resumes.

On December 23, Scholar Athlete showed tremendous determination and got a whisker down on the wire first in a salty turf allowance race at Tampa Bay Downs.

“Scholar” as he’s affectionately known around the Graham Motion barn now has four wins to his credit. By Einstein, he finished fourth in the 2016 Queen’s Plate and was third in the Commonwealth Derby (G3) at Churchill Downs that fall.

Scholar Athlete was purchased by the West Point buying team from breeder Adena Springs at the 2015 Fasig-Tipton 2-Year-Old in Training Sale held at Gulfstream Park.

The day after Christmas, promising 3-year-old Kanthaka broke his maiden impressively after having a troubled trip in a tough Santa Anita maiden special weight.

Jerry “the Dorf” Hollendorfer has been high on the handsome son of Jimmy Creed ever since he arrived in the barn over the summer. “I told Rafael to find as much trouble as he could today,” laughed the Hall of Famer. “I’m very happy with this colt. He learned a lot in his first race, and we were confident since his last few works were very strong.”

Rafael Bejarano was gushing after the race and is excited to see the colt stretch out in distance and jump onto the Kentucky Derby trail. Kanthaka will likely try two turns for the first time in a first-level allowance in early February at Santa Anita.

West Point purchased Kanthaka at the 2017 Barrett’s 2-Year-Old Sale held in March at Del Mar.

Partners celebrate with champagne!