Stardom Bound: 2 Year Old Review (Week 7)

Original article written by The Steward posted 13 years 3 weeks ago

**This is the first in a series examining the future stars of the sport.**

It makes sense that this year's two-year-old crop would be explosive. Consider that the "Old SIM" was 15 years long and moved at a much more rapid pace; since foals were actually born as yearlings, many more generations were shoved into a short time span and horses got better, faster. We are closing in on 15 years of the "New SIM," and I believe we are entering a new era of great horses. How do you judge great horses? They must be consistently fast and consistently good year in and year out, and a brief glance over the last few Derby winners (as a simple measuring stick) leaves something to be desired.

On paper, Buckingham looks like a good horse, in fact, he should have won the Triple Crown - but he struggled to win again as a three-year-old after taking the Derby, and although he strung together a series of four straight wins as a four-year-old and finished second in the Steward's Cup Classic, he never again won a race of true prestige. The fact that he was not only Champion Three-Year-Old but also Champion Older Horse is a testament not to his greatness, but to the confusion that is the current level of "greatness" of these past few generations.

Flames was a mighty three-year-old, perhaps the best we've seen in a long time, but he was a subpar older horse, winning only one Grade 1 the whole year. He never hit the board in a Steward's Cup event. Don't Hesitate ran through his five-year-old season and was the best older horse of the three, typically running 90+ speed figures, but he ducked the Steward's Cup twice. The gorgeous Believe the Hype, also five and closing out his career this year, does not appear as good this year as he was last year, although he id pick up a grade 2 win last out.

The point being that we are still looking for the "next big thing," the horse who is going to unite us all in one big, "Wow. That horse is really good."

Interestingly, the sprinters seem to be struggling a bit of late. Many were surprised and perhaps even offended when Gallows won the Steward's Cup Juvenile Dash last year, but Gallows is the type of horse that makes a great sprinter these days. Sky Ruler wouldn't have been able to hit the board in the Sprint a few years ago, but he proved best last year. Is this because sprinters typically peak earlier and are thus retired earlier, that their kind experienced a revitalization earlier and thus are in a current slump? Because of this, sprinters won't be featured in this "blog" of sorts.

Back to the matter at hand: analyzing the wins by the future stars of the sport. While I don't love milers, some of them must get a shout out here for their Week 7 performances:

Kimberly Jean's Apex Predator, who has changed hands three times already in his young career, came out running right away with a length win at Louisville Downs. He is by the undervalued stallion Tiger and out of a recently-pensioned Herkemayah mare, It Still Hurts. Apex Predator did end up losing his second start, however, to Indomitable Lions, who also broke his maiden Week 7 for Jon Xett. "Lions" won by nearly three lengths with a snappy 73 speed figure and is by the young sire Lion, who already has 57% winners in his very small first crop of runners.

Brian Leavitt has his hands on a nice one with To Sirius, a black daughter of Fire Added Starter. The speedy filly is now two-for-two with a 75 speed figure maiden win at Futurity Park, followed by a Grade 3 score. She is being pointed for the Steward's Cup Juvenile Fillies and reminds me so much of both Strong and Silent and Iki, the previous two Juvenile Fillies winners, who both were torn between a mile and 1 1/16 miles, the distance of the Steward's Cup. They both won, and even this far out, To Sirius looks like a fantastic candidate.

There also has to be a shout out for the turf miler sire Star Signs, whose questionable first crop (two Grade 3 and one listed stakes winner to date) may have left some leery of the son of Symboli Kris S. However, he already has NINE juvenile winners, including Jolene Danner's son of Pop Idol named Got Talent (68 speed figure) and a pair of Leonard Beagle beasts in Starstroke (67) and Starspin (74). Starspin went on to win a Week 10 stakes race.

Speaking of Danner, her $2 million Trial By Summer colt Temple of the Wind scored first out with a 76 speed figure in Puerto Rico. He has since gone on to win a very important stakes race (in that he defeated some very nice colts), and although he has already made some trainers' early Derby lists, Danner has yet to be tempted. Straight from the horse's mouth: "'Temple' is bred to run a mile," Danner said. "In my book that means no Derby. We might give the Juvenile a shot because his family has had a bit of luck stretching out just a little, plus lots of juvenile-almost-milers seem to do well in the Steward's Cup. He will not, however, be going further than 8.5 furlongs in his lifetime."

Matt Wilson unveiled a pair of nice fillies Week 7, winning with both Battle Kindness (Out of Kindness) and Floating in Time (Radee); the latter is from the family of Landing on Dust and End of the Stars.

Dirt routing girls were out in full force Week 7, starting with Alex Puderbaugh's Flames filly Notify whose second dam is the champion Such Great Heights. That sounds impressive, but Speaks to Me was subpar on the track, winning only 3 of 15, so it is nice to see her succeeding as a broodmare. An Eric Nalbone-bred turned Cleo Patra-owned turned Scott Eiland-owned filly Radiant, by Advance Guard, won by 2 lengths at Premium Park, and then came back to take a NW2 Week 10. Larry Burndorf won the Tour, a Steward-bred sister to Long Island Classic winner Saharan Ace and multiple Grade 1 winners Sahara Sport and Drive. Jon Xett's superstar mare Azelia Bay, who was 13 for 13 on the track, never did produce anything like herself, but her two-year-old filly Firedancer, by Xett's Classic winner Looking for Light, won for fun first out with a 71.

Unfortunately for Xett, Firedancer had the misfortune of going up against Sport of Queens during Week 11. Sport of Queens is a daughter of California and Babe Ruth and is a homebred for Laura Ferguson. Although Ferguson always has a steady stream of impressive stakes winners, Sport of Queens looks to be maybe her best one since Baltimore Crown winner Thriller a few years ago. She broke her maiden Week 7 with an 83 speed figure, scoring by 5 3/4 at Futurity Park. Despicable Me, who finished third, came back to win next out. Ferguson also turned heads with Sunshine and Roses, another daughter of California out of the regally bred mare Gold Cup who won with a 69 at Louisville Downs.

As for Derby horses, Ferguson's Mission Bay won with only a 66 speed figure, but it is impressive that the colt (another California) won at all, given that his dam Part of the Dream (Radee) was partial to 1 1/2 miles on the track and her 3-year-old Awake As I Am filly is still struggling to hit her stride. Mission Bay is now two for two and made many people's Derby lists.

Another California is on the Derby trail for Scott Eiland. His homebred Millionaire's Son is out of Louisville Oaks winner Brat, making him a half-brother to half a million dollar earner Brat Pack. And then there is Institutionalized, which is fun to say but hard to type. He is one that many are watching, as three of his siblings contested the Triple Crown trail already with varying success. "Intsy" is out of future Broodmare of the Year (she's got to be, right?) Lore, whose son Fable is the sire of Temple of the Wind, and whose Literature won the Long Island Classic and Philosophy took this year's Baltimore Crown. There's just one race missing from Lore's trophy case, and Intsy could be the one to bring it home. The catch is that Lore and all of her offspring have been trained by Jolene Danner, but this one is trained by Doug Kidwell via a mare lease.

As far as turf horses go, I liked the maiden wins of both Achieve (Feat) and Suharto (Frayed). Both are out of those ever-valuable Acapulco mares, and each won convincingly at Futurity Park.

The last Week 7 maiden-breaker to ponder is Little Gift, who was coming in off an (understandably) dismal finish in a 5 1/2 furlong sprint. He broke his maiden by 3 3/4 lengths at Futurity Park for Tom Mudgett. He then stunned many by wheeling back to beat Institutionalized going a mile Week 10 in a Grade 3 stakes race. But is Little Gift a miler? He never worked 5 furlongs, and is out of a Fighter Jet mare. HIs sire, Epic, had no trouble with 1 1/8 miles, and produced Cape, who ended up as a miler but did win the Steward's Cup Juvenile over the likes of Fire Added Starter and Fable. I am most curious to see the path that Mudgett takes with Little Gift, who is a Steward-bred.

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