THOROUGHBRED BEAT
SEPTEMBER 3, 2009
by James Scully
Top Bird: SUMMER BIRD (Birdstone) moved to the top of the
three-year-old male division with a convincing victory in Saturday’s $1 million
Travers S. (G1). After being a confirmed closer in his first four career starts,
the colt showed early speed in the Haskell Invitational (G1) and tired from his
efforts, narrowly out-finishing the sprinter Munnings (Speightstown) for second
in deep stretch. Most people expected him to revert to rating tactics in the
Travers, but that wasn’t the case.
He was surprisingly close to the lead along the Travers backstretch,
poised to strike at any moment on the outside beneath Kent Desormeaux, but
Kensei (Mr. Greeley) got the jump on Summer Bird entering the far turn, hitting
the front with a quick turn of foot. Desormeaux waited patiently and when he
gave Summer Bird his cue approaching the stretch, the race was over. The Belmont
S. (G1) winner went right past Kensei and opened up by a couple of lengths
at the head of the lane, rolling home to a 3 1/2-length decision. HOLD ME BACK
(Giant’s Causeway) offered a solid run from last to grab second as third-placer
QUALITY ROAD (Elusive Quality) spun his wheels down on the inside, and the rest
of the field was well-beaten.
Give Summer Bird plenty of credit. He didn’t begin his racing career until
March, rallying from last in an 11-horse field to finish fourth in a maiden
special weight event at Oaklawn Park, and the Tim Ice trainee made up a ton of
ground late for third-place honors in the Arkansas Derby (G1) in his first start
against winners. The Jayaraman homebred registered
century-topping BRIS Late Pace ratings in his first three starts while
displaying the characteristics of a one-run closer.
The fact that he’s showing much-improved tactical speed, while finishing up
strongly over 1 1/4 miles in the Travers, suggests that the best is yet to come
for Summer Bird. I remember Ghostzapper being a late runner throughout his
sophomore season, offering sensational rallies from far off the pace in the
Vosburgh S. (G1) and King’s Bishop S. (G1), but his running style had changed drastically by the end of his four-year-old campaign,
when he rumbled to a wire-to-wire victory in the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1). The 2004 Horse of the Year
could win any way he wanted.
Summer Bird is potentially headed in the same direction. His BRIS Speed
ratings are seriously improving, with numbers of 108-109-105 in his last
three starts, and the season isn’t over yet for the late-blooming chestnut. But
I think Summer Bird will be even more ferocious in 2010.
Flattering: RACHEL ALEXANDRA (Medaglia d’Oro) crushed Summer Bird in
the Haskell, winning easily by six lengths, and she’s clearly the best dirt horse in training. Summer Bird and Quality Road have the potential to
make up ground in the future, but they’re not close to her presently.
Quality effort: Too much was being asked from Quality Road in the
Travers. The lightly raced colt had started only once since March, running
extremely fast in a 6 1/2-furlong Grade 2 sprint on August 3, and wasn’t fit enough to
show his best over 10 furlongs 26 days later. You won’t see four-time Eclipse
Award-winning conditioner Todd Pletcher throw his best horses into an impossible
situation too often.
The massive bay colt was fractious before the start, tossing John Velazquez
as he balked at entering the gate, and was caught in tight quarters down on the
rail behind the early pacesetter, enduring an undesirable trip most of the way.
I don’t think Quality Road ever had dirt kicked in his face during a race, and
he was sucking up the mud during the opening furlongs of the Travers.
Quality Road still managed to net a respectable 102 BRIS Speed figure,
holding third by a 2 1/2-length margin, and he’ll move forward significantly off
the Travers if he remains healthy.
Rarity: Much has been made of Rachel Alexandra’s historic bid in
Saturday’s Woodward S. (G1) because it’s such a rare occurrence. The notion of a
three-year-old filly even contesting the Woodward was far-fetched before
she came along.
Rachel Alexandra will be in the vicinity of 1-5 on Saturday against a
less-than-imposing cast of seven elder male rivals who are in serious trouble.
Nobody will be surprised to see her embarrass the field.
Surfside recorded an amazing feat when defeating males in the 2000 Clark H.
(G2), a victory that garnered her the three-year-old filly Eclipse Award over
2000 Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1) heroine Spain, but that race came after the
Breeders’ Cup Classic when many top older horses are either resting or retired.
We must go back 54 years to find Misty Morn, the last three-year-old filly
champion to win a premiere dirt route over elder males. Queen of the lucrative
Gallant Fox H. at Jamaica in 1955, Misty Morn was fortunate that Nashua and High
Gun weren’t in the field, but she still defeated a solid group at 10-1 odds.
Rachel Alexandra figures to get it done at extremely short odds on Saturday, and it may be another
50+ years before another three-year-old filly emulates her stardom.
Cold rider: Want a concern for Rachel Alexandra fans on Saturday?
Jockey Calvin Borel has ice-cycles hanging from his cap at Saratoga.
He entered Wednesday’s card a putrid one-for-36, with the lone victory coming
in a surprising manner aboard a Dallas Stewart-trained firster, and Borel’s
current form is a far cry from the way he was riding at Churchill Downs earlier
this year, when he missed the jockey title by one win (62-61) to Julien
Leparoux, who by comparison has won 26 races at Saratoga this meet. The Spa has
not been kind to Borel.
Iconic splash: ICON PROJECT (Empire Maker) recorded her first Grade 1
tally with a 13-length trouncing in Sunday’s Personal Ensign S. (G1), drawing
off spectacularly in the stretch of the 1 1/4-mile contest, and it was the
second straight week we’ve witnessed such a breakthrough at Saratoga.
The four-year-old filly followed in the hoofsteps of Careless Jewel (Tapit),
who established her lofty presence in the three-year-old filly division
(excluding Rachel Alexandra) with a 11-length romp in the August 22 Alabama S.
(G1), and Icon Project is in a similar position going forward. Imported from
Europe following her 2008 season, she made her first three starts this year on
the turf for Marty Wolfson, and her first dirt attempt didn’t come until the
off-the-turf New York S. (G3) on June 20, which she won by 13 1/4 lengths. After
a good second in the July 19 Delaware H. (G2), Icon Project dusted her seven
rivals in the Personal Ensign, registering her third straight triple-digit BRIS
Speed rating (104).
Her future now looks bright on dirt.
Vineyard kudos: VINEYARD HAVEN (Lido Palace [Chi]) is back on track.
The top-class miler wound up being disqualified to second in Saturday’s King’s
Bishop S. (G1), but it was still a terrific effort off the shelf.
After selling for a reported $12 million to Godolphin last fall, the gray
colt with a funny way of moving disappeared into oblivion. His winter didn’t go
smoothly in Dubai, finishing a well-beaten fourth in his lone start in early
February, and there was no telling whether he could ever run back to the superb
form of his juvenile season, when he posted authoritative scores in the
Champagne (G1) and Hopeful (G1). He returned to the states this spring, but
didn’t post his first workout until breezing three furlongs at Belmont on July
7. After training well at Saratoga in advance of the seven-furlong King’s
Bishop, Vineyard Haven performed gallantly against a razor-sharp Capt. Candyman
Can (Candy Ride [Arg]), out-finishing his rival by a head, but he bore out in
the stretch. The Florida-bred earned a career-best 107 BRIS Speed rating.
He doesn’t want any part of two turns, but Vineyard Haven can
continue to shine in races up to a mile.