Bits and Pieces according to ZATT

The racing season of 2015 has been loaded with more than its fair share of unforgettable performances, but witnessing the irresistible, overwhelming, and irrepressible rally of Honor Code in Saturday’s Grade 1 Whitney was one of those moments that remind me, oh so well, why it is I am living a lifelong love affair with thoroughbred horse racing. I wasn’t able to be at Saratoga on Saturday, but still, the drama that unfolded between a somewhat unheralded, but gifted speed horse in Liam’s Map, and the highly respected stone cold closer that is Honor Code was enough to have me yelling in excitement at my television. Liam’s Map ran way too well to lose. He set fast fractions on a track not exactly speed crazy, and with good speed horses in close pursuit. Still unfazed turning for home, the good looking gray had plenty left early in the stretch to spurt away from one of the strongest fields yet assembled this year. Even knowing the late running capabilities of Honor Code, it looked for most of the entire stretch run that the speed horse was not to be caught on this afternoon. After Honor Code’s orgasmic performance in the Met Mile, I pronounced it to be his defining moment on the racetrack. Well, it turns out I appreciated his Whitney performance even more. For him to run down Liam’s Map, and nail him on the wire with one final burst of speed was simply sensational. It was Zenyatta like. Honor Code has now, at long last, fulfilled every ounce of potential he has been the bearer of for the past 24 months, and the dramatic finish of the Whitney was as good as racing gets. What more can I say? Perhaps -- Bring on American Pharoah.

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If Honor Code is the epitome of an older horse fulfilling potential, than the flipside of that would be the new young gun ready to take the world by storm. One such fresh face that really caught my eye is the perfectly named Young Brian (Hard Spun--Glacier Peak, by Pulpit). Sure, with a name like that, and with my affinity for both Hard Spun and Pulpit, I was bound to be attracted to this Phil D’Amato-trained newcomer, but I cannot see how anyone would argue that his career debut was anything other than impressive. The word was out on this one, and he clearly did not disappoint on Saturday. Off just a bit slow, he moved quickly into the fray of solid fractions, before blitzing the field in the Del Mar stretch. The 10+ length romp in racehorse time was the kind of beginning to a career in which all horsemen dream. Yes -- middle-aged Brian will be watching Young Brian very closely.

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The floodgates have opened for Prospect Park. Graded stakes denied no more, the sophomore son of Tapit absolutely annihilated the Grade 3 La Jolla field at Del Mar on Sunday in his turf debut. The winning margin may read 4 ¼ lengths, but let me tell you, it was much, much easier than that. Admittedly, I’ve liked the Clifford Sise, Jr. trainee all year, but this was the kind of run that I believe will be looked back at as a turning point, and the beginnings of him becoming a really good horse. When I say really good, I’m talking multiple Grade 1 winner kind of good. I believe he is well on his way to becoming a turf monster, but I would not give up on him as a dirt horse, either. The big boy is figuring it all out, and the world shall be his oyster.

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Speaking of big performances on the lawn, how about the spanking Goldy Espony laid down on the Fasig-Tipton Waya field in the race directly after the Whitney? Yes, I know pace makes the race, and the four-year-old French import got away with some very slow fractions, but I see more to this performance than a simple late day theft. A Group 3 winner in her native land, the gray daughter of Vespone went 0-for-2 in a pair of big races last year in her first two runs in the U.S. This year, more mature and sporting a whole new running style from what we saw in those two losses in 2014, Goldy Espony takes the race right to her opponents early and often for conditioner Chad Brown. The results, 3-for-3 this year, have been eye-opening. She is now 6-for-12 lifetime, and despite the fact that she has never won a thing bigger than a Grade 3, she is on my short list of best turf females in the country. I just hope the bettors keep disrespecting her.

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American Pharoah watch -- It looks like we are getting closer and closer to a big ‘Pharoah to the Travers’ announcement. Despite past struggles at the Spa, Bob Baffert was seen scouting out the barn of John Terranova at Saratoga to get a feel for what would become the Travers home of the big horse. It seems like the only thing that would get in the way of Baffert giving the go ahead for the Travers would be if Pharoah was not ‘doing great’ in the next few weeks. I don’t know about you, but it seems to me that American Pharoah is always ‘doing great’. Howzabout a light blue and yellow canoe floating in the Saratoga infield lake?

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The most important thing in this week’s bits & pieces? It is the health of one Lady Eli. The reports on the undefeated turf superstar’s battle with laminitis are getting better and better. Seems like this girl has a ton of fight in her. Nothing that could happen on the racetrack the rest of the year would make me happier than a full recovery for the young champ.

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OK, I admit it … I know injuries and illness are part of the game, but after all these years, they never get any easier. After a relatively quiet spring, this summer has been tough. Gabriel Charles, Speightster, and Divisidero are the latest on the shelf, and I really thought all three were poised for a big second half of 2015. Godspeed to each on a full and speedy recovery.