Stardom Bound: 2 Year Old Review (Week 10)

Original article written by The Steward posted 13 years 4 weeks ago

I looked up 1-mile 2 year old races as I have been doing, and got 16 horses I felt were worth mentioning. Then I had to look up 1 1/16 mile races for the first time, and got 40 more. What a week!

Week 10 is historically "the" week for future juvenile stars. The ones who broke their maidens Weeks 7 and 8 are wheeling back for take 2, and the legitimate routers come out in full force to celebrate the added distance of the first 1 1/16 mile races. In all, there were 337 juvenile races around two turns, so perhaps mentioning only 56 winners isn't too bad!

Because this issue will feature 56 horses, I am splitting them up into groups below:

**Milers**
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Bill Outsilver's Moonfire is just one of 25 juvenile winners for Fire Added Starter this year, but has arguably the best dam. Gift of the Moon, Moonfire's momma, is a daughter of Big Dreams and all three of her runners so far were six figure horses. Moonfire won by 1 1/4 over a full field in Venezuela. He is Steward's Cup nominated and just came back to America, so it will be interesting to see if he is Championship bound.

Sometimes a stallion doesn't appear to be doing that well, but I keep throwing a mare at him every year hoping something will stick. It's just too depressing to think that some major runner's names will die out if they don't get a big horse, so I keep hitting him over and over. I was having the same issue with the mare In Quiet Light, a gift from Jon Xett who was well bred but refused to produce anything of note. I bred her to Big Money and the strange pairing finally got something! Burning Cash, owned by Ashley Gibson, broke his maiden at Florence Park by 2 3/4 with a 75 speed figure, beating two extremely nice horses.

Brandon McClellan appears to have escaped any "bad karma" for renaming a Steward-bred, in this instance it was Marquee Lights, a filly out of Test of Love who inevitably had a mushy name before. The $2 million Trial By Summer purchase won by 3 3/4 with a 73 speed figure, and became one of the whopping 163 winners for her sire Opening Night, who is now living out his days as a Fox Hunter.

Susie Raisher can barely be mentioned this week, as she is the star of Week 11, but her Boldness colt Belong Here won by a length in Florida. He is out of the $1 mil earner Cold Open, making him a half brother to the $426k earner Clear It. Raisher loved that mare (as did I!) so it would be exceptional to see her with another top colt.

Charles Bunbury needs to be commended for his exceptional naming skills - his Miranda Hobbes, an Original Tough Guy filly out of Sex and the City, won by two lengths with a 70 speed figure. The dam is a Ghostzapper daughter of City Beat, who earned half a million dollars and hails from one of the best families in the game.

World is Watching has one to watch (ha) with Soul Under Fire, a Steward-bred out of Burning Soul who is trained by Ricky Bobby. The lanky filly won in Miami with a 71 speed figure. I have no idea how Bobby ended up with her - she was originally sold to Bobby for $550,000 in the Steward-sale, then purchased by Jamie Newton for $1.5 mil. She was sold to Amy Schmidt for the same price a month later, then two weeks after that sold to Julie Kluesener for $75,000 - I assume in one of Amy's fits of rage/frustration. After her debut, in which she was fourth but had a bad start, she was sold back to Bobby for $200,000. That's quite the journey!

Laura Ferguson gave us another nice Desert Longshot winner, this one named Desert Vixen (cute!) She is out of Girllacedinsilver, who was a nice racehorse but a little underachieving as a broodmare. Desert Vixen earned a 72 speed figure after tracking the pace throughout.

Jacob Herman's son of Cape, A.P. Mask, I almost left off here, but that would be silly. He is out of a Symbol mare and won at The Spa with a 73 by two lengths. This was his second start; in his first start he lost to a colt named The Lion's Share who is now a 2 for 2 grade 3 winner, and also finished behind Highlight Reel who came back to win big last Friday. He'll pop up in the next edition of this series.

**Turf Routers**
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The best turf debut of the week went to Lisa Strummer's Stardust, who is by her home grown stallion Oversized Heart. Stardust is out of Tempel, a decent runner who earned just under half a million. Stardust herself broke her maiden by over five and has the top-ranked speed figure for a female turf debut this year.

Stormy Peak enjoyed an emotional win with her filly Forgave, a daughter of Vernacular out of Peak's beloved Sadler's Wells mare, Foremost. Forgave won by 2 1/2 at Fledgling Park with a 72 speed figure in a neat come-from-mid-pack victory. She is a half sister to Fortuitous ($668k earned) and Foreward ($500k+).

Peter Gleason took a page out of my book and bred his legendary-esque mare, The Conformist, to Magician. She was a multiple Grade 1 winning superstar over a mile, but never tried a route of ground. This is crazy talk, given that she is by Encosta de Lago and out of a Theatrical mare, so when given a turn with her in the shed, I bred her to a router. Now Gleason is doing the same, and her Magician filly, The Copycat, won first out at Oceanside Racetrack by 3 3/4.

As if Ladonna King needed another good turf horse, she debuted Star Burst last week and was rewarded by a 1 3/4 length win. In doing so, the daughter of Sword Bearer defeated Architectural, who is so well thought of that she already has a headshot. Star Burst is out of Kingdom of Stars, a nice runner who has struggled as a broodmare so far. None of her foals have been bad, they just haven't been her!

Storming the Sky stormed home to defeat $625,000 purchase Northern Hero by a length at Youngster Park. Both horses are Steward-breds, but Storming the Sky is perhaps a little more precocious, being by Precipice. Amy Atkins conditions the winner, while Stephen Skaggs had the runner up, who is sure to break her maiden by the end of the year.

Basset debuted in a very deep stakes race for fillies going 1 1/16 miles, also in Japan. She led throughout to outlast City Lost At Sea, a horse I have particular interest in because she'll be returning to me in 2 1/2 years to be a mommy. Basset is a homebred for Mary Whalen out of her $1 million earning Johar mare, Gone to the Dogs. Mary is currently battling with her husband, trying to raise the money for Basset's headshot. I'm currently battling my husband for a dog in general.

It's about time for Black Fox, $1.1 million earner, to have a good foal. She has struggled with her choices so far, but now has a son named He's the One, who may very well be the one. Rob Kilbourn's colt won in Brazil by 1 1/2 lengths, going far shorter than he will one day prefer.

At the Trial By Summer Two Year Old sale earlier this year, A.R. Roberts went to $5 million on a daughter of Fish named Untied Socks. The classy filly won first out with a 73 speed figure, and may look to tackle colts by the end of the year. Her dam, Socks, is a sister to Frayed/Atlantis/Feat/etc, and Untied Socks herself is a half sister to Shoes.

Dawn of Time (Magician x Cair Paravel) ran away and hid in an Adolescent Acres debut for Laura Ferguson, and Spirito earned a 75 for Michelle Calderoni. The son of Super Light was working quite well for this debut, in which he stumbled, settled down, and drew off under a mild drive.

Missed You, a half-sister to last week's Oceanside Oaks winner Jeblar's Legacy, broke her maiden first out for owner/breeder Jeb Clampett. The filly is from the first crop of the brilliant runner Trafalgar, who has 9 winners already and might be a beast of a stallion.

Doyouknowwhomymomis (Precipice x Deep Dark Secret) is a great name for this filly, who looks to give her Steward's Cup winning dam her first great runner.

**Derby Horses**
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The horse many are talking about is Open At the Close, a handsome (he already has a headshot) son of Caldron from the family of Throne, etc. He scored by two lengths in a "pedestrian" 1:44 flat, earning an 89. Heels West, a neat son of West out of a California mare (I feel like there was some naming opportunity there?) finished second, almost 5 lengths ahead of the third place horse. Alysse Jacobs conditions Open At the Close, who is named for a particularly heart wrenching part of the Harry Potter series.

In other news, next year's Derby could be a "happy" affair. Jon Xett's Tot Ziens colt, Have a Happy Day, won with an 83 and defeated the well-regarded "wow" colt Hoax of the Decade who will no doubt win soon. Ronnie Dee's colt Happy Racing, named for the SIM's podcast "Steward's Inquiry" (which is also the name of the Loki Dynasty dam), won by only a quarter length with a 91 speed figure. This race also introduced us to Hockiral, a wow son of Caldron who ran a 90 to be second and is also on many people's Derby lists. I don't know too much about Hockiral myself other than his Marathoner dam only won once in eight starts.

High Esteem, a half brother to this year's Louisville Oaks winner Sky Flyer, won by 5 1/4 for Art Vandelay. The son of Notorious earned an 89 speed figure. The extra 1/16th of a mile did him a world of good - he debuted against state-breds at a mile Week 8 and finished 5th.

Jolene Danner paid $15 million for Who I Am, the only son of Wonder that Eric Nalbone didn't target at auction, so she'd better hope he is good enough for the Derby. The son of Something Better will take a while to find his groove, but he won by a head with an 87, outlasting Alyse Schuver's Thieves to the wire. Thieves is a half brother to War Daddy and is obviously one to watch.

Incredible Me, an Oleg Van Buren-homebred, broke his maiden in his second try, winning by 1 1/2 at Futurity Park in the slop. The son of Depths of the Sea is out of an Awake As I Am mare, making his mile debut (in which he was second) a virtual toss out. Depths of the Sea has been getting some nice horses and stands for only $15,000. Plus, how can you resist that face?

When Brandon Odell first put Warning Sign in an auction, I thought he was insane. This is a legitimately nice horse, definitely Triple Crown bound (although his 1 1/4 abilities are in question, the Crown should be no problem), and I was thinking there's absolutely nothing better than training a star-quality horse and then standing him at stud. What is a few million dollars going to get Odell that he couldn't have with this horse? Well, I had this horse priced in my head at $4 million, and he sold for $6,800,000. For that, Mr. Odell, you can wave this horse goodbye and not feel too worried - but again, he's a very nice horse. The son of Coldplay, who appears to be a hot sire, broke his maiden by 5 1/4 with an 89 speed figure. He is entered back in the very contentious Cape Stakes for Week 13, it will be interesting to see how he does.

Other nice colts included Chicken (Caldron x Wise to the Plan, making him a full brother to the stakes winning Cow) and Fraud (California x Con), who cost $1.7 million and defeated another royally bred colt in All Star Sport.

**Oaks Fillies**
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THE filly of the week was Kerepakupai Meru, who I am quite pleased is not currently nominated to the Steward's Cup because heaven forbid I ever have to say that. The daughter of Lofty Goals is out of Sahalie Falls, an epically underachieving mare who won only 3 of 9 starts but boasts one of the better pedigrees in the book. I went to $2 million to acquire a half sister to this nice baby, who earned a whopping 91 speed figure while winning by 5 1/2 and being 9th of 12 at the half mile pole.

Despicable Me is mentioned mostly because I think the movie of the same name is probably my #2 movie of all time, maybe #3. This Amy Schmidt-bred Boise filly is owned by Ron Fleming and is going to be kept at a mile for the time being after winning a Toronto mile race Week 10, but she's not a miler which is why she's in the Oaks section. She is out of the Fightingwithfaith mare Fight On who is now deceased.

Ali LaDuke is looking forward to the career of Ritan, her juvenile daughter of Altar by Sun Raider. This is the first foal from Altar, a $1.2 million earning and SIMMY Award-winning star who took the Steward's Cup Ladies Route in Year 27. Altar was a nice filly for sure, but not nearly as nice as her dam, Temple, who is surely Hall of Fame bound one day. The sire choice with Sun Raider was a good one, he offers plenty of precocity into a family that is borderline between router and plodder. Ritan scored first out with an 82, defeating a very solid Xett-homebred daughter of Boise, Maude.

Rachel Sadler seems to have a decent crop of babies on the track, and the one that stood out to me was Nisus, a daughter of Same Old Plot who scored at Adolescent Acres. She came from well back to do it, and she's bred on that ever popular Giacomo x Langfuhr cross.

Act of Kindness was featured in the Edge as the Rising Star. This daughter of Awake As I Am was racing in Brazil and won by 1 3/4 with a 74. She is a $7 million purchase and is, for whatever reason, going into an allowance next out. She's obviously stakes quality, but it is possible that trainer Heissenbuttel has an eye on the long term future rather than just the end of this year.

Bill Oelrich is back in the game after maybe a little slump with A Shot of Stardom, an extremely quick daughter of Awake As I Am out of End of the Stars, making her Beyond the Stars' 3/4 sister. I would just like to complain that I had a breeding to End of the Stars, bred her to Awake As I Am, and got something not nearly as good as the horse Bill got one year later. While she's listed in the Oaks section, Bill is already thinking Derby with this filly if she's good enough.

Sun Tzu finally has a big one on the track, this one a homebred for Janena Olson out of her one-time winning Sports Jersey mare Red Wings. Under Red Skies won first out by only a head but earned an 89 speed figure. The filly who ran second, Opportunity Is On, is by Unclench Your Fist.

Clinton Jacinto must have made some kind of good deal to land Sly Girl's Kisses, an Awake As I Am half sister to Hazel Annie and Fang. The filly was bred by Mike Eaton, who might end up kicking himself if this one gets good.

Other nice fillies include Explosion of Sound (Kamikaze x Oaks Starfire) for Karie McBrian, Auburn Lane (Father's Day x A.P. Action Hero) for Bill Deitch, Awards (Advance Guard x Sensation) for Doug Kidwell and Capricious (Tot Ziens x Skittish), who I personally think is one of the better young girls in training but she "only" received a 74. Thrilling Escape, a daughter of Thriller out of Theonethatgotaway, won by 5 1/2 with a 91 in an effort that knocked owner/breeder Ferguson out of her chair.

**Eric Nalbone**
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Flint and Steel (Sun Raider x Chisel), Crowd (Awake As I Am x Louisville Oaks winner Clamor), My One Mission (Fighter Jet x half sister to Don't Mess named Our One Heart), Monk (Awake As I Am x Saint), and Amazing As I Am (California x Wonder's daughter Asleep As I Am). Enough said.

**Fun Stories**
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Andy Gol spent 6,000 Game Points to acquire a one year lease of the Old SIM-lined Loki Freakshow. He chose Awake As I Am and got a "stakes" quality baby named Slow Show. He then promptly put her in a $100,000 claiming race by accident. Nikki Sherman, being of keen eyes, put a claim in and the filly won by a length. After days of hemming and hawing and trying to decide if he should just suck up the fact that he was a little careless, Andy messaged Nikki and offered $500,000 to get the filly back. Nikki returned her for the original price of $100,000. I love SIMsters.

Chani Ruzzo bought a horse out of my sale named Fallen in Battle, a son of Battlenote (AW router/miler) and Agronomist (AW sprinter whose numbers indicate she would have been a top AW router as well). Somehow, Chani got it in her head that I bred a steeplechaser, and spent $1.4 million on him to acquire a chaser. That's crazy talk, because A. very few chasers could make that back, and B. chasers terrify me and I would never knowingly breed one, it would be an accident. This colt, Fallen in Battle, missed by a head in a sprint stakes Week 6, then returned to break his maiden in a mile stakes at Artificial Arena. He's actually quite the beast on the synth, and will make her a bunch of money. He might even touch that price tag!

Another horse I bred, Western History, is one of my few by the stallion West, who I don't trust mainly because he can't be his brother, East. The dam, Story Tale History, was raced for me by Franky Dam, who got to breed her once before sending her back. He chose Duke, and the baby came out so well that I was really jealous! It was such a good cross, and the resulting colt has won 4 of 8 and $250k. I'm glad to see my first shot at the mare also won for owner Kenneth Gordon.

Scott Eiland did some swapping work with Ali LaDuke and ended up with a breeding to Ali's Derby winning filly, High Flyer. He chose another Derby winner, Buckingham, as the mate, and about 5 minutes later found out that Buckingham's distance capabilities were questionable. He immediately felt a pang for his newborn filly, named Altitude, who went on to break her maiden in her second try at The Spa. Will she be a miler? Will she want more ground? She should actually be a fun if not infuriating horse to campaign!

**Neat Freshmen Sires**
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I can't mention any of Donnie Hidalgo's homebreds specifically, but his young sire Big Gamble is hitting well. The royally-bred guy has 5 winners already and they can mile as well as route, apparently.

Kevin Hern's Pax Britannica has 5 winners already (almost 40%) with only two weeks of route races completed. He looks to be a really surprisingly good stallion, he should be an outcross to most things and Kevin's Templi Orientis won first out by 1 1/2 over the nice filly Cool Waters.

Speaking of Coldplay (see above re: Warning Sign), another Coldplay-named song, Clocks, is a Coldplay-named juvenile, in this case a filly for Ferguson. She won first out like a good horse should by 4 1/4.

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