Here are my recaps of last week's major racing action along the Triple Crown trail, including my thoughts on the impressive victories turned in by Thunder Moccasin, Bodemeister, and Fed Biz. Enjoy!
Stakes Recaps
Hutcheson Stakes (gr. II)
Thoughts: The scratch of Ever So Lucky caused this race to lose much of it's luster, but that shouldn't detract from the dominating victory turned in by Thunder Moccasin.
I loved the way he tracked the leader before making his bid to take over the lead and kicking on to win decisively. As for runner-up Il Villano, he's clearly got some early speed, but may be just a bit below graded stakes caliber at this time.
Martha Washington Stakes
Thoughts: The question going into this race was whether or not the undefeated Now I Know would be able to handle early pressure and still hang on for victory going a mile. We will never know for certain. At first, it appeared as though she failed the test, for after being pressured throughout the race, she lost the lead turning for home to Amie's Dini and ended up second. But she emerged from the race with a fractured left knee, and was subsequently retired from racing. So while Amie's Dini was quite impressive in winning this race, we shall never know if Now I Know would have held her off had she not injured her knee.
Dearly Precious Stakes
Thoughts: The field was very small, but I thought that Singlet looked pretty good here. After racing wide throughout, she moved up to challenge around the turn and -- after a long stretch duel -- won in game fashion. I'm looking forward to seeing how she does when tried around two turns, which may occur in the Comely Stakes (gr. III) next month.
Sweet Envoy Stakes
I'm not sure what happened to Swag Daddy here. The heavily favored colt ran well enough to finish second, but just didn't seem to fire like he usually does. This allowed Pretension to step up and claim the victory in good fashion. The Gotham Stakes (gr. III) next month may be next for the winner. If so, we should get a good idea of just how good he is, for he will be facing Hansen in that spot.
Other Race Recaps
http://www.triplecrowncountdown.blogspot.com/2012/02/three-year-old-to-watch-bodemeister.html
Bodemeister stamped himself as a very high-quality runner with a simply stunning victory in a one-mile maiden special weight. He's very lightly raced, but he strikes me as a Big Brown type, one that will jump right on to the Kentucky Derby trail with a dominating stakes victory before heading to Churchill Downs as one of the favorites for the big race. Will that happen? We'll see.
http://www.triplecrowncountdown.blogspot.com/2012/02/three-year-old-to-watch-majestic-number.html
I was highly impressed by Majestic Number, who got off to a brilliant start and held off all challengers in a game effort that gave the impression of bigger things to come. Fort Boonesborough and Arkansas Joe also struck me as colts to watch.
http://www.triplecrowncountdown.blogspot.com/2012/02/spring-hill-farm-wins-gulfstream.html
This colts looks to be stakes-bounds after another impressive victory at Gulfstream Park. Trained by Todd Pletcher, Spring Hill Farm took the race in wire-to-wire fashion to win by about a length and half. It is worth noting, however, that the good older males in the Donn Handicap (gr. I) later on the card ran the mile fraction in 1:36.12, more than three seconds faster than Spring Hill Farm's final time. Obviously, the track could have gotten faster later on the card as it dried out, and it's difficult to compare a lightly-raced three-year-old with proven, high-caliber older horses, but it's worth mentioning nevertheless.
http://www.triplecrowncountdown.blogspot.com/2012/02/fed-biz-wins-santa-anita-allowance-race.html
One can debate all day as to who was more impressive, Bodemeister or his stablemate Fed Biz two days earlier. After dueling earlier with the highly-regarded Consulado, Fed Biz put him away fairly easily in the stretch and drew off to a convincing win in the one-mile allowance race. I'm hoping that his next start will be in stakes company, for he needs to pick up some graded earnings if he is to have any chance at getting to the Kentucky Derby.
http://www.triplecrowncountdown.blogspot.com/2012/02/three-year-old-to-watch-maan.html
If you like horses that will go through a tiny hole along the rail, then you might want to keep your eye on Maan. The Eddie Kenneally-trainee looked great in scoring a neck victory over a sloppy track, nailing a good horse in Blings Express right at the finish. Whether or not he will be as effective in longer races remains to be soon, but I have the feeling that this colt could be something special.
Another great performance was turned in last week by Street Life, a son of Street Sense who broke his maiden in highly impressive fashion at Aqueduct going a mile and seventy yards. The final time of 1:45.20 was very slow, but it was the way Street Life won that caught my eye. Last early on, he moved up around the far turn and launched a dramatic bid that carried him to from 4 1/2 lengths behind at the eighth pole to 2 1/2 lengths in front at the finish -- despite altering course twice. This is a colt to watch.
There are also a couple of fillies to keep an eye on in the future. Out at Santa Anita, Bob Baffert's promising filly Princess Arabella brought her record to a perfect 2-for-2 with an overwhelmingly easy victory in a seven-furlong allowance race. She looks bound for a stakes race to me, with the Las Virgenes Stakes (gr. I) in March looming as a possible goal.
At Gulfstream Park, Golden Ticket caught my eye in an off-the-turf maiden special weight, making a three-wide bid around the far turn to secure a two length victory in the one-mile and a sixteenth event. What was especially intriguing about her peformance was that her one-mile fraction was 1:38.22, which was 1.25 seconds faster that Spring Hill Farm's final time two races earlier.
Also at Gulfstream, the promising colt Good Morning Diva, who broke her maiden going seven furlongs on the main track one race prior to Spring Hill Farm's allowance victory. Once again, a glance at the final time reveals an interesting story. After sitting fifth in the early stages, Good Morning Diva moved up to take over the lead in the stretch before coasting to a 3 1/4 length victory in 1:24.65, which compares very favorably with Thunder Moccasin's final time of 1:24.16 in the Hutcheson Stakes (gr. II) later on the card.
The February 8th card at Gulfstream also turned out an interesting young horse in Heavy Breathing. The son of Giant's Causeway was sent off as the favorite in the 7 1/2 furlong event, which was rained on to the main track. Ridden by Javier Castellano, he drew settled just off of the early pace before bursting away in the stretch to win by 7 3/4 lengths.
The final race I shall mention was run at Santa Anita Park on February 10th. The gate-to-wire winner of the one-mile turf maiden special weight was Teraad, who won by 2 1/4 lengths while running his final two eighths in :11.72 and :11.60. Trained by Jeff Bonde, I see stakes races in this colt's future.
-Keelerman
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