A week after running second at 2 1/16 miles for $1 million, Peachtree Stable’s Tawny Port is set to run back at 1 1/2 miles for $2.5 million. That’s 3 9/16 miles to run for $3.5 million — or just about $1 million per mile.

Tawny Port finished second to German-based two-mile specialist Flatten the Curve in last Saturday’s $1 million Mountain Dew Bowling Green Gold Cup. Two days later, the 6-year-old horse was doing so well after running 2 1/16 miles that trainer Miguel Clement decided to enter him Monday for this Saturday’s $2.5 million Grade 2 KTDF Kentucky Turf Cup, a 1 1/2-mile race in which he was third last year, beaten a total of 1 1/2 lengths behind victorious Grand Sonata.

“I think the thinking process behind it is that he’s had a couple of runs on the track, and he’s run well both times,” said Clement assistant trainer Lee Vickers. “Wanted to see how he came out of the race, and he came out of it pretty good. So we said, ‘Why not stay and have a crack at the next big pot for the mile-and-a-half race?

“We were second to a very nice horse the other day. Again, it’s going to be a very tough field. But there’s a lot of money on offer, and he showed an affinity for the track. He’s a healthy horse, pretty consistent on the whole, and he ‘stays’ well. So why not give him another crack?…. On firm turf, they get over it a bit easier, it doesn’t take out so much energy as it would on dirt. And it’s something that happens quite a lot in Europe. They’ll run a horse at Royal Ascot the first day of the meet and run back the last day of the meet. It’s not beyond the realm, and people are starting to take advantage of doing it now.

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“The veterinarians really check them over very well. We have a good look to make sure they’ve come out of the race good, so why not go ahead? It’s no shipping in between once they are here.”

Trained at the time by Brad Cox, Tawny Port was second in the Jeff Ruby (G3) over Turfway Park’s synthetic surface, then won Keeneland’s Lexington (G3) on dirt to earn a shot at the Kentucky Derby, finishing seventh and subsequently winning the Ohio Derby (G3).

Sent to Christophe Clement, Miguel’s late father, Tawny Port became a long-distance turf specialist. Though he has yet to win a graded stakes on turf, the horse has three seconds and four thirds in grass stakes. Last year, Tawny Port went zero for seven, but a second and four thirds gave him purse earnings of $354,350. So far this year, Tawny Port has made $221,000, bringing his career bankroll to more than $1.5 million.

“The majority of the time he runs solid races,” Vickers said. “He’s very consistent. Obviously, he was with the Cox barn prior, and he was on the Derby trail. He’s always been a very nice horse, and we’re very lucky to have him. We took him out on the grass a couple of years back now at Saratoga, and he really moved well on it. And he had shown a liking to Turfway on the Tapeta previously for Mr. Cox. So it was ‘go for it!’ And he’s enjoying it and earning a few dollars in the process.”

Tawny Port will be ridden by Manny Franco.

“He does require a kind of aggressive rider,” Vickers said. “He just saves a bit for himself. He needs someone to get hold of him and make him finish his work, and he does.”

This story was originally reported by Paulick Report on Sep 2, 2025, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Paulick Report as a Preferred Source by clicking here.