SPOTLIGHT PERFORMANCES
AUGUST 18, 2005
by James Scully
WIN MCCOOL (Giant’s Causeway) showed good speed from the start
of a Friday maiden special weight event at Saratoga and earned a 100 BRIS Speed
rating for her front-running, half-length score. Out of Grade 3 winner Win
Crafty Lady (Crafty Prospector), whose first three foals were stakes winners,
the two-year-old Win McCool counts Grade 1 winner Harmony Lodge (Hennessy) and
multiple Grade 2 victor and millionaire Graeme Hall (Dehere) as half-siblings.
Robert Barbara trains the Sabine Stable homebred.
CHILI CAT (Storm Cat) was an impressive maiden winner at
Saratoga on Sunday, taking command entering the far turn and drawing off for a 11
3/4-length tally in her second career start. Trained by Shug McGaughey, the
Phipps Stable homebred sophomore filly earned a 106 BRIS Speed rating for the 6
1/2-furlong test. Her third dam is Maplejinsky, the dam of champion and
nine-time Grade 1 queen Sky Beauty.
WARRIOR SONG (Unbridled’s Song) hails from an outstanding female
family as the son of 1991 Queen Elizabeth II Invitational Challenge Cup S. (G1)
winner La Gueriere (Lord at War [Arg]), the dam of Grade 2 winner Lasting
Approval (With Approval). The three-year-old colt tried the turf on Monday for
trainer Bill Mott at Saratoga and ran his rivals into the ground on the front
end, leading all the way for a 3 1/2-length score in a 1 1/16-mile maiden
special weight event. It was the second career start for Warrior Song, who
was purchased for $750,000 as a yearling but dismissed at nearly 9-1 on Monday.
KID CAROUSEL (Lemon Drop Kid) didn’t show much when making his
career bow earlier in the meet at Saratoga, so trainer Randy Schulhofer tried to
the turf on Sunday and the juvenile colt responded with a convincing 5
1/2-length decision in wire-to-wire fashion over maiden special weight
opponents. The chestnut is a half-brother to the three-year-old colt David
Junior (Pleasant Tap), who is a multiple stakes winner this year in England.
At Del Mar on Sunday, WILD FIT (Wild Wonder) made her career bow
for trainer Jeff Mullins and closed with a rush from off the pace to win going
away by four lengths over the well-regarded Babe Hall (El Corredor) from the Bob
Baffert stable. A full sister to this year’s San Vicente S. (G2) hero Fusaichi
Rock Star, the gray Wild Fit is one to watch out for in upcoming juvenile
stakes.
ONE UNION (Dixie Union) gamely re-rallied when challenged at the
top of the stretch and posted a 1 1/4-length win in his career debut on Saturday
at Del Mar. Trained by Richard Mandella and the first winner from the Grade
2-winning dam Onceinabluemamoon (Al Mamoon), the Kentucky-bred two-year-old colt
earned an impressive 102 BRIS Speed rating for the 5 1/2-furlong maiden special
weight and is bred to run much farther distances as well as on the turf.