Named after painter Gustav Klimt, this good-looking bay Thoroughbred turned into one of Southern California's top juveniles during the summer of 2016.

Originally trained by Bob Baffert, Klimt won early, obtaining his diploma in start number two towards the end of Santa Anita's 2016 spring/summer meet. Moving to Del Mar afterwards, he parlayed that early success into a terrific summer at Del Mar. Sweeping the Grade II Best Pal Stakes and Grade I Del Mar Futurity, Klimt was named Top Two-Year-Old for the session and went into the fall on a three-race winning streak that saw him win handily each time.

Trained by Bob Baffert, Klimt was entered in the Grade I FrontRunner Stakes at Santa Anita, a traditional prep for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile. His run of wins ended with a second to eventual Santa Anita Derby champion Gormley, but Klimt came in second after racing in the back in what not a bad routing debut.

Up next was the Breeders' Cup Juvenile, the biggest race of the year for two-year-olds. Unfortunately for Klimt and his connections, it was just not his day. Finishing off the board in his season finale, Klimt still had a good 2016, getting three wins and a second in six starts.

Returning to the races the following summer, Klimt made his sophomore debut in the Grade III Los Alamitos Derby. Now trained by Art Sherman, Klimt was in contention throughout the race and put on a nice comeback effort to finish as runner up to future Champion-Three-Year-Old West Coast. That was followed by a return engagement to Del Mar in the Shared Belief Stakes at one mile. Again trailing from the rear of the field, Klimt managed to get third place in his last start before being retired to Darby Dan Farm in his native Kentucky. He finished his career with three wins, two seconds and a third in eight starts.

As a son of Quality Road, the possibility seemed to exist early on that Klimt could be successful going long, especially with his FrontRunner performance. While he showed ability at a mile or longer, Klimt never managed to get that victory running around two turns. But Quality Road's record was not limited to routing, for he captured a couple of sprints in his racing days. And Klimt's dam, Inventive, was also a winner at the short game as well. They passed that strength on to their son, and he made the most of it on track.

His career only lasted a little over a year, but Klimt put himself in Southern California racing's timeline as one of the circuit's major juveniles in the second half of 2016.

Sources:

Named after painter Gustav Klimt: Wesch, Hank. "Owner Shah Hopes Run Away Can Follow in Klimt's Hoofprints." Del Mar Website, Sept. 1, 2017. https://www.dmtc.com/media/news/owner-shah-hopes-run-away-can-follow-in-klimts-hoofprints-973

Top Two-Year-Old at Del Mar: 2020 Del Mar Media Guide, pg. 9