WON: Memorial Cup(G1), Norfellow Stakes(G3), Belgian Tike Stakes(G3)
2nd: Breeders Bowl Juvenile Turf(G1)
3rd: Nationwide Stakes(G1)
4th: Up North Juvenile(G3)

Dream to Reality:
Epiphany Too Claims Juvenile Turf Male Eclipse

By Afc

The teaser stallion awaits in the breeding shed. He is led about by the halter, awaiting the arrival of the mare. In this case, no ordinary mare, but a quality producing daughter of Crusader Sword. The teaser does his job quickly and efficiently and the mare warms up to him rapidly. In the blink of an eye, the teaser is led out of the shed and replaced by Fantastic Light, a two time champion and Breeder's Cup winner. As the handlers lead the stud into the shed, there is a mix of anticipation and anxiety. Anticipation, as in the possibility of greatness conceived. Anxiety, as in perhaps the most dangerous tango between two very valuable thoroughbreds.

Having done his job to arouse the mare, the teaser stallion is led from the shed. His is an unheralded job, but he performs admirably, always calmly, preventing a possible calamity in the breeding shed. Fantastic Light has always been an eager sort in his young stallion career, and the assembled team doesn't have to wait long, as the eager Fantastic Light gets up and goes about his business. Now, there's nothing to do but sit back and wait.

The wait is not as long as anticipated, as the heaving mare collapses into her straw bedding. The water has broken and soiled the hands of the excited handlers and the attending veterinarian. They wait patiently as the mare struggles- first a foreleg, then a head. A broad blaze garnishes the now protruding head. The team provides some gentle assistance, and suddenly, there's the shoulders, followed in quick succession by the body, and finally, with one protracted contraction, the hips. The job is complete. Licking the foal, the mare encourages the newborn colt to his feet, where he soon begins to eagerly nurse.

It is January 6. Early for a new foal arrival, early by some three or four weeks. But he shows no signs of distress. January 6. The Epiphany. Celebrated as the baptism of Christ by the Eastern Church. Coincidence?

Perhaps. "I didn't know that," laughs 2totango, the breeder, owner and proud (very proud) trainer of newly crowned Eclipse Champion Epiphany Too. "Should I?" Probably not. I received a big assist from Webster's Dictionary on that one.

"I always liked Fantastic Light on the track," she continued. "The cross to Crusader Sword gave a double dose of Nijinsky II, and I was intrigued by that. Plus, the mare is backcrossed to Danzig Dancer, which is nearly the same bottom line as Dancing Blade, who was a real nice filly and the two year old filly turf champion from last year." Has 2totango stumbled upon a winning formula?

The name Epiphany Too was sort of an accident. "I chose 'Epiphany' to play off his bloodlines of Fantastic Light and Crusader Sword, the backcross to Nijinsky II. The powers that be assigned the 'Too'. Of course, I didn't like it, but he soon turned out to be my best juvenile, so I suppose I don't really mind," said 2totango.

The early foal developed rapidly, not surprising considering he had a month or three on his cohorts. He proved to be a handful in the mornings, making the exercise riders work to keep him focused and on the proper path. "He was always willing, but he likes to play. And when an 1100 pound animal decides he wants to play, there's not much a 150 pound human can do about it. Some of the help took their lumps from Epiphany Too while we were getting him ready to go," mused 2totango. "I don't think they'll mind too much now."

In his first start, a six furlong test on the lawn, Epiphany Too was put to the test right out of the gate. Never getting much of a breather, the colt ran on gamely after his rider lost his whip at the top of the stretch, and finished a good second. "Encouraging, but a bit disappointing," recalled 2totango. "We expected big things from him, but it was hard to get overly down about his effort. He dueled the entire race and just got nipped at the wire. Not bad, but nobody wants to be second."

2totango kept up the fast works by Epiphany Too, and the gleaming chestnut showed up raring to go in his second attempt at the maiden buster on the Norway surface. This time, in a 5.5 furlong sprint, he didn't disappoint. Breaking eagerly as in his first voyage, Epiphany Too lengthened his stride impressively in the lane to score by better than two lengths.

The speedy youngster was sent off at just over 5-1 in his next start, the Grade 3 Belgian Tike Stakes. Breaking alertly, Epiphany Too went right to the front and wired the field in the 4.5 furlong dash. Now a graded stakes winner in only three starts, 2totango started thinking of the big time. "He came back blowing from that effort," she said. "We were learning that he runs so hard, that he needs time between his starts. He was never injured, but he just wears himself out running. So we tried to space his races out and not squeeze the lemon dry too early. We started thinking Breeder's Bowl after the Belgian Tike, but I always realized that that was a long way off. It's tough. So many things can go wrong, and it takes a lot of luck to have everything break just right with a juvenile."

Epiphany Too was held at short distances in his next outing, the five furlong Grade 3 Norfellow Stakes. As in each of his previous races, he broke on top, and maintained a contentious 1+ length lead throughout the stretch to nab his second graded race. "He was showing a lot of tenacity in his races," 2totango observed. "That's an intangible that can't be bred into them. It's nice to have. But we had exhausted our options in short sprints. We knew we had to stretch him out, and whenever you have a horse like Epiphany Too, you always wonder, 'when does he hit the wall running like this?' We were about to find out."

With the Breeder's Bowl looming a short three months away, it was time for Epiphany Too and 2totango to find out what their speedball was made of. "I rushed him into his next start. I thought of the schedule before the horse, and I think it showed. He was a bit flat, and that was my fault. Plus, it's tough to mess with success. We had a front runner, and as long as he continued to do well that way, I saw no reason to alter course." So Epiphany Too shipped across the pond to run in the Grade 3 Up North Juvenile at seven furlongs. All was well for the first half mile, as Epiphany Too charged to a two and a half length lead at the top of the stretch. Then, however, the proverbial wheels began to fall off. "I knew he was in trouble when he wouldn't change leads. He had always done so on cue before. But when he wouldn't get off his left lead and began to lug in, I knew we were in deep water. But I was impressed by his tenacity again. There's that word again. He was empty, but he kept battling when headed and passed. Sure, I was disappointed, but I felt he was short, and he ran like that, too."

A trip back across the Atlantic came next as Epiphany Too travelled to Ireland for his first Grade 1 start, the prestigious Nationwide Stakes at seven panels. "I wasn't really sure what happened in the Up North Juvenile. I was fairly convinced that I just ran a short horse, and I didn't think he had to change styles to get the job done. So we let him roll again," explained 2totango.

The mark of a good trainer is to place their horses well. The mark of a great trainer is to learn from defeat. Charging out of the gate in his trademark style, Epiphany Too gamely clung to a diminishing lead as he was challenged by fellow Eclipse nominee Wooden Head in deep stretch. Finally, he relented some fifty yards from the wire as Wooden Head surged to a one length victory, with Epiphany Too claiming third with a snappy 96 figure.

However, 2totango was not completely satisfied. "I knew then that we had to change something. He had run the race of his life and got beat. It became obvious to me then that if we wanted to have a shot in the Breeder's Bowl that we had to teach Epiphany Too to rate. The Breeder's Bowl was going to be stacked with speed, and he'd get killed up front if we let him. So, we decided to take a chance."

Some horses will rate; others will fight the bit and exhaust themselves trying to get to the front. You never know which one you've got until you try it on for size. 2totango was understandably pessimistic. "I didn't know what to expect. I just knew that to give him a shot, we had to wrangle him back. I wasn't overly confident going into the Breeder's Bowl. There's the best of the best there, but we were fighting a couple of things besides the field. We had to ship back to the States, and we had to teach Epiphany Too to do something he'd never done in his life. Drop back, get pelted with pieces of sod, and then run when asked. That's an awful lot to ask from a young colt."

On Breeder's Bowl day, Epiphany Too proved he could learn new tricks. Dropping back to nearly last in the field of ten, 2totango nervously held her breath and waited for the moment of truth. "Rough field. Wow. Ed's Pegasus As, that's an intimidating horse. He's so big, but he's beautifully proportioned. But not sloppy big. Athletic big. Gets out fast and just keeps going. Scary, scary horse," 2totango explained, almost reverentially. But Epiphany Too played his new role well. He began picking up the others around the turn and continued his surge through the length of the Illinois stretch to finish an encouraging second to an overpowering performance by Ed's Pegasus As. "I was ecstatic," stated 2totango. "I think I was as pleased as if he had won. He had shown to me that he was flexible, and that's the key. Nobody was going to catch Ed's Pegasus As that day. You let a long striding colt like that have his way early, and they'll just flat out stomp all over you. But I knew after that race, I knew that he could compete. I guess you could say that I had an epiphany that day."

With time winding down on a long and arduous season, 2totango was resigned to the likelihood that Epiphany Too, despite his stellar record, would not win the Eclipse. "There's a special weight attached to Grade 1 races," she mused. "They're the pinnacle. Everyone longs for a Grade 1 winner. But I felt we had the goods, just that we wouldn't have time to show everybody on the big stage. Time was getting short."

Epiphany- a sudden manifestation or perception of the meaning of something.

On December 4, when entries were drawn for the races of December 7, 2totango had an another epiphany of sorts. The Grade 1 Memorial Cup, to be contested at 8.5 furlongs, the same distance of the Breeder's Bowl, was missing one big name- Ed's Pegasus As. The BB Turf Juvenile winner had opted out of the Memorial Cup, choosing instead to stay in the States and compete in a contentious field in the Grade 1 Movieland Futurity on the dirt. The door had opened a crack, but the light was barely visible.

"I remember thinking, 'this is our chance,'"stated 2totango. "Here's our shot at a Grade 1 again. And across the pond, there's Ed's Pegasus As making a run for both the turf and dirt Eclipses in California. Epiphany Too had his measure in terms of races outside the Breeder's Bowl with those two Grade 3 wins. If somehow, we could get the Grade 1 win in the Memorial Cup, and Ed's Pegasus As fails in the Movieland Futurity, maybe, just maybe, that will be enough to sway the voters. Believe me, we didn't duck. We were going in the turf race. I don't think Ed's Pegasus As ducked either- that California field was a tough as they come. But as it turned out, it gave Epiphany Too a chance at redemption of sorts."

Redemption is a sweet thing. But you have to jump up and grab the opportunity. There's a huge difference between wanting and having. "Sure, I was nervous as hell. Top it off, it's my birthday, too- December 7. What a present this could turn out to be," 2totango laughed.

Epiphany Too broke sharply in the Memorial Cup, but rated kindly off a blistering early pace. Sitting chilly in third, 2totango lept to her feet as the field rounded the far turn. The big white blaze disappeared as the horses drove around the turn, and then chillingly appeared again on the outside at the top of the lane. The race was on.

Second by a length turning for home, jockey Brian Schardein went to a furious left handed whip. Slowly, seemingly in the jerky motions of a strobe light, the big white blaze edged ever closer. Still a half-length back with less than a furlong to go, Epiphany Too put forth one final surge in the final sixteenth to get up by a narrow 1/4 length at the wire. It had happened. "I was beside myself," said 2totango. "Excited? Well, Jenine Shahadi's got nothing over me, I'll tell you that much. I nearly jumped out of the stands to get to the winner's circle. I mean, how proud can you be? Your first hombred Grade 1 winner. Does it get any better than that?"

2totango was about to find out, yes, Matilda, it does get better. A half hour later, with Epiphany Too tucked comfortably in his stall after his bath, 2totango watched with amazement as Ed's Pegasus As sat just off a torrid pace in the Movieland Futurity and then shockingly faded to fourth as the 4-1 favorite. The impossible cascade of events was complete. "Hey, I don't wish anybody's horse to lose. Never," said 2totango. "But I'd be stretching the truth just a bit to say I wasn't interested in how the Movieland Futurity turned out." An Epiphany of sorts? Indeed.

The Memorial Cup was the door that Epiphany Too kicked wide open. And he's now been justly rewarded.

"I'm so pleased with this. It's the highlight of my career thus far. How else can you top this?"

Smiling wryly, 2totango flashed a quick grin. "I've got an idea of how to top it. The dirt is out there somewhere in the future for Epiphany Too, and there's this nice little race they run on the first Saturday of May. I may have an epiphany about that, too. I'm allowed to dream a little, aren't I?"

Yes, you are. Dream all you want. Epiphany Too has just made the first part of the impossible dream come true.