‘TDN Rising Star’ Obliteration Dominates GIII Sanford Stakes at Saratoga
Obliteration, a ‘TDN Rising Star’ and runaway debut winner at Churchill Downs on June 12, delivered another commanding performance with a 10 1/2-length victory in Saturday’s GIII Sanford Stakes at Saratoga.
The 2-year-old colt by Violence lived up to his name as the 4-5 favorite, breaking sharply under jockey Flavien Prat and establishing early position. Blinging It Back (Volatile) pressed through fractions of :22.74 and :45.56 before Obliteration powered clear in the stretch to win decisively. Imagine John (Maclean’s Music) finished third.
“He’s just a very special horse,” said Scott Blasi, assistant to winning trainer Steve Asmussen. “He has a ton of class for a 2-year-old, very laid back and really good turn of foot. I definitely think he improved from his first race to this race. He’s sharper and more focused.”
Blasi noted the strategic equipment decision that has benefited the promising colt. “We don’t run a lot of horses first time out in blinkers, but he definitely needs the focus going forward. A tremendous amount of talent and it’s fun to have a nice horse for the Acklerley brothers again.”
The Asmussen team plans to keep Obliteration at Saratoga for training while evaluating next steps.
“We’ll train him up here and see how he comes out of it, talk to Steve and the Ackerleys and see where we run back,” Blasi added.
Pedigree Notes
Obliteration becomes the 54th stakes winner and 21st graded winner worldwide for his sire Violence. The colt is a half-brother to multiple stakes performers, including Pure Class (The Big Beast), SW, $265,313; Big and Classy (The Big Beast), GSP, $356,490; Sassy Beast (The Big Beast), SW, $297,110; and Family Biz (Fed Biz), SP, $452,878.
His dam, I’mclassyandsassy (Master Command), produced a filly by Girvin in 2024 and a colt by Elite Power this year. She was purchased for $85,000 by Ocala Stud while carrying Obliteration at the 2022 Keeneland November sale.
The Sanford victory marks Obliteration’s first black-type and graded stakes win. Owned by Leland Ackerley Racing and bred by Ocala Stud in Kentucky, the colt was a $200,000 purchase at the 2025 OBS March sale. His lifetime record now stands at 2-2-0-0 with earnings of $165,550.
Blinging It Back, owned by Gary Barber and Peter Deutsch and trained by Mark E. Casse, earned his first graded black type with the second-place finish. Imagine John, trained by Jena M. Antonucci for Pure Bred Funding LLC and Jason T. Lorenz, secured his first black type and graded black type with his third-place effort.
The final time for the six-furlong contest was 1:10.65 on a fast track.
OBLITERATION is now a perfect 2-for-2 with a huge score in the G3 Sanford Stakes with Flavien Prat up for trainer Steve Asmussen. pic.twitter.com/LZFrn3LWQv
— NYRA (🗽) (@TheNYRA)
OBLITERATION is now a perfect 2-for-2 with a huge score in the G3 Sanford Stakes with Flavien Prat up for trainer Steve Asmussen. pic.twitter.com/LZFrn3LWQv
— NYRA (🗽) (@TheNYRA) July 5, 2025
