Seventeen Black Named Iowa-Bred Horse of the Year

The 4-year-old gelding Seventeen Black was a relatively unproven Thoroughbred when he first set foot on the track at Prairie Meadows in June of 2024.

The son of Mendelssohn out of American Sugar (Harlan’s Holiday) made his first 11 career starts in California for owner Amerman Racing, buyers of the Allen Poindexter-bred bay as a weanling for $300,000 at the 2020 edition of Fasig-Tipton’s The November Sale.

The second of his two victories in the Golden State was a May 11 turf claiming tally at Santa Anita Park, a score that became a footnote in history as the 1,085th and final win for the late trainer David Hofmans.

Claimed out of that race by James Cassidy, purchased privately by Poindexter, the EIK Ranch of trainer Kevin Eikleberry, and AG Racing Stables, Seventeen Black became the dominant runner of the 2024 meet at Prairie Meadows.

He debuted in Iowa running a flat mile in a June 23 allowance-level race. With Elvin Gonzalez in the irons, Seventeen Black went wire-to-wire as a heavy favorite, leading by eight lengths at the quarter pole and crossing the finish line 12 lengths ahead in a solid time of 1:38.07 for eight panels.

That victory turned out to be a portent of what was to come the rest of the 2024 season for the big gelding. Seventeen Black won two more races in July before digging down deep to win his fourth straight start in Iowa on August 18.

Seventeen Black was ready to roll for his final race of the year in the $110,000 Terry E. Branstad Stakes, the marquee race of Iowa Classic Night Sept. 28. Leading rider Alex Birzer replaced Gonzalez, who rode his regular mount Ain’t Life Grand , the odds-on favorite in the 1 1/16-mile test, and the gelding made every pole a winning one at generous 5-1 odds.

Allen Poindexter summed up the Seventeen Black story succinctly, “I bred him, and I consigned him to the Fasig-Tipton Sale in Kentucky before he made it to the track. He sold for $300,000! I found out he’d been claimed for $25,000 at Santa Anita. I told trainer Kevin Eikleberry that I wanted to buy him back and I did.”

Seventeen Black finished the 2024 season as the only five-time winner of the meet at Prairie Meadows, collecting $188,444 in earnings.