The Kentucky Derby is almost here! . . . Okay, that's a stretch. It's only January. I'll have to wait until February before I can say that it is almost here. :-)
Getting serious, there were several fascinating races run last weekend, with the grade III Santa Ysabel Stakes being most important due to its graded status. However, the race that may end up having the most influence on the Triple Crown was an allowance race last Friday at Gulfstream Park. But before I get to it, I must recap the feature race from last week, the aforementioned Santa Ysabel.
FEATURE RACE RECAP ---- The Santa Ysabel Stakes (gr. III)
The field for this graded stakes race was short to begin with, as only five fillies had entered. It became even shorter when two of them scratched, leaving only three runners in the race.
The heavy favorite, at 1-20, was May Day Rose. She was coming off of a good fourth behind Turbulent Descent in the Hollywood Starlet Stakes and was making a drop in class. Although she did not win like a 1-20 shot should, she still coasted home in a fairly easy performance.
Scarlet Starlet, the longshot at nearly 25-1, broke fastest but May Day Rose was quickly sent to the lead by Rafael Bejarano. Scarlet Starlet was content to sit back in second, a length in front of Bluegrass Chatter.
They continued in this order for much of the remainder of the race. Through fractions of :23 2/5, :47 2/5, and 1:11 2/5 the only thing that changed was the distance between the three horses. With five-sixteenths of a mile to run, May Day Rose held a half-length advantage over Scarlet Starlet. Bluegrass Chatter was another 1 1/2 lengths behind her.
May Day Rose then accelerated away from Scarlet Starlet and drew off to a 2 1/2 length lead at the eighth pole. She appeared to be on her way to an easy victory, but Bluegrass Chatter was beginning to rally. Although the latter closed fairly well, she never threatened May Day Rose, who hung on for a 1 1/4 length victory. Scarlet Starlet finished third, beaten just a neck for second and a 1 1/4 lengths for everything.
So the results were. . .
1 May Day Rose
2 Bluegrass Chatter
3 Scarlet Starlet
. . . and here were my picks.
1 May Day Rose
2 Bluegrass Chatter
3 Plum Pretty (scratched)
4 Zazu (scratched)
5 Scarlet Starlet
Therefore, I managed to pick the exact order of finish. Of course, just about everybody else did too, but still. . .
OTHER RACE RECAPS
As I mentioned above, there was an allowance race at Gulfstream Park on Friday that may yield a serious Triple Crown contender or two.
The race was one-mile in distance over the main track. A field of nine was entered, with Shadow Warrior the mild favorite at 2.10-1. El Grayling was also well liked at 2.70-1 and Black N Beauty was respected at 2.90-1.
Fastest out of the gate was El Grayling, but he wanted no part in the lead, taking back to seventh in the early going. It ended up being Black N Beauty who set the pace despite breaking eighth. He was followed by Dr. Tom G and Hammock Beach, the fifth and sixth choices respectively. Printing Press, at 4.70-1, was biding his time in fourth while Shadow Warrior raced sixth.
The pace was quite honest, with Black N Beauty playing a game of catch-me-if-you-can while carving fractions of :24 1/5 and :46 4/5. Under Kent Desormeaux, he continued to lead the way by a length until the quarter pole. Having run three quarters of a mile in 1:12 flat, it would have been no surprise to see him fade. After all, Printing Press, Shadow Warrior, and El Grayling were all lined up behind him making their bids and it would be very difficult to stem them off.
However, it is obvious that Black N Beauty is a nice horse, for not only did he stem off all of their runs but actually drew away throughout the stretch. He hit the wire 2 1/2 lengths in front of Printing Press, who finished a decisive 2 3/4 lengths clear of Shadow Warrior. A neck behind the latter was El Grayling, who just missed third by a neck. No other runner was within six lengths of the leading quartet.
Understandably, Black N Beauty did finish the race rather slowly, completing his last quarter mile in :25.46 and his last half-mile in :50.57. However, his :46 4/5 opening half mile was very good indeed. The performance likely earned him a spot in the Fountain of Youth Stakes next month, where we will likely learn just how talented he is.
The final race that must be mentioned is the Spectacular Bid Stakes, which was run on Saturday at Gulfstream Park. A six-furlong main track event, it drew eight runners with the favorite being Gangsterontherun. Leave of Absence and Cane Garden Bay were also well bet. However, none of them would win.
Cane Garden Bay broke fastest, but it was Gangsterontherun who raced away to take the early lead. He rattled off a testing :21 3/5 opening quarter mile while clearing the field by over a length. His closest pursuer was Determinato, a 14-1 shot. Cane Garden Bay and Leave of Absence were racing in fifth and sixth respectively.
Gangsteronthrun continued to lead the way through a half-mile in :44 3/5. However, he was then tackled by Determinato, who wrestled the lead away from the formed passing the eighth pole. Leave of Absence and Cane Garden Bay were rallying, but they both appeared to be soundly beaten.
Inside the eighth pole Gangsterontherun gave way, leaving Determinato on the lead. Leave of Absence charged relentlessly in the stretch, but fell 1 1/4 lengths short. Leave of Absence managed to rally for third, just nosing out Gangsterontherun for that spot. War For Gus, a 19-1 shot, finished fifth after staying fairly close to the pace.
Next Saturday the first really important Triple Crown prep race will be run, as Tapizar and Anthony's Cross take on each other in the Sham Stakes (gr. III). There will be several other strong prep races as well, including the grade II Santa Ynez Stakes for fillies and the Pasco Stakes for colts at Tampa Bay Downs. It's going to be the best weekend of 2011 so far!
-Keelerman
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