Point Given

Point Given made his debut on August 12, 2000 in a maiden special weight race at Del Mar, finishing second. He then broke his maiden in his next start on August 26.[1] On September 16, he stepped up into graded stakes company in the Kentucky Cup Juvenile Stakes at Turfway Park. He reared up at the start and was far back during the early running but made a wide move turning into the stretch and drew off to win by ​3 ¹⁄₂ lengths.[4]

Point Given's next start was in the Champagne Stakes at Belmont Park on October 14. He broke in fourth place then moved to the lead after half a mile. He was soon joined by Trailthefox and the two completed six furlongs in 1:09.55. Turning for home, the rest of the field started to close and Yonaguska took the lead. Point Given battled back and started to pull clear of Yonaguska, only to be passed in the final strides by a fast-closing A P Valentine.[5]

On November 4, Point Given entered the Breeders' Cup Juvenile, held that year at Churchill Downs. He broke poorly from post position 1 and was in tenth place moving into the first turn, then fell even further back down the backstretch, trailing by over 10 lengths with less than a half mile remaining in the race. In the final turn, jockey Gary Stevens swung him extremely wide to get racing room. Point Given closed rapidly down the stretch but came up a nose short to Macho Uno in a photo finish. "There was a ton of traffic going on in front of me," said Stevens. "There was a lot of bumping and jostling and when I got him going, I just wanted to keep him out of trouble."[6][7]

Point Given finished his two-year-old campaign in the Hollywood Futurity at Hollywood Park on December 16. He trailed early but then moved to the lead down the backstretch and won easily. "He wasn't running at all", said Stevens. "He was gearing himself down and just absolutely playing with 'em."[8]

Point Given was a finalist at the 2000 Eclipse Awards but finished second in the voting to Macho Uno for Champion Two-Year-Old honors.[3]

After a brief layoff, Point Given returned in the San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita Park on March 17, 2001, a relatively late start for a horse on the Triple Crown trail. Baffert faced some criticism for leaving no margin for error, and Stevens admitted that they were feeling the tension. Point Given though behaved professionally throughout the race. He sat back off the early pace then made a strong move down the stretch and drew off to win by ​2 ¹⁄₄ lengths.[9] He made his next start on April 7 in the Santa Anita Derby as the heavy favorite. On a muddy track, he pressed the early pace then took command on the far turn for an easy win by ​5 ¹⁄₂ lengths.[10]

Point Given was made the favorite for the 2001 Kentucky Derby on May 5 but gave his supporters cause for concern when he reared several times after a routine gallop on the morning of the race. His exercise rider Pepe Aragon held on "like a gerbil hanging on to a piece of PVC pipe" and the horse was unharmed.[11] During the race however, Point Given came up flat and could only finish fifth behind Monarchos.[12] Stevens later attributed the loss to a combination of a foot infection the colt had suffered earlier that week and the extremely fast racing surface at Churchill Downs, which made the foot more sensitive.[13]

In the Preakness Stakes on May 19, Point Given made a three-wide move around the final turn and then battled with Congaree for first place. He failed to switch leads when they entered the stretch and lugged in towards the rail as he inched past Congaree. He finally switched leads in the final 70 yards and pulled away to win by ​2 ¹⁄₂ lengths.[14]

In the week leading up to the Belmont, Point Given started acting up again. He cut himself over the eye while "trying to kill himself" in his stall. After receiving stitches, the medication made him start acting colicky so Baffert withheld his hay to avoid making the stomach problems worse. Point Given became so hungry that he crawled under the webbing in his stall, gashing himself in the side in the process. He was briefly loose from his stall, but was then caught by the grooms.[15]

His performance in the Belmont Stakes was unaffected by these antics. Instead, he turned in a dominating performance to win by ​12 ¹⁄₄ lengths in a time of 2:26.56 for ​1 ¹⁄₂ miles, tied for the fourth fastest time in the history of the race. He pressed the early pace, went to the lead on the backstretch and continued to open up all the way around the track, under continued urging from Stevens. "He was actually idling with me a little bit the last eighth of a mile, that's why I kept up at him," said Stevens. "It was important for everybody to see how good he is."[16]

Point Given was given some time off to recover from cracked heels. He returned on August 5 in the Haskell Invitational, which had its purse increased to $1.5 million to attract the horse. Before a record crowd, Point Given went off at odds of 3-10[17] despite conceding up to nine pounds to his rivals. He raced near the back of the field for the first half mile and then started his move on the far turn. He was slower than normal to accelerate though and was still only third in mid stretch. Under strong urging from Stevens, he finally hit the lead in the final strides, winning by half a length. "He's never been in a battle like this before," said Stevens, "and he built some character today."[18]

Point Given made what would be his final start in the Travers Stakes on August 25 at Saratoga. He raced with E Dubai on the outside of the early leader, Free of Love. When Free of Love tired on the far turn, E Dubai went to the lead with Point Given poised to his outside. In the stretch, Point Given drew away a ​3 ¹⁄₂ length win. "I still don't think you've seen the best of him", said Stevens. "He knows he's great", said Baffert. "He's cool."[19]

Point Given was the first horse since 1967 to win the Preakness Stakes, Belmont, and Travers Stakes, joining an elite club of racing greats who achieved that triple: Duke of Magenta (1878), Man o' War (1920), Whirlaway (1941), Native Dancer (1953), and Damascus (1967).[20] He was the first horse to ever win four $1 million races in a row.[21]

Point Given was the unanimous selection at the Eclipse Awards for American Champion-Three-Year Old Colt. He also prevailed over Tiznow for Horse of the Year honors.[21]