Unbeaten Speightster knocks off Texas Red in the Dwyer

Going into today’s Dwyer, you had to think the most threatening presence of all to the prospect of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner, Texas Red becoming a popular return winner, was the undefeated horse. Sure enough, when the real running began early in the Big Sandy stretch, it was the lightly raced Bill Mott charge, Speightster who was more than willing to knock off the favorite. In the end, it wasn’t even that close, as the unbeaten WinStar Farm runner scampered away to win the Dwyer Stakes by an impressive 2 ½-lengths over Texas Red, as part of a huge Stars and Stripes card at Belmont Park.

Speightster has quickly moved up the three-year-old ranks with each eye-catching start he has made. Unveiled for the first time on April 17, the homebred son of Speightstown looked like a good thing going just over seven furlongs on Keeneland’s Beard Course. He won off by seven lengths that day under Jose Lezcano in racehorse time.

"We identified him as a nice 2-year-old last year, and then we had to give him time because he had bucked his shins,” said Mott. “We sent him home for a good while and finally got him back to the races, and he's been perfect. He's 3-for-3 and he's done it the right way every time.”

Not rushed along by his crafty conditioner, Bill Mott, Speightster made his second start on Belmont Stakes eve, and once again impressed with a facile 3 ½-length score over good allowance horses at Belmont going 6 ½ furlongs. The two victories were a great start to his career, but how would it translate when he stepped up into graded stakes racing?

We got that answer in a big way today in the Grade 3 Dwyer. Respected on the tote at 2-1, just a tick behind Texas Red at 9-5, Speightstown faced a small but select field of seven in the one mile, main track affair. Ridden for the third time by Jose Lezcano, Speightster was able to get a perfect position from his outside post, and comfortably went right after the early leader, Hollywood Angel. Lezcano always looked to have plenty of horse as Speightster hounded the leader through early fractions of :22.83 and :46.29.

First Tommy Macho, and then Texas Red made runs at him from the outside, just at the time when he was dispatching of Hollywood Angel, but Speightster had plenty more to give Lezcano.

When I asked him, he really took off,” remarked Lezcano. “I don't know how good he is; every time I ask him for more, he gives it to me. Even galloping out, he galloped out in front of everybody. He did it easy."

Down the stretch, the winner never looked in danger, as the top three spread out a bit to clearly claim their positions of 1-2-3. Texas Red ran on well, in his first race in five months, to finish second, and 2 ½-lengths clear of third. That honor went to the Todd Pletcher trained Tommy Macho, who was the only other runner really involved in the stretch run. Smart Transition made a belated rally to fill out the superfecta.

As for the Breeders’ Cup winner, the trainer of Texas Red was pleased with his charge’s return performance. "I thought [his trip] was awesome,” said Keith Desormeaux. “That's a helluva time :35 flat [1:35 mile], you could see him running strong through the wire and he's bred for a mile and quarter so it's beautiful. A beautiful step to our ultimate goal which is the [Grade 1] Travers [August 29, Saratoga Race Course]."

As the second betting choice, Speightster returned $6.50 for a $2 win wager. The final time for the flat mile was a respectable 1:35.13. While this was his longest race yet, it is still unclear whether the winner will get the chance to prove himself at longer distances anytime soon.

“If we're looking at Saratoga, we're thinking [Grade 1] King's Bishop [August 29] as a possibility,” said Mott. “That would be something we'd sure consider right now. He's gone seven furlongs, six-and-half and up to a mile, and he's undefeated - I thought he ran against a very nice group of horses today. The sky's the limit."