Early in his career, Charismatic was entered in claiming races but he improved rapidly during his three-year-old year.
He was quickly pulled up by jockey Chris Antley, who dismounted and cradled the horse's fractured foreleg to prevent further injury.
He was bred under a foal-sharing arrangement between William S. Farish and the Parrish Hill Farm of Dr. Ben and Tom Roach.
[1] Lukas shipped the horse to Keeneland for the Lexington Stakes on April 18, the last chance for a win on the Kentucky Derby trail.
Valhol set a slow early pace tracked by Cat Thief, who took over the lead rounding the final turn.
He passed Cat Thief in deep stretch, then withstood a late charge from Menifee to win by a head.
[1] The time for 1+1⁄4 miles was a slow 2:03.29 The win denied trainer Bob Baffert his third straight Derby victory.
However, the horse abruptly slowed down and lost the lead to eventual winner Lemon Drop Kid with 1/8 mile to go, ultimately finishing third behind second-place Vision and Verse.
[6] Sensing that something was wrong with the horse, jockey Chris Antley eased Charismatic up in the final furlong, jumped off right after the finish line and then held up the colt's left front leg.
Charismatic's foreleg had fractured in multiple places involving the cannon bone and sesamoids, and Antley's actions probably saved his life by avoiding a more catastrophic injury.
[12] At the time of his retirement from stud in October 2016, Charismatic had sired 371 starters from 424 foals of racing age and 263 winners who had combined earnings of more than $44.5 million.
The costs of transporting the horse were covered by a fund set up by his former owners and additional donations from Tito's Handmade Vodka.
"We are ecstatic that we are able to participate in bringing horse racing stars like Charismatic back home, where they can be revered by the public and help raise awareness for the cause," said Eric Barlund, Tito's vice president of sales.
"[11] Charismatic died on the morning of February 19, 2017 at Old Friends due to severe bleeding caused by a pelvic fracture.
A film about Charismatic and Chris Antley was produced by Asylum Entertainment and directed by Steven Michaels, Joel Surnow, and Jonathan Kochas for ESPN's 30 for 30 series.