Cellist

Cellist earned his first career victory in his second start, pressing the pace in a 1 1/16-mile maiden special weight race Feb. 28, 2021, at Gulfstream Park. Two starts later, he won the Audobon Stakes at Churchill Downs before running third in the Grade 1 Belmont Derby Invitational Stakes in July.

Cellist was unplaced in the Grade 1 Saratoga Derby Invitational before closing out his 3-year-old season with a third-place finish in the Big Ass Fans Dueling Grounds Derby in September 2021 at Kentucky Downs.

The Big Blue Kitten gelding opened his 4-year-old campaign with a seventh in the Grade 3 Tampa Bay Stakes in February 2022. Trainer Rusty Arnold used a runner-up finish in an allowance race at Keeneland to help build foundation and confidence and it paid dividends 3 ½ weeks later when he seized command with a sweeping bid off the final turn in the 1 ½-mile, Grade 3 Louisville Stakes and held off Reigning Spirit for his first graded stakes win.