Ending a five-month layoff in a one-mile maiden special weight at Saratoga, graded stakes-winning mare Fly So High‘s 3-year-old Curlin colt Peak Performer had a rough trip, being bounced between foes while breaking from the Wilson chute and entering the first turn having to make up ground.
He went four wide in the first turn and picked off three foes, but never fully recovered from the start, holding on to finish fifth. It was a small step forward from his 7th-place finish in March at Tampa and hopefully he will get a better trip next time out to build off of his latest effort.
Peak Performer is owned in partnership by Phipps Stable, St. Elias Stable and West Point Thoroughbreds.
He is the second foal out of Phipps Stable’s Fly So High (Malibu Moon), purchased at the 2016 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Trained by Hall of Famer Shug McGaughey, Fly So High won the grade 2 Davona Dale going one mile on the turf at Gulfstream, after which she retired having won her last three career starts.
Fly So High hails from an elite female family, with her dam Quiet Flight (Quiet American) being a full-sister to Quiet Dance, the dam of Breeders’ Cup Classic-winning Horse of the Year Saint Liam (Saint Ballado) and United Nations S. (G1) winner Funtastic. Quiet Dance is also the granddam of Hall of Famer and top sire Gun Runner (Candy Ride {Arg}) and Mother Goose S. (G1) winner Buster’s Ready (More Than Ready).
The granddam of Fly So High, Misty Dancer (Lyphard), is a half-sister to Minstrella (The Minstrel), an Edward P. Evans homebred who won three group 1 races in Europe and was a champion juvenile in Ireland.
In addition to her 2022 foal Peak Performer, Fly So High produced a filly by Candy Ride (Arg) in 2021, a colt by Gun Runner in 2023, a filly by Into Mischief in 2025, and is in foal to Constitution.
Story and photos by Jason Brooks
Phipps Stable Fan 