BY BROCK SHERIDAN
Florida-bred Taken by the Wind ran away with a five-and-a-quarter-length victory to remain undefeated in her two starts while winning the $251,250 Pocahontas for 2-year-old fillies going one mile at Churchill Downs Saturday. Trained by Kenneth McPeek, Taken by the Wind earned 10 points in the first race on the Road to the Grade 1 Longines Kentucky Oaks leaderboard.
Owned by former NFL quarterback and FOX NFL analyst Terry Bradshaw in partnership with Sherri McPeek’s Magdalena Racing and Graham Leveston, Taken by the Wind was guided patiently on the rail down the backstretch by Irad Ortiz Jr. as she raced in fourth behind the early speed of Embrace the Moment. Taken by the Wind was stuck behind horses coming out of the turn, found a seem between Joke Maker and a Our Two Girls past the three-sixteenth pole and shot to the front quickly then established a dominant margin to the wire.
Taken by the Wind finished in 1:36.50 on the fast track with 9-5 favorite Miss Complicated second. Joke Maker was another two-and-a-half lengths farther back in third followed by Dazzling Dame, Our Two Girls, Embrace the Moment and Starlit Sky.
Trained by Kenneth McPeek, Taken by the Wind paid $14.10 to win.
“She broke well,” Ortiz said. “I just let the speed go after that. I tried to let her settle on the rail like she did in her last start. Turning for home, there was an opening and she went through there and opened up. She ran like an older filly today. She’s very exciting.”
Taken by the Wind won her first start in much the same way in an off-the-turf, $75,000 maiden optional claiming going seven furlongs at Saratoga Race Course on Aug. 21. She chased in third on the rail under a tight hold before tipping out in the turn to take the lead in the stretch and win by three lengths.
“She’s only been here a few days,” McPeek’s local assistant Greg Geier said. “Kenny said she was training well and she backed it up today.”
Bred in Florida by Courtney L. Meagher, Taken by the Wind is by Rock Your World out of Up for Grabs, by First Samurai. She earned $136,710 in victory to increase her career bankroll to $180,710. She was purchased by McPeek for $20,000 out of the Gainesway consignment at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Yearling Sale. She first sold at auction for $70,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Select Yearling Sale where Walking L. Thoroughbreds selected her out of the Taylor Made Sales Agency consignment.
Meagher purchased Up for Grabs in foal to Bold Warrior for $3,000 at the 2013 Ocala Breeders’ Sale Fall Mixed Sale. Up for Grabs has produced five winners from seven starters among her nine foals with Taken by the Wind her first graded stakes winner. Taken by the Wind is a half-sister to stakes-placed Florida-bred Running Memories, by Double Diamond Farm stallion Bahamian Squall. Running Memories was second in the $102,000 Incredible Revenge at Monmouth Park in 2021. Up For Grabs also produced Florida-bred winner Leme At Em, by He’s Had Enough. Leme At Em sold for $485,000 at the 2018 OBS Spring Sale of 2-year-olds in training.
Taken by the Wind is the 16th graded stakes-winning Florida-bred in 2025 and the 56th Florida-bred winner of an open stakes.
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