By Will Humphrey ©
The action at Pimlico quite rightly stole the limelight this past weekend, although there were plenty of taking performances all over America. Here are four horses who will be worth putting in your preferred tracker and following for the future…
Friday, BAQ Race 8: TURF KING (1st)
Two of the carded turf races at BAQ on Friday were moved to the main track, although the eighth race remained on the good listed course, and it delivered a very taking performance.
Sent off at odds of 5/1, Chad Brown’s TURF KING received a ride from Trevor McCarthy that every young jockey should watch. Ride the rail in mid pack and pounce when the time is right – textbook.
The son of Kingman made a good impression early on last year, winning his first two starts, including a defeat of a more experienced MORE THAN LOOKS, at last year’s Keeneland Spring Meet. He then went onto finish 3rd in the Jersey Derby Stakes behind BOPPY O and TALK OF THE NATION, before ending the year with a win in a weak renewal of the Marine Stakes (G3) on the synthetic at Woodbine.
He wasn’t seen for the rest of 2023 and then, was arguably disappointing when he finished 8th of 9 in his 2024 debut the Canadian Turf (G3) at Gulfstream.
However, that run came off a 245-day layoff, and on Friday, he simply looked a different animal, drawing away from six individual stakes winner, including BIG EVEREST and GRAND SONATA, to win by a comfortable 1 3/4 length. His Beyer Speed figure jumped from an 88 to a 98, meaning that his last five figs read 78, 87, 85, 88, 98. For comparison, NATION’S PRIDE’s last Beyer figure was 99, INTEGRATION’s career high is 100 and Grade 1 winner GOLD PHOENIX’s recent win in the Grade 2 Charles Whittingham Stakes, also earned him a Beyer of 98.
There seemed to be no fluke about this performance and it’s worth noting his pedigree as well, because he comes from a talented turf family who improved with age. His dam, SWEET ACCLAIM, broke her maiden on debut in England but took five starts in America before she notched her second career success, prior to eventually winning her first stake at the age of 5. Dig a little deeper into TURF KING’s pedigree, and you will discover that his third dam, GOLD SPLASH, was a two-time Group 1 winner in Europe, including a win in the 1993 Coronation Stakes (G1) at Royal Ascot.
I loved what I saw of TURF KING on Friday and love the progression he’s making. I expect we will see him back in Graded Stakes company next against more accomplished performers. Coming out of an allowance race, he could be a biggish price, but I was impressed enough with TURF KING’s performance that I believe he could be a serious threat in major graded turf stakes this year and certainly wouldn’t rule him out.
Friday, Santa Anita Race 5: JANE AUSTEN (1st)
Just over two hours before GUN SONG took the feature race on Friday at Pimlico, another 3yo filly made quite an impression on the other side of the country, as JANE AUSTEN extended her record to two-for-two at Santa Anita.
Only four runners lined up for race five, an OC 150K/N1X over one mile, and favoritism went to the $800k, Bob Baffert trained, IN THEORY. However, the Mark Glatt trained daughter of TAPIT got the victory in impressive style.
Breaking from post position 2, Antonio Fresu guided JANE AUSTEN into a stalking position to the outside of the favorite, who was hustled hard from the gate to get across and lead by Umberto Rispoli. JANE AUSTEN relaxed and travelled very professionally down the back stretch and despite IN THEORY briefly looking to have gotten first jump on her around the bend, she showed a determined attitude to cling to her on the outside. The two engaged in a stretch duel, which saw Baffert’s runner drift out inside the final sixteenth, bumping JANE AUSTEN and causing her to lose her back end. However, she was unfazed by the contact and inched away to win by a 1/2 length.
I thought that it was a striking performance for a number of reasons. First of all, it was her first time going two turns; secondly, she was the least experienced runner in the field, having had only one prior start; and thirdly, she was very professional in the way she handled the contact in deep stretch, when a lot of inexperienced fillies would have lost momentum and/or confidence.
On debut, she ran a Beyer speed figure of 80 when winning a 7f MSW and she improved that to an 88 on Friday, which was exactly the same figure as GUN SONG achieved in winning the Black-Eyed Susan (G3), later in the day.
JANE AUSTEN’s dam, SHAYJOLIE was a stakes winning half sister to MYTHICAL POWER, who himself was a two-time Grade 3 winner and finished 2nd to QUALITY ROAD in the 2010 Woodward Stakes (G1), so she is bred to be talented as well.
I expect that we will see her in a stake next time, and from what I saw on Friday, I think that she could be top quality.
Saturday, BAQ Race 11: JUSTDENY (3rd)
The weather had dried up in New York on Saturday, providing fast and firm conditions. The highlight of the day was LEAVE NO TRACE’s victory in the Vagrancy Stakes (G3), however the horse that caught my eye was JUSTDENY in the night cap.
All four winners on the turf at BAQ on Saturday were positioned within 2 lengths of the lead throughout and closers were struggling to get involved. Therefore, despite being turned over as the 7/5 favorite, I was impressed with the ground that Danny Gargan’s trainee made up, having raced well off the pace before making a five-wide move on the home bend, at a time when the top two finishers had already snuck away up top. She proceeded to close strongly down the centre under Kendrick Carmouche, eventually finishing a 2 lengths 3rd behind a pair of Chad Brown trained fillies.
I would be inclined to forgive both of JUSTDENY’s starts in 2024, as she caught a tough field on good turf at Keeneland when running off a 161-day break last time, and on Saturday, again bumped into two decent horses while racing against the flow of the track.
Last year, she finished only 1 3/4 lengths 2nd to future Jimmy Durante Stakes (G3) runner up, LADY DE BERRY and overall, her 2023 form was more than respectable.
Her pedigree is equally strong, as her second dam is Aidan O’Brien’s Grade 3 runner up, NELL GWYN and her third dam, OFFSHORE BOOM was a half sister to seven-time Group 1 winner, ROCK OF GIBRALTAR.
Having now twice been beaten at skinny enough odds, I expect that we will get a respectable price on her next time, but I can’t see her staying a maiden for much longer.
Saturday, Pimlico Race 6: MR SKYLIGHT (3rd)
Something that stood out to me on Saturday at Pimlico was how well speed was playing. Four of the nine dirt races were won by horses who went gate to wire and seven winners were positioned within four lengths of the lead throughout. Therefore, I was taken by the performance of MR SKYLIGHT in the Chick Lang Stakes (G3).
Drawn in gate 1, Riley Mott’s trainee broke slowly and then ducked towards the gap onto the main track, causing him to fall 12 lengths off the pace after the first 1/4 mile and receive a huge amount of slop to the face. Nevertheless, Prat kept him down on the rail and he made up 9 lengths on the gate to wire winner, FROST FREE, to finish a fast-closing 3rd. It’s dangerous to start saying that he would have won if he had broken, or that he was the best horse in the race, as these things are only speculative, however it was a very eye-catching performance.
In MR SKYLIGHT’s previous races, he had never experienced true kickback, having been forwardly placed on debut, taken wide on his second start and then, he went gate to wire last time out. I often give extra credit to young horses who are able to perform under new circumstances such as what he experienced on Saturday.
His prior form from Gulfstream was strong too. He finished 2nd to BEELINE on debut, who won a stake next time out and beat a talented field at Keeneland last time. His Beyer speed figure pattern now reads 82, 83, 86, 86 and I strongly suspect that he will get the money in a stake before long.
I hope that you all had an enjoyable and successful weekend of wagering and remember to subscribe to ITM Plus for more!
