It was a big first stakes winner of the year for MCKINZIE on Saturday when Cyclone State jumped onto the Road to the Kentucky Derby with a victory in the $150,000 Jerome Stakes.
Looking for his third straight victory in his stakes debut, the one-mile dirt race saw him come out in style.
Cyclone State broke strongly and was quickly sent to the front of the field alongside Enduring Spirit. Those two briefly shared the lead before Cyclone State took over by about a length as Enduring Spirit dropped back.
Around the turn, Cyclone State coasted without any true challenges to have over five lengths on the field coming into the stretch. The colt was in complete control throughout the late running with only a late closing runner able to cut his lead down to 3 1/2 lengths at the line.
They were all chasing @jockeylriverajr and Iowa-bred CYCLONE STATE ($8.10) 🌪️ home in the $150,000 Jerome Stakes at Aqueduct. The Mckinzie (@Gainesway) colt is trained by @horsesummers and earns 10 points to the @KentuckyDerby.
Play the Lucky Last: https://t.co/KE0J71TrkF pic.twitter.com/gQec00JP0x
— FanDuel Racing (@FanDuel_Racing) January 4, 2025
Trained by Chad Summers for Gold Square, George Messina, and Michael Lee, the colt earned his first 10 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby in this victory.
“He’s just a special horse. He’s a horse we’ve always been high on,” said Summers. “He reared up a little bit at the start, but we’ve learned with him. Nobody goes in the gate with him – he’s got a little bit of a funny mouth, he doesn’t like that. Luis Rivera has worked with him a lot getting on him in the morning time and in the afternoon. He just continues to get better. Obviously, a deep, tiring, heavy track today. The rail didn’t look like it was that great. We wanted to get off the rail but kind of got stuck there. He just continues to progress. This is just a steppingstone, but it’s the right steppingstone and he did it the right way against this field.”
Cyclone State was bred in Iowa by Allen Poindexter out of the multiple stakes winning Dominus mare Chanel’s Legacy. That mare is also the dam of the stakes placed Zatara from her two foals.
Cyclone State is the third stakes winner for MCKINZIE, who led all freshmen last year by Grade 1 winners, graded stakes winners, Grade 1 performers, and graded stakes performers.