This is the third installment in what will be an ongoing series, presented by Hagyard, in which we catch up with the connections behind TDN Rising Stars. We'll go beyond the flashy performances to uncover the decisions that helped shape these future stars.Sometimes, you can just tell. When Jaded (Olympiad), the latest “TDN Rising Star, Presented by Hagyard” was growing up at Gainesway, the farm's general manager and managing partner of sales operations Brian Graves, thought the young colt, who would later be named Jaded, had a bright future. He was doing everything right and was a half-brother to the 2018 2-year-old champion Jaywalk (Cross Traffic).“He was a beautiful horse,” Graves said. “He was a big, strong, colt. He was mature and with a lot of leg. Jaded was a big, strong beast of a horse.”Graves's initial impressions of Jaded proved to be right when the colt was an impressive winner on debut, coming from far back to win an Aug. 31 maiden event at Kentucky Downs for the team of Mark Casse and D.J. Stable to earn Rising Star honors. D.J. Stable also campaigned Jaywalk.“I can't say that I bet on him,” Graves said. “If I'm going to reflect on anything, I wish I had bet a hundred to win because what were his odds? He went off at 23-1. The results speak for themselves. He ran a great race in his first start.”The win reflected well not only on Jaded, but on his sire, Olympiad (Speightstown). Jaded became the eighth winner from the first crop of Gainesway's sire.“We're tickled with Olympiad,” Graves said. “He's really heating up. We've heard from many trainers who tell us that they have a good one. What strikes me is that he's doing so well so early. He's a son of Speightstown. Generally speaking, those horses come on late in their two-year-old year to their three-year-old and, honestly, into their four-year-old year. So for him to be showing this much promise early, I think that is a very good sign because we think his best is yet to come as they mature.”Jaded's dam, Lady Pewitt is by champion sprinter Orientate, who stood at Gainesway until passing away on Aug. 17, just two weeks before Jaded's debut.“Orientate was a very, very, fast and gutsy horse,” Graves said. “He always laid it all on the line and it can only be a strength to the gene pool. This was a sentimental thing. It was a reminder of how good Orientate was and how much he meant to the farm.”Jaded first appeared in the ring at the 2024 Keeneland November Sale where he was bought by Mandy Pope's Whisper Hill Farm for $325,000. Pope turned around and placed him in the 2025 sale, where he was bought by D.J.'s father-son team of Len and Jon Green for $250,000.“After the November sale, we took him back to the farm and he developed really nicely,” Graves said. “Keeneland liked him and I believe we had him in Book 1 of the Keeneland September sale where Mandy decided to sell him and the Greens bought him.”Jon Green, D.J. Stable's general manger, reports that the horse was named after his favorite song by the band Aerosmith,Gainesway will be selling a full-brother to Jaded at the upcoming Keeneland September sale.“This one is different than Jaded.” Graves said. “This horse is a medium-sized horse. He is a dark bay with impeccable lines. This horse is a more refined horse, and honestly, they are totally different. This yearling, I would say with 80% certainty, is going to be a dirt horse.”“We'll look at the full-brother,” Green said. “But full siblings can be very different. He will have to pass all our inspections, our grades and our scrutiny.”Green said that Jaded will make his next start at Keeneland in either the Oct. 3 GI Breeders' Futurity or the next day in the GII Bourbon Stakes. Should they choose the Futurity, that would mean that Jaded will have to prove that he can also run on the dirt.“He has shown enough on the dirt that we believe he could have a future as a two-turn dirt horse,” Green said.Whether it's on the turf or on the dirt, the Greens hope for a stakes win with the colt's name on it in the not so distant future.Since our last installment, 11 other horses have earned 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard' honors. Saratoga has led the way with five: Q B Rocket (Gun Runner), American History (Constitution), Forever Carina (Gun Runner), Brickyard Belle (Yaupon) and Club Reign (Core Beliefs). The Curragh has produced Monogram (GB) (Kingman {GB}) and Darkness Falls (Ire) (Camelot {GB}), while Inshallah (Flightline) earned the distinction at Del Mar, Allela (Ire) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}) at Deauville, Timeless Tale (Ire) (Sioux Nation) at Naas, and Curracloe (Baaeed {GB}) at Gowran Park.The post Jaded: The Making of a ‘TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard’ appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.