Eisenhower, full brother to Annapolis, becomes lead pony

The newest lead pony at Santa Anita is a former racehorse whose name some may recognize, particularly pedigree aficionados. Starting his new vocation this weekend with Santa Anita outrider Edgar Alferez was Eisenhower, a full brother to Grade 1-winning millionaire and current Claiborne Farm stallion Annapolis who didn’t quite live up to his bloodlines as a racer. 

Eisenhower is by War Front out of My Miss Sophia, a graded stakes winner who also was notably second in the 2014 Kentucky Oaks. After being retired from racing, My Miss Sophia was purchased at auction while in foal to Annapolis for $4 million by Perry and Ramona Bass. In 2020, they bred My Miss Sophia back to War Front, the mating that would produce Eisenhower. 

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Eisenhower was sent to Santa Anita and Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella to start his racing career. He would go winless in four starts with his last race coming in August of 2024 at Del Mar. 

The wheels were set in motion for Eisenhower to become a lead pony last year at Del Mar. Alferez said his father, fellow outrider Enrique Alferez, was speaking with Mandella one morning when it was mentioned Eisenhower was going to be donated to CARMA, a charitable organization that provides funding for the rehabilitation, retraining and retirement of California-based Thoroughbreds.

“And out of the blue, Mandella asked my father, would you like the horse?” said Edgar Alferez, who has been an outrider at Santa Anita for eight years. “So they told me to look at him and when I did, I was more than excited. Then they started telling us about the bloodlines and I was just like, ‘wow.’”

Alferez quickly agreed to take Eisenhower.

“It’s great when a horse can find a second career,” Mandella said. “But especially to be an outrider’s pony. That’s a big honor for a horse.”

Eisenhower was then brought to Alferez’s property in Mira Loma to start training for his new endeavor.

“For like three months I just let him chill out. Then I started saddling him and putting him in the round pen,” Alferez said. “After that, next to my house is the Santa Ana River. So we just started taking him down to the river bottom and along the trails, just to try and get him a little more docile and relaxed. Eventually he could handle anything. He would cross roads with cars going by and everything. It was all about an eight-month process.”

Eisenhower made his return to the racetrack in April as Alferez’s pony. But only during morning training. It wasn’t until this past Friday’s card that Eisenhower made his afternoon debut leading horses to the starting gate before races.

“It took him a while to get the hang of things, but once he did he’s been pretty straightforward,” Alferez said.

Alferez added the key to a good lead pony is “being sharp and smart.

“He’s pretty sharp for sure. He’s always aware of what’s going on, just very observant.”

As for Eisenhower’s more well-known sibling, Annapolis this year stood his second season at Claiborne Farm in central Kentucky. His first babies will be hitting the track in 2027.