‘I’m on cloud 9’: Terry Bradshaw basks in Pocahontas win
Four-time Super Bowl champion quarterback and longtime Fox NFL Sunday analyst Terry Bradshaw has won plenty of big games in his career. Saturday he celebrated a different kind of victory when his 2-year-old filly Taken by the Wind captured the 57th running of the Grade 3, $251,250 Pocahontas Stakes at Churchill Downs.
The win gave the former Pittsburgh Steelers star and his partners 10 qualifying points toward the Kentucky Oaks (G1) and set up a potential start in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies on Oct. 31 at Del Mar.
Taken by the Wind scores in 1st Kentucky Oaks prep.
“It’s just great to win this race and potentially have a Breeders’ Cup horse, and she got points for the Kentucky Oaks as well,” Bradshaw said. “The first couple of horses I had (in partnership with Twin Creeks Racing Stables) were (multiple graded-stakes winner) Mission Impazible, who ran in the (2010 Kentucky) Derby, and (multiple graded-stakes winner) Graydar, who turned out to be the better horse and we sold the breeding rights to.
“I’m really into the breeding side of things. I’ve had a couple that I bred and sold. Primarily I like to buy fillies so I can breed them and not studs, because if I’ve got a good filly, I can breed her after racing. If you don’t win the big three races or Grade 1s with a stud, then their value is hard to come by.”
A Pro Football Hall of Famer, Bradshaw, 77, said his partnership with trainer Kenny McPeek has been key to his involvement in racing.
“Kenny’s personality fits my personality,” Bradshaw said. “I just like being around him. We’re friends, and he’s a really good horseman. He knows what he’s looking for.
“I always joke that he’s a poor man’s trainer. It’s hard to compete with the billionaires out there like (Mike) Repole and some of the others, but you have to have a trainer that’s willing to take on people like myself who invest what we consider a substantial amount of money. It’s just a great experience all around.”
Taken by the Wind cost $20,000 at the 2024 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky fall yearling sale. She ran the one-turn mile Saturday in 1:36.50 under jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. The Florida-bred daughter of Rock Your World out of First Samurai mare Up for Grabs earned $136,710 for the win and improved her record to 2-for-2.
“I’m on cloud 9,” Bradshaw said.
McPeek, who was scouting yearlings at Keeneland on Saturday, earned his record-extending fifth Pocahontas victory. The filly is co-owned by Magdalena Racing and Graham Leveston.