Thoroughbred Beat

THOROUGHBRED BEAT

JULY 20, 2005

by James Scully

Del Mar -- Del Mar kicks off Wednesday and the forecast calls for no

rain with highs in the mid-70s for the rest of the meet. The split Oceanside S.,

which features no Euro-shippers this year, tops the opening day card and a pair

of Grade 1 events are on tap this weekend. Corey Nakatani captured the riding

title in 2004, but the jockey colony will be much stronger with the returns of

Pat Valenzuela and Garret Gomez, who were both absent last season and are now

subject to random hair follicle testing due to past drug problems.

English strikes again -- ENGLISH CHANNEL (Smart Strike) reeled off his

third straight stakes and first graded win with an authoritative 3 1/4-length

score in Saturday's Virginia Derby (G3), and he continues to dominate

three-year-old turf races on the East Coast. Perhaps there will a legitimate

challenge for him next time in the August 13 Secretariat S. (G1) at Arlington

Park, but that looks doubtful. English Channel has displayed a tremendous turn

of foot and captured his last two starts at 1 1/4 miles and 1 3/8 miles,

respectively. The once-beaten colt is the best horse in Todd Pletcher's barn.

Sun sails -- SUN KING (Charismatic) regained some lost luster with a

front-running victory in Sunday's Leonard Richards S. (G3) at Delaware Park. One

of the leading Kentucky Derby (G1) contenders following easy wins in his first

two starts this year, the dark bay colt went off form with a fourth in the Blue

Grass S. (G1) and a 15th-place finish at Churchill Downs. He turned things

around a little for conditioner Nick Zito when fourth in the Preakness (G1) and

then received a freshening, returning to the races in the 1 1/16-mile Leonard

Richards. High Limit (Maria's Mon) looked like the lone speed, but he broke a

step slowly and jockey Rafael Bejarano sent Sun King to the front, where he was

in complete control and eventually drew clear for a 5 3/4-length triumph,

earning a career best two-turn BRIS Speed rating of 104.

Rare occurrence -- GOLDEN MAN (Suave Prospect), who was cross-entered

to Saturday's Long Branch Breeders' Cup S. (G3) at Monmouth and Sunday's Leonard

Richards, did not make a scratch list last weekend, finishing third and second,

respectively, on consecutive days. Trainer Lawrence Roberts was upset with the

gelding's third-place showing in the Long Branch, where he beaten by 6 1/4

lengths by Park Avenue Ball (Citidancer), and put Golden Man on a van to

Wilmington, Delaware, on Sunday morning. Golden Man edged High Limit by a nose

for the place in the Leonard Richards, earning a 98 Speed rating, three points

better than he registered the day before.

Surprising Joy -- Saturday's Delaware Oaks (G2) was hyped as a matchup

between Grade 1 winners Round Pond (Awesome Again) and Sis City (Slew City

Slew), but R LADY JOY (Vicar) stole the spotlight with a one-length upset in the

slop at 17-1. Trained by Kirk Ziadie, the bay filly advanced to the lead on the

far turn and withstood the rally of even-money favorite Round Pond through the

stretch as Sis City faltered badly to fourth, beaten nearly 15 lengths. R Lady

Joy broke her maiden in late February at Tampa Bay Downs and captured the

Florida Oaks in her first stakes attempt. She entered the Delaware Oaks off a

runner-up finish to Spun Sugar (Awesome Again) over a similarly wet track in the

Black-Eyed Susan S. (G2). The improving sophomore filly relishes a wet track and

owns a 6-3-2-1 mark this year.

See Saturday's sophomores -- The second leg of the Triple Tiara for

three-year-old fillies, Saturday's Coaching Club American Oaks (G1), takes place

over 10 furlongs at Belmont Saturday and the top contenders all have names that

begin with S -- SMUGGLER (Unbridled), SUMMERLY (Summer Squall) and SPUN SUGAR.

The trio treated us to a scintillating finish in the Mother Goose S. (G1) last

month.

Girl power -- Jockey Diane Nelson earned her first Grade 1 victory

aboard ACEY DEUCEY (Abaginone) in the July 9 Prioress S. (G1), and Chantrall

Sutherland registered her first U.S. graded stakes win on SMOKUME (Smoke Glacken)

in Sunday's Tom Fool H. (G2). "I'm so happy right now -- for me," joked the

39-year-old Nelson. "Seriously, I am very grateful that these people (owner

Jeffrey Tucker and trainer John Morrison) have stuck by me with this filly." 

Sutherland, a two-time Sovereign Award winner in Canada, joined the New York

jockey colony in April. Hall of Famer Jorge Velasquez is her agent.

Gomez -- Garrett Gomez, who returned last fall from a near two-year

absence due to substance abuse and personal problems, earned his first riding

title in Southern California since 1998 when beating Alex Solis by a 62-55

margin in the recently concluded Hollywood Park meet. "It means a lot, not so

much for my career than as a person in general," said Gomez, who spent 40 days

in jail for narcotics possession in 2003. "To show people who have never been in

my situation, like spending time in jail, that you can come back if you don't

quit and keep working."

Monmouth prowess -- CAPESIDE LADY (Cape Town) remained perfect over

the main track at Monmouth Park with a five-length score in the recent Molly

Pitchers' Breeders' Cup (G2), and the Pletcher trainee is proving to be very

good at middle distances, improving her mark at 8 1/2 furlongs to 4-1-0 from

five attempts. The four-year-old filly is receiving very little publicity, but

she's been earning commendable BRIS Speed ratings and appears poised to make a

mark in a thin distaff division the rest of the year.