Lost In The Fog: Brilliance Gone Too Soon
Lost in the Fog possessed the heart of a lion.
He was one of the horses that remind you of what racing was like in the days long past. Those days in which horses traveled far and often and fans flocked to every racetrack just to get a glimpse of them. Everyone wanted a piece of Lost in the Fog.
The gorgeous dark bay son of Lost Soldier was a brilliant sprinter. His maiden debut at Golden Gate foreshadowed what racing fans would see throughout the rest of his career - he crossed the wire FAR ahead of his foes.
He must have decided that he loved the feeling of winning, as he reeled off ten consecutive victories in 2004 and 2005. He zigzagged across the country, winning stakes races at Turf Paradise, Gulfstream Park, Aqueduct, Bay Meadows, Calder, Belmont, and Saratoga. He was the favorite every time he ran.
His win in the King's Bishop (G1) was extra special being that it is one of the most prestigious sprint races in the country and was the first Grade 1 win for his trainer Greg Gilchrist. Lost in the Fog's owner Harry Aleo received many seven-figure offers to purchase the colt, but refused them all. Aleo waited his entire life for a horse like this and wasn't willing to part with him.
Lost in the Fog's first loss occurred when he finished out of the money in the Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) as the race's heavy favorite. Despite the loss in the Breeders' Cup, Lost in the Fog was clearly the best sprinter of the year and was given the Eclipse Award for Champion Sprinter.
No one knew it at the time, but sad days were on the horizon.
Lost in the Fog returned to the races in April 2006 with a second-place finish in a stakes race at Golden Gate. He then traveled to Churchill Downs in Kentucky for the first time to win the Aristides (G3) by one length. It wasn't the open margins he had been winning with before, but it was a win nonetheless.
Lost in the Fog ran one of the most uncharacteristic performances of his life when he finished 9th in the Smile Sprint Handicap (G2) at Calder. It is a race his trainer said he will never forgive himself for running Lost in the Fog in.