Three Chimneys Farm Sensitive (Nyquist) would be the clear favorite in any maiden race at Spa, but connections continue to place bold bets on the homebred colt, who remains in the stakes category for his second career appearance in the GII Saratoga Special Stakes on Saturday.
The bay colt was bet down to 85 cents on the dollar for his June 6 debut in the Tremont Stakes on the first day of the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at that venue and he was long for most of the race before giving way late to finish second to the upset-hoping Studlydoright (Nyquist). The latter proved his form with a second-place finish in the GIII Sanford Stakes on July 13 and it would be no surprise to see Touchy knock his rivals out of the race at this point. The 5-2 favorite gets blinkers.
Just do it (Hard Spun) took some beating but was no better than a fading seventh when he reached the fence at Churchill’s Unveiling on June 6, but on June 27 he showed much faster starting speed from an outside lane and edged his field by four lengths, good for a competitive ’79 Beyer. He has the nine-hole on Saturday.
“I think that’s a good spot. He’s a good horse,” trainer Dale Romans said of Keeneland’s $435,000 September purchase, who competes for St. Elias, West Point and CJ Thoroughbreds. “Physically, he’s a big, strong, beautiful horse. He was a beautiful horse at the yearling sale when we bought him. He’s just getting better and better. He’s a good workhorse and an all-around good horse.”
Godolphins First way out (Uncle Mo), a son of GI La Brea Stakes heroine Fair Maiden (Street Boss), started on the muddy main track at Ellis on July 5 and held the pace before breaking away and scoring at daybreak. The in-form Flavien Prat takes the helm.
When Kevin Rice scores a goal, it’s often foolish to underestimate his chances. Good directions (Liam’s Map) was visually impressive when winning by 3 1/4 lengths in the Presque Isle Tapeta on July 8, returning after a two-week break. He let the start slip before finishing well in the Ellis Allowance Company to take second. In a race with plenty of early speed, he can make up ground on them later.
Baffert “Rising Star” duo battle in Sorrento
Trainer Bob Baffert is the most successful trainer in the history of the GIII Sorrento Stakes with seven wins, but Pretty N Cool (Scat Daddy) brought him his most recent success in 2015. This somewhat surprising dry spell seems almost certain to end when the trainer saddles the two best candidates – one each “TDN-Rising Star”– in the six furlong competition on Saturday.
Nooni (Win Win Win) was the 1-5 favorite for her June 13 performance at Santa Anita after earning $1.8 million at this year’s OBS March Sale run by Donato Lanni on behalf of owner Amr Zedan. And it turned out to be the easiest 20% return on investment imaginable, galloping to a 9 1/2 length lead without ever breaking second gear.
Juan Hernandez chooses Nooni Casalu (Caracaro) to her on the outside in gate two. The brown filly, born in May, cost the Three Amigos – Watson, Weitman and Pegram – a whopping $775,000 at OBS in April and justified her purchase price with a 5 1/2 length ‘Rising Star’-worthy debut success here on July 21, in which she achieved a Beyer Speed Figure of 73, just five points below that of her stablemate.
While the two Bafferts are likely to dominate the market, all three other market participants have numbers that could still be achieved with a slight improvement. Night beacon (Spun to Run) received a 76 Beyer when he won by 2 3/4 lengths under Emily Ellingwood at Santa Anita on May 10, while Vodka with a twist (Thousand Words) looks to extend his three-length lead in the Debutante Stakes on June 30 at Churchill Downs (76 Beyer). White sand (Into Mischief) is entered for the GIII Best Pal Stakes on Sunday but already has one win against the boys under her belt, a 13 3/4-length win in the Prairie Gold Juvenile Stakes on July 6.
Cogburn has a field in Troy over a barrel
At the time of writing, it is still being seen whether the GII Troy Stakes will take place on Saturday at the Mellon Turf Course, and if so, they will all be battling for second place when the Cogburn (Not this time) has been popping up lately.
The 5-year-old earned his first victory in a revival of this race on soft turf 12 months ago and followed that record-breaking performance on June 8 in the GI Jaipur Stakes, running the 5 1/2 furlongs in :59.80. Even if the race is moved to the main track, he will still be beatable, having posted a record of 3-2-0 in eight starts on dirt before his metamorphosis.
In the other Graded Events of the day, three-time Grade I winner Anisette (GB) (Awtaad {Ire}) will be a challenge in the GII Yellow Ribbon Stakes at Del Mar, and with Horse of the Year Moira (Ghostzapper) heading to Sunday’s GII Beverly D. Stakes at Colonial and MGSW/MGISP Mission of Joy (Kitten’s Joy) has registered for the same event, the GII Canadian Stakes could feature a mare like Forever after all this (Connect) a golden opportunity for a first career win at this grade level, in addition to a Grade I placing behind Anisette in the Gamely Stakes last May.
