Weekend Stakes Thoughts

It’s always interesting to see how nine months can change a crop of three-year-olds.

The results of Saturday’s racing action yielded several surprises and dominating performances. To begin with, there was the $1,000,000 Pennsylvania Derby (gr. II) at Parx Racing.

When analyzing the past performances of the race, if one had merely looked at To Honor and Serve’s three-year-old season, you could not make a case for him being the favorite. After finishing a distant third in both the Fountain of Youth Stakes (gr. I) and Florida Derby (gr. I), he showed no races until August, when he ran a dismal sixth in the Amsterdam Stakes (gr. II). Sure, he had rebounded well to win an allowance race, but in the Pennsylvania Derby he would be facing the winner of the Belmont Stakes (gr. I) and the 2-3 finishers in the Travers Stakes (gr. I).

But past performances do not tell the whole story. To Honor and Serve was one of the finest two-year-olds of 2010, winning both the Nashua Stakes (gr. II) and the Remsen Stakes (gr. II). An injury early in his three-year-old season was responsible for the spring layoff, and the only reason he ran in the Amsterdam was because his trainer couldn’t find any other spots. His allowance win was a true measure of his ability, and he proved it by drawing away powerfully at the top of the stretch to win the Pennsylvania Derby in sharp fashion. He broke the stakes record, set in 1989, and stamped himself as a contender for the upcoming Breeders’ Cup Classic (gr. I).

In the Gallant Bloom Handicap (gr. II) at Belmont Park for fillies and mares, the favorite was the top older sprinter Tar Heel Mom, coming off of a runner-up effort in the Ballerina Stakes (gr. I) at Saratoga. The second choice was a three-year-old filly named Pomeroys Pistol. As it turned out, Tar Heel Mom failed to threaten while Pomeroy’s Pistol drew away impressively in the stretch to score by four lengths in what was her second graded stakes victory.

Her win was by no means a surprise. After all, she was coming off of a pair of seconds in the Test Stakes (gr. I) and Prioress Stakes (gr. I) at seven and six furlongs, respectively. The 6-1/2 furlong distance of the Gallant Bloom seemed just about perfect, and there was no questioning the fact that she was in good form. But nine months ago, she was an unknown filly competing in Gulfstream Park’s Old Hat Stakes (gr. III). Here is what I wrote about her at the time:

“The longshots are Pomeroys Pistol (10-1) and Mis Vizcaya (15-1). The former has but one win from three starts, that coming in a maiden special weight race. Her two starts since then have yielded a fifth in the Sorority Stakes and a third in an allowance race tired in the final eighth of a mile after nearly taking the lead.”

Sent off at 34-1, Pomeroys Pistol tracked the pace and held on well to finish second, beaten 1 ¾ lengths by Final Mesa. It turned out to be a harbinger of things to come, for Pomeroys Pistol has continued to improve and has now turned into one of the finest female sprinters in the country.

The last race I shall mention here was the Gallant Bob Stakes, also at Parx. The favorite in the six-furlong sprint for three-year-olds was Poseidon’s Warrior, but the eventual winner was a 19-1 shot named Royal Currier. The colt was making his tenth start of the year, and was entering off of an attempted start in the Gilded Time Stakes, where he reared at the start and was pulled off. His two performances prior to that had yielded a distant third in the Select Stakes and a dismal last-of-eight effort in the Quick Call Stakes on turf. But as a juvenile, he had made six starts, winning four and finishing second in the other two. He made his three-year-old debut in the Jimmy Winkfield Stakes, where he finished a distant second behind Fort Hughes, who won the six furlong event in 1:08.33.

In the Gallant Bob, Royal Currier bounded away from post position five to set blazing fractions of :21.59 and :43.43. Amazingly, he did not stop, cruising away to a four length lead passing the eighth pole – running five furlongs in :54.96 – before hitting the wire on top by 3 ¾ lengths in track-record time of 1:07.51. The performance may have earned himself a start in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint (gr. I) in November.


Funny how much nine months can change things.

-Keelerman