Sales-Topping TDN Rising Star Spectacular Grey Back For Colleen

Epic Horses has acquired Spectacular Grey after the ‘TDN Rising Star’ topped the Fasig-Tipton July Digital Sale for $625,000. The filly is set to make her turf debut in Sunday’s $100,000 Colleen Stakes at Monmouth Park.

The daughter of Not This Time earned her Rising Star designation with an impressive 7 3/4-length victory in her July 12 debut at Monmouth Park. Racing as an 11-2 chance in the five-furlong maiden contest on dirt, Spectacular Grey recovered from a slightly slow break to power clear in the stretch with authority.

Consigned to the July Digital Sale by Taylor Made on behalf of previous owner III Beauty’s Thoroughbred LLC, the filly will remain with trainer Alexis Delgado for her new connections.

“The old owners always wanted to try her on the grass but I said to them ‘give me one opportunity on the dirt with her,'” Delgado said. “She ran an unbelievable race. She has always shown talent in the morning. She is a special filly.”

Delgado believes Spectacular Grey has improved since her debut performance.

“I don’t think she was 100% as far as her conditioning for her first race. Maybe 80 or 85%. But she is 100% now,” he noted.

The trainer revealed that Epic Horses has ambitious plans for their new acquisition, potentially targeting Kentucky Downs.

“The new owners called me and said ‘we like this filly for the grass.’ They want to see if she is good enough to try a race at Kentucky Downs. We have to see how she does but I’m very excited to watch her race again,” Delgado said.

Spectacular Grey’s emergence represents a significant opportunity for Delgado, who has only 42 career victories. The trainer stepped away from the profession from 2022-2024 for family and economic reasons, working as an Uber driver during his hiatus.

Delgado’s most notable training achievement came in 2019 when he saddled Jeltrin (Tapizar) to a 51-1 upset victory in the GII Davona Dale Stakes. That filly later finished third at long odds in the GI Acorn Stakes.

“It’s a great opportunity for me,” said Delgado. “For me to come back to training and to get a horse like this is unbelievable. The new owners called and said ‘we saw the success you had in 2019. We want you to continue training this filly.’ I am very grateful to them for that.”

Spectacular Grey has drawn the rail in Sunday’s Colleen Stakes, facing 10 rivals including three entries from the barn of Wesley Ward.