With the
open portion of the schedule about to commence for the two-year-old pacers, I
thought I’d do an update on some of the more promising among them.
Fashion
Farms and Jim Campbell’s SBSW filly, Gallie ByThe Beach is the clear leader of
that division. She’s a perfect five for five, having earned 127K and won in
:52. Three of her wins came in the top tier PASS and another in the second tier
PA All Stars series.
Beach Body
is another promising filly. The daughter of SBSW has hit the board in all four
starts, with two of them being wins in the PASS program. She has 87K in the
bank and took a :53.1 mark.
There are
two SBSW fillies in the first split of the Eternal Camnation and four in the
second. None of them are what would be considered prime contenders. Gallie and
Beach Body are not entered.
Tyra, a
McArdle filly has also racked up two wins in the PASS and sports a 4 3
0 1 record and 80K in earnings.
She has a :52.3 mark. Between Tyra and McWicked McArdle is doing a fine job of
promoting himself to the Ohio breeders…. The Art Official filly, Sister Stroll
is another good one with four wins and a second in six starts, good for 77K.
She beat Beach Body in an earlier All Stars race and also won a split of the
Arden…. There will be two splits of the Eternal Camnation at Mohawk Saturday
but these fillies weren’t nominated. Although there will be several PA breds in
the race, including a half dozen by SBSW. Carl Jamiesson’s highly regarded SBSW
filly, Bahama Blue, drew the two in the first division. She is out of 2006
2YOFP of the year, Isabella Blue Chip. Bahama Blue won a single division of the
PASS, but has disappointed at short odds more than once.
The New York
contingent of freshmen pacing fillies is very strong. Jimmy Takter’s American
Ideal filly, Ali Blue, is a top five filly. Putting aside a break at 1/9 in a
NYSS race at Tioga, she has three strong wins to her credit in that program.
Scandalicious is another American Ideal filly who seemed destined for stardom
but has suffered a couple of inexplicable losses. The filly pipeline running
out of Western Ideal is beyond compare. His son, American Ideal, has turned out
the likes of American Jewel, Romantic Moment and Idyllic in recent years, and
now Ali Blue. Another son, Rocknroll Hanover, gave us Put On A Show, Nitelife,
Rocklamation, and now Rockingcam Park and Bolt Of Thunder from this year’s
freshman class. The former goes in the Eternal Camnation for Jackie Mo, while
Bolt Of Thunder, the winner of the NJSS final, is not entered. And Western Ideal himself has produced the
likes of Cabrini Hanover, Krispy Apple, Ms Caila J Fra and Jerseylicious.
Mind Over Matter—Art Major-- who starts from
the rail in the second Eternal Camnation split, won a 57K division of the SS at
Buffalo for Jeff Gregory and also took a 58K split of the Clyde Hirt at
Yonkers. They tagged her with a 12/1 ML from the rail in the Eternal Camnation?
Say what? Mind Over Matter is out of 2003 O’Brien 2YO Filly Pacer of the Year,
Serious Comfort…. JK Molly is an Art Major filly trained by Linda Toscano who has shown steady progress and beat Mind
Over Matter at Tioga. And Precocious Beauty is another promising daughter of
Art Major. She will race in the first split of the Eternal Camnation. Frank
Bellino’s She’s Da Bomb, winner of a couple of races at Mohawk for Terry
O’Sullivan, is another Art Major entered in the Eternal Camnation. Act Now, a
full sister to Authorize, and Delinquent Account’s granddaughter, is lightly
raced with a couple of wins in legs of the NJSS, but she appears to be better
than most of these.
Some of the Shadow
Play fillies, like Alibi Seelster and Nefertiti Bluechip have stepped up but only
four of that stallions fillies were nominated to the Eternal Camnation and none
are entered.
**********
As for the
colts, there is no Captaintreacherous in the group—nothing close. And while
there are plenty of promising sons of SBSW out there, he isn’t dominating this
class to the degree one might expect. His son, Limelight Beach, was vying for
division leadership with three PASS wins as well as one in the Arden, but he
showed poorly in the Tyler B a couple of days ago, losing to Allstar Partner.
Brian Brown’s colt is not entered in Saturday’s Nassagaweya, nor is he staked
to the Metro.
The Four
Starzzz Shark gelding, Allstar Partner, a 10K bargain, won a couple of PASS
races, and was very sharp in a w-w win in the this week’s Tyler B. He carries a
mark of :52.4. John Buttenschoen’s charge is not entered in the Nassagaweya .
He is not eligible to the Metro either.
Let’s Drink
On It, from Art Official’s first crop, has three wins in the PASS and looked
good at The Meadows this week. Joe Seekman trains. He has earned 100K to this
point. Let’s Drink On It is not staked to the Nassagaweya but is eligible to
the Metro. Last year the Nassagaweya drew 22 entrants; there were two seven
horse divisions and one eight. This year the race drew 27, allowing for three
nine horse splits—a better wagering vehicle. Why aren’t more of the top colts
and fillies from PA and NY present? The Metro purse has been reduced by 30%
this year; the Goodtimes dropped 25%; the Elegantimage 35% and the Fan Hanover 38%.
I suppose the money is so good in the Pennsylvania and New York sire stakes
that many owners and trainers have decided not to nominate their charges to the
Ontario Opens.
The American
Ideal colt, He’s Watching, is the shooting star from this crop. He won a couple
of NYSS races, then wowed us with a world record mile in :50 the other night at
Tioga for Jim Morrill. David Menary is scrambling to get the colt staked to
whatever he can. The $3,000 purchase isn’t staked to the BC, Jug, Bluegrass,
Metro, Nassagaweya…..Not much. He may be forced to be a star on a small stage
this season.
Western
Vintage (Western Ideal) is a three time winner in the NJSS, including the 150K
final. He figures to be the one to beat in the second division of the
Nassagaweya…. Bob McIntosh’s Somewhere In LA, a SBSW colt out of a half-sister
to TOL, who won his last couple, is also in that split.
David
Menary’s Art major colt, Major Trick, drew the eight in the softer third
division, but JJ figures to overcome the bad post with this two time NYSS
winner. He also has a good second to forty Five Red in another SS race.
Forty Five
Red, the If I Can Dream half to Thirty Two Red, is helping his first year sire
get established. Winning the Sheppard, even against that Mickey Mouse field, is
a big plus on his resume. He also won a SS race at Monticello and finished
second in another at Tioga. Red is not staked to the Nassagaweya or the Metro.
Still
another from a first crop stallion who continues to impress is Jimmy Takter’s
Well Said-Kikikatie colt, Tellitlikeitis. After an impressive win in the Tyler
B, he now has two PASS victories. He won’t be at Mohawk Saturday but he is
eligible to the Metro.
Another
stalwart performer from an unlikely source is Julie Miller’s McArdle colt,
McWicked. He’s out of the Western Ideal mare, Western Sahara, and is wicked
fast. He has three wins in five starts and two of them are in the PASS. He also
has a couple of seconds in that program. This is McArdle’s most impressive
freshman in recent memory. No Nassagaweya or Metro for him.
The more
regally bred, Luck Be Withyou, a Western Ideal brother to American Jewel and
Source Of Pride, figures to take the money in the first division of the
Nassagaweya. His recent drubbing of Idealbeach Hanover marked him as one to
watch. He’s Mr underestimated: he won at 19/1 last time and 10/1 the time
before that. Three Of Clubs, a Mach Three colt that recently won the Battle Of
Waterloo for the McNairs, is in the same division as Luck Be Withyou.
Last year
The Captain had already gone his record mile at M1 in the Wilson prior to the
Nassagaweya and Metro. Now the Wilson is dead and most of the better colts
aren’t racing at Mohawk on Saturday. No colt or filly has been crowned in the
press. The Metro eliminations are next week and the final is on August 31. The
Captain beat a ten horse field in last year’s Metro at 4/5. This time around things
may not get settled until Lexington at the end of September, beginning of October.
**********
The trend
toward seeded stakes, such as this week’s Colonial, Battle, Valley Forge and
Gerrity, is causing problems for four-year-olds that were held out at the
beginning of the season. Wheeling N Dealin is relegated to the second Colonial
Consolation because his seasonal earning’s figure is so low. Heston Blue Chip,
a Gerrity nominee who won at Saratoga last week, didn’t make the cut in that
race because of insufficient funds. Michaels Power is also a Gerrity nominee.
He wouldn’t qualify either. Starting back late so as to be fresh in the fall is
a nice concept, but it can be costly.
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