Keeneland’s April All-Stars: Rising Inflation A Louisiana-Bred Score For Slam Dunk Racing
Former jockey agent Nick Cosato bought Louisiana-born Rising Inflation for $45,000, and a change in scenery made her a multiple stakes winner
By Joe Nevills
Anyone who says you can’t go home again hasn’t done enough to educate themselves in the virtues of state-bred programs in Thoroughbred racing.
If they did, they’d realize the degree of the coup that Slam Dunk Racing’s Nick Cosato achieved in securing the Louisiana-bred Rising Inflation for $45,000 at last year’s Keeneland April Horses of Racing Age Sale. In the year since the fall of the hammer, the daughter of Mitole has transitioned from a horse seeking direction in the Northeast to a multiple stakes winner in her home state.
Bred in the Pelican State by Jay Adcock and Hume Wornall, Rising Inflation initially raced for Klaravich Stables and trainer Chad Brown, breaking her maiden in her third career start in June of her 3-year-old season after previous tries at shorter distances and different surfaces proved unsuccessful. She spent several months on the bench after her win, and she reemerged at Aqueduct in the early months of 2025 with a pair of out-of-the-money efforts.