2006: Two-Year-Old Season Trained by
Carl Nafzger and ridden by
Calvin Borel, Street Sense broke his maiden at
Arlington Park. He then finished third in the
Arlington-Washington Futurity Stakes and third in the
Lane's End Breeders' Futurity behind
Great Hunter and
Circular Quay. On November 4, 2006, Street Sense won the most important race for two-year-old
colts in the United States, the
Breeders' Cup Juvenile, by a record 10 lengths. He was voted the 2006
Eclipse Award as the
U.S. Champion Two-Year-Old Colt.
2007: Three-Year-Old Season Street Sense wintered at the
Palm Meadows Thoroughbred Training Center in
Florida. In 2007, he followed the trail to the
U.S. Triple Crown series. On March 17, in his first race as a three-year-old, he won the
Tampa Bay Derby by half a nose over
Any Given Saturday in a track record-breaking time for the one-and-one-sixteenth-mile distance. Street Sense was beaten by Dominican (11th in the 2007 Kentucky Derby, having broken from post 19) in his last start before the Derby, in a photo finish in the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland. The slow pace of the race meant most of the field had something left toward the finish - the first five horses home were separated by only a few lengths at the wire. Street Sense won the Kentucky Derby on May 5, 2007, paying $11.80 to win on a $2 wager. He rallied from a second-to-last deficit to beat
Hard Spun by 2 lengths. This victory made him the first winner of the
Breeders' Cup Juvenile ever to win the Kentucky Derby and the first U.S. Champion Two-Year-Old Colt to win the Derby since
Spectacular Bid in 1979. Street Sense went into the second jewel of the Triple Crown as the favorite, but finished second by a nose to eventual two-time Horse of the year Curlin in the Preakness Stakes at
Pimlico Race Course on May 19, 2007. The 9-horse field included Derby runner-up
Hard Spun,
Curlin, sixth-place finisher Circular Quay, Mint Slewlep, Xchanger, King of the Roxy, Flying First Class, and C P West. Owner James Tafel decided not to run Street Sense in the
Belmont Stakes, looking to regroup for major races later in the year. On August 25, 2007, ridden by
Calvin Borel, Street Sense won the
Grade I $1-million
Travers Stakes, at
Saratoga Race Course in
Saratoga Springs, New York. He was the first horse to win both the Travers and Kentucky Derby since
Thunder Gulch did it in 1995. On September 29, he placed second in the 1-mile
Grade II Kentucky Cup Classic Stakes on
Polytrack at
Turfway Park behind Hard Spun. In his racing career, he was 0 for 3 on Polytrack. Street Sense closed out his career with a fourth-place finish on a sloppy track in the October 27, 2007, running of the
Breeders' Cup Classic at
Monmouth Park Racetrack. He retired to
stud with earnings of $4,383,200. ==Retirement==