Glowing Ember, a 5-year-old Bernstein gelding bred by Gallagher’s Stud and owned by Cot Campbell’s Dogwood Stables, won the featured City of Aiken Trophy at the 73rd annual Aiken Trials which took place on Saturday at the Aiken Training Track in Columbia, S.C.
Trained by Brad Stauffer, Glowing Ember romped to a six-length victory in the 4 1/2-furlong event, completing the distance in 53 seconds flat over a track that had taken nearly three-quarters of an inch of rain. He was followed across the line by Bubuzela and St. Tahaddeus.
Glowing Ember’s jockey Gene Tucker told Dede Biles reporting for the Aiken Standard, “He stood really good in the starting gate, and he left the gate really hard. I rode him a little bit until the quarter pole, and then just kind of wrapped up on him. When I checked, there was nobody close behind me.”
Said trainer Stauffer, “I was a little bit worried about him before the race because he was pacing in his stall at the barn. I knew he was on edge. When he broke and got in front, I was just hoping he would stay there. Gene has been telling me that if somebody came to him, Glowing Ember wouldn’t give up easily, and he didn’t give up at all. He kept on running. He is a nice horse, and Gene rode him perfectly.”
Relishing his first Aiken Trophy victory, Cot Campbell exclaimed, “This is great! We came here 29 years ago, and we had been struggling to win it. But now we’ve got it, and we’re delighted.” Campbell added that Glowing Ember will leave for New York with some other Dogwood horses around the first of April.
Glowing Ember is a fourth-generation product of Gallagher’s Stud breeding. His third dam Felicita produced three stakes winners, led by multiple Grade 1 winner and $2.4 million dollar earner Take Charge Lady, a horse bred by William Schettine, who purchased Felicita for $42,000 at the 1998 Keeneland November Sale. For Gallagher’s Stud Felicita produced Glowing Ember’s second dam Eventail, a multiple stakes winner by Lear Fan. Eventail is the dam of five winners including multiple graded stakes winner Straight Story by Giant’s Causeway. Her placed daughter Fanfire by Elusive Quality produced Glowing Ember.
Dogwood Stable purchased Glowing Ember for $53,000 at the 2010 Fasig-Tipton New York-bred preferred yearling sale in Saratoga. The gelding has earned $155,130 from four victories, including two wins on the grass, plus a second and a third in 11 starts.
