ROAD TO THE TRIPLE CROWN
JANUARY 20
by James Scully
Saturday featured four two-turn stakes for three-year-olds and last year’s
best juvenile filly, SWEET CATOMINE (Storm Cat), returned to the races with a 2
1/2-length score in Sunday’s Santa Ysabel S. (G3). Trainer Julio Canani has
reason to think about taking on males later this year. Sweet Catomine is
well-built physically, loves a route of ground and proved to be faster than her
counterparts last season.
We’ll come back to her later. Santa Anita hosted the one-mile San Rafael S.
(G2) on Saturday and SPANISH CHESTNUT (Horse Chestnut [SAf]) took top honors,
sprinting past favored KIRKENDAHL (Menifee) for the lead entering the first
turn, setting the pace on the backside, and then asserting himself at the top of
the stretch for a clear advantage before holding on in the latter stages for a
half-length score. Jockey Gary Stevens came away impressed, labeling Spanish
Chestnut a “classic colt,” but the Patrick Biancone charge may not want any part
of classic distances.
The headstrong chestnut was able to catch a breather on the backside and
might have fried himself on the lead if another horse had fought him for the
early advantage. Spanish Chestnut hasn’t shown the ability to rate, finishing
fourth at 3-5 odds when forced to stalk after an awkward start in the Lone Star
Park Juvenile, and he’s failed to earn a triple-digit BRIS Speed rating in all
five career starts. The runner-up, ICED OUT (Comic Strip), had broken his maiden
two starts previously against $32,000 claimers at Golden Gate Fields.
The one-mile LeComte S. (G3) brought together five runners Saturday at the
Fair Grounds and Overbrook’s homebred STORM SURGE (Storm Cat) wound up clearly
the best despite only a neck margin on the wire. A strong sprinter, Storm Surge
did not disappoint his many backers here, rallying from fourth entering the far
turn to reach a narrow lead on the outside entering the stretch drive. Under
steady pressure, Storm Surge was kept to task by jockey Robby Albarado while not
being seriously threatened by runner-up SMOOTH BID (Rubiano) and third-place
KANSAS CITY BOY (Boston Harbor).
However, the Dallas Stewart-trained colt received only a 93 Speed figure and
probably doesn’t want much more ground than eight furlongs.
A scrappy performance from the aptly named SCRAPPY T (Fit to Fight) resulted
in a front-running score in Saturday’s Count Fleet S. at Aqueduct. Smarty Jones
won last year’s one-mile and 70-yard event en route to capturing the Kentucky
Derby (G1), but the connections of Scrappy T probably don’t have the same
aspirations. The speed-conducive bias of Saturday’s inner track helped the
gelding withstand a good late run from runner-up NAUGHTY NEW YORKER (Quiet
American), a New York-bred trying open company for the first time.
Naughty New Yorker broke his maiden by 10 1/4 lengths two starts
previously and entered the Count Fleet off an 8 1/2-length victory in December’s Damon Runyan S. The Pat Kelly trainee earned an excellent 104 Speed figure on Saturday
and did it from a difficult outside post while rating far off a speed-favoring
oval. He’ll be tested for class in the future, but Naughty New Yorker made a
very favorable impression.
The Golden Gate Derby went to BUZZARDS BAY (Marco Bay), who battled for the
lead for a long time with DOVER DERE (Cherokee Run) before withstanding the late
rally of SHARP WRITER (Capote) for a nose decision. No other horses were a factor because only three
went to the gate. The Jeff
Mullins-conditioned winner showed a lot of heart, but there wasn’t much to run
against.
An allowance winner of note last week was HARLINGTON (Unbridled), who made
his seasonal bow with a three-length score going nine furlongs over a sloppy
Gulfstream track on Saturday. Out of champion Serena’s Song, the Todd Pletcher-trained
colt rallied from just off the pace to win going away through the stretch and
improved his career record to two-for-two. Harlington earned a solid 99 Speed
figure.
Sweet Catomine faced four overmatched rivals at Santa Anita on Sunday and
while she didn’t come home very quickly (33 seconds for final 2 1/2 furlongs), she
was never threatened and probably short on conditioning due to missing some
training with the recent harsh weather. While males will have every opportunity
to catch up over the next few months, Sweet Catomine has more bottom and is
probably better than any three-year-old in training right now. She showed that
last October at Lone Star Park, overcoming trouble to win the Juvenile Fillies
(G1) and finishing nearly three-fifths of a second faster than boys in the
Juvenile (G1) while earning a mammoth 106 Speed rating.
She’ll need to keep improving, but Sweet Catomine is part of the discussion
when talking about top Kentucky Derby contenders at this early stage.
There are no graded races for sophomores this coming weekend.