Fort Washington, MD — Early in his career, it was apparent Fantastic Voyage had some significant ability. As a 2- and 3-year-old, he was always in contention in all legs of the Maryland Sires Stakes program. Even at 4, he won the Maryland Sires Stakes pace for 4- and 5-year-olds.

On Thursday night (April 13) at Rosecroft, Fantastic Voyage won the $14,000 Preferred for a second straight week.

So where does the talent come from? His sire, Cool Flying Fun, a multiple stakes winner in Maryland and Virginia, was by Bonnie and Clyde, who was sired by the fast Dragon’s Lair, whose dad was Tyler B. Bonnie and Clyde’s mom, Lady Niatrose, was by Niatross. That’s a star studded harness racing breeding background.

If that wasn’t enough, Cool Flying Fun’s dam, Cool Flying Filly, was a Florida stakes winner, and the third dam on her side, Calba, foaled Pilgrim’s Fiery, who won 106 races lifetime. The latter won over half of those races while based in Cordova, Md., where Shaun Callahan, Fantastic Voyage’s trainer grew up in the same town as the Milbys, who campaigned Pilgrims Fiery for several seasons.

Cool Flying Fun had his best year at age 6, winning 10 times in 42 starts and finishing in the top three 20 times.

Fantastic Voyage has started his 6-year-old season in fine fashion, winning four times in 12 starts, and finishing in the top three seven times. Thursday night’s win, with Jared Moyer driving, was his lifetime best in 1:50.1. In his last eight starts, he’s missed only one check, and has come home no slower than :28.3. After pulling a 21-1 upset pouncing from the pocket last week, Moyer — this time as the 7-2 third choice — placed Fantastic Voyage perfectly second-over and he blasted off the banked final turn for a :27.3 kicker to get home first again.

So what happened to all that early speed he had as a kid?

“We figured out he was getting so hot that you couldn’t control him. Drivers were getting to the three-quarter mark in 1:21 and saying that was as slow as they could get him to go,” Callahan said.

Last year, an early leg issue limited him to 24 starts, with Fantastic Voyage winning in 1:51.1 at Rosecroft and finishing in the top three 14 times. The groundwork seemingly for 2023’s good start was being laid after he came back strong in the latter half of 2022.

“I took my time bringing him back,” Callahan said. “He had a leg issue and I gave him six months and we just took our time with him, but he really came back well and raced big after coming back.”

Moyer has been a constant presence aboard Fantastic Voyage this year, and Callahan gave him a lot of credit for how he has handled the 6-year-old stallion who pushed his lifetime bankroll over $152,000 with his 20th lifetime win in 82 starts. He has been in the top three in 44 of those.

“Jared has done really well with him — keeps him calm and has been putting him in really good spots to give him a chance,” Callahan said.

Dawn Amiss bred and owns Fantastic Voyage, and at the suggestion of her son Zach, she bred her mare Ashante Macho to Callahan’s sire, who was standing at his Dad Nick’s farm. Foaling him at age 21, Ashante Macho’s last foal is maturing into a star in the Mid-Atlantic harness ranks. She passed away less than a year after Fantastic Voyage was born.

“We weren’t going to pay to have her bred anywhere and Zach suggested we do it, and we did. So he deserves a lot of the credit for the idea or he wouldn’t be here,” Callahan said.