Pants On Fire” takes the Sir Shackleton

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Pants On
Fire became a stakes winner for the fifth
year in a row when he rallied from just off
the pace to a half-length victory over
Confrontation in Saturday’s $75,000 Sir
Shackleton at Gulfstream Park.
Pants On Fire is a 7-year-old son of Jump
Start owned by Lori and George Hall and
trained throughout his amazing career by
Kelly Breen. The seven-furlong Sir
Shackleton was the first start of the season
for Pants On Fire, who finished third in the
2014 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile and came into
the race with lifetime earnings of more than
$1.4 million.
With regular rider Paco Lopez aboard, Pants
On Fire sat a perfect trip, stalking the pace of the odds-on favorite Valid, who set early splits of
22.91 and 46.11 seconds while racing in what has been the deeper going along the rail. Pants On
Fire readily overtook the tiring leader upon settling into the stretch, edged clear, and then
withstood a final rally from Confrontation. Confrontation angled four wide advancing into the
stretch, moved within easy striking distance of the winner near midstretch but could not sustain his
bid. Brothersofthetime finished third.
Pants On Fire completed seven furlongs in 1:24.61 over a fast but tiring racetrack and paid $8.40.
“It’s a privilege to have such a nice horse,” said Breen. “A 7-year-old, we kept on racing him, and
hope to find a nice place for him to be a stallion at the end of the year. If we can get him back to the
Breeders’ Cup Mile, that’s the goal for right now. It’s just nice to see him come back like that. I
didn’t think I really had him tight enough. And he likes Paco. They just mesh. It was a perfect
storm. Everything worked out well.”