Winter Gale is a Hexastalian thoroughbred racehorse foaled on February 12, 2022. Sired by Tempestuous, a 5-time G1 winner and the champion of the 2018 Hexastalian Triple Crown (the first of the 2000s), and Autumn Queen, a 2-time G1 winner, Winter Gale comes with high expectations. He is the winner of the 2025 Triple Crown.
Winter Gale made his racecourse debut in a maiden race at Metropolitan Racecourse against a field of nine unraced juveniles on February 26th. Following his maiden win, he was entered into the listed grade Capital Newcomers Stakes over 2000 meters at Metropolitan Racecourse on March 15th, 2024, and won by two lengths. On April 22, Winter Gale was stepped up to compete in the Grade 3 Phoenix Stakes, placing first by a neck. He was again stepped up on September 22 to compete in the Grade 1 Junior Cup, which his sire Tempestuous had won in 2017. Winter Gale defended the family legacy by surging in the final straight and placing first by a length. His performance and undefeated two-year-old season saw him named the HLH's Best Two-Year-Old Colt.
Winter Gale made his three-year debut at the 2025 Pegasus Stakes, a G2 over 1800 meters at Káprázatos Racetrack on May 11. He repeated his performance in 2024 by beating second-favorite racer Avalonian - the winner of the 2024 Juvenile Stakes - by 3/4 of a length. In June, Winter Gale found his first loss at the 50th anniversary G3 Challenge Cup, placing second out of sixteen competitors, beaten by Flash Step. Returning to the track on August 17, Winter Gale returned to form with a dominating victory in the G1 Unicorn Stakes.
To close out his 2025 campaign, Winter Gale entered into the three races of the Hexastalian Triple Crown. At the Káprázatos Cup, Winter Gale beat out a strong field of contenders by a half-length. The Central Stakes saw Flash Step return to compete against Winter Gale, who redeemed himself with a win by a neck over Avalonian. The Hexastalian Derby saw Winter Gale add his final jewel to his crown with a win by over a length. Winter Gale’s Triple Crown achievement marks the first time a Triple Crown champion’s offspring has won the Triple Crown. It is also the first time a jockey, Miklós Kocsis, has won the Triple Crown twice.
Winter Gale’s connections have confirmed he will return to the racecourse in 2026.
Flash Step (foaled: March 25, 2022) is a Hexastalian thoroughbred racehorse, best known for an upset victory over Winter Gale in the 2025 Challenge Cup.
Flash Step is a dark bay horse with prominent white facial markings. He is notable for his small size, standing at 15.6 hands at maturity. He is a son of Flash of Genius, winner of the 2007 Autumn Stakes and 2008 Spring Cup. His dam, Step Lightly, a daughter of Lightship, won two Listed races. Flash Step’s pedigree means he is a half-second cousin of Winter Gale; they share the same great-grandfather. Flash Step was bred by Plébánia-Domb Farm and sold as a yearling at the Káprázatos Thoroughbred Sale for 40,000HD (5,926 IBU) to a local businessman, Rafael Lovász. Lovász sent his horse to train with Alexander Pusztai.
Flash Step made his racing debut on 3 March 2024 at a maiden race on the Szarvas Park racetrack. Ridden by Luka Bokros, he placed fifth out of six racers in the 1600m event. Lovász and Pusztai made the decision to replace Bokros with rookie jockey Robert Kis for Flash Step’s next race on May 18th. Flash Step performed strongly under Kis, breaking his maiden race on his second start. On August 24th, he finished third in an allowance race at Káprázatos Racetrack against Civic Virtue. He returned to victory in an undercard allowance race for the Juvenile Stakes on 15 September. Flash Step’s final race of 2024 was the December Stakes, a Listed 2000m race at Árámlat Racecourse, finishing second by a head.
Flash Step participated in his first race of 2025 and first graded race on March 16 in the Eastern Stakes, an 1800 meter race at Káprázatos Racetrack. He finished first by a head despite being fifth favorite to win out of fourteen racers. This was both his and Robert Kis’ first graded win. Flash Step then competed in the Diósgyőr Castle Stakes, a Listed 2000 meter race at the Diósgyőr Fairgrounds; he finished outside of the money in sixth place.
On June 29th, Flash Step entered the starting gate at Káprázatos Racetrack as the seventh favorite to win the 2025 Challenge Cup. Favorite to win was future Triple Crown winner Winter Gale, coming off a 5-win streak, including 3 graded races. Flash Step showed surprising speed and acceleration in the late race, passing Winter Gale and winning by 3/4 lengths. Flash Step set a record for the fastest time to run the last furlong of the Challenge Cup, doing so without Kis needing to use his whip. Kis commented, “I was just along for the ride at the end. I think he wanted to win.”
In August, Flash Step ran in the Csalogány Stakes, a Listed undercard for the Kincsem Stakes. Despite being the favorite to win, he placed fifth out of 14 racers. This was followed by a return to Káprázatos for his first G2 race: the Autumn Stakes. Running against 2025 Soma Gold Cup runner up Cicero Viridis, Flash Step once again failed to replicate his earlier success against a G1-level horse, finishing second by a half-length.
Flash Step was once again stepped up in grade to race in the G1 Central Stakes in November. Starting as eighth favorite, Flash Step would once again face Winter Gale on the racecourse. Following a strong start, Flash Step settled into a position near the rear of the pack along the fence. At the fourth corner, Flash Step’s strong late race performance once again shined, as Kis rode him from tenth place to a third place finish in Flash Step’s first G1 race.
Flash Step is presently at pasture for the winter and will return to racing in Spring 2026