Horses to Watch: 3 to follow from a quiet week
In this biweekly series, racing analyst Keeler Johnson shares promising horses from his handicapping watch list, reviewing runners who have recently caught his eye and previewing horses scheduled to run back in the near future.
New to the Watch List
Bright Future certainly appears to have a bright future after strolling to victory in a one-mile maiden special weight on Saturday at Gulfstream Park.
With three-time Eclipse Award-winning jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. in the saddle for trainer Todd Pletcher, Bright Future was always prominent while racing outside of rivals. Pace fractions were not recorded in the official result chart, but Bright Future showed enough speed to track favored stablemate Gasoline and second choice Touch Code from third position.
Bright Future advanced to take command around the far turn, then drew off steadily down the homestretch to win by 4 3/4 lengths in a quick 1:35.48 seconds. As a son of two-time Horse of the Year Curlin out of the stakes-winning mare Sophia’s Song, Bright Future is bred to improve with maturity and thrive running long, so I’m excited to see how he progresses when stretching out around two turns.
Although Club Car failed to win a graded stakes last year, she did place three times at the graded level, including when second by a neck against Grade 1 winner Bell’s the One in the Grade 2 Thoroughbred Club of America at Keeneland.
Club Car kicked off her 2022 campaign in solid fashion in Saturday’s six-furlong Queen at Turfway Park. After tracking the pace set by even-money favorite Caravel (a veteran of the 2021 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint), Club Car stayed on nicely to finish second in a strung-out field.
Considering Club Car has done her best work on dirt, this was an encouraging performance. It should leave Club Car well-prepared for stakes at Keeneland and Churchill Downs this spring, with races such as the Madison (G1), Derby City Distaff (G1) and Winning Colors (G3) among the possible targets.
Remember Nashville? The son of Speightstown showed flashes of brilliance during the autumn of 2020, most notably smashing Keeneland’s six-furlong Perryville in the track-record time of 1:07.89 seconds.
Nashville went to the sidelines after a fourth-place finish in the Malibu (G1) and didn’t run again for nearly a year. Upon his return, he ran second in a Dec. 12 allowance optional claimer at Oaklawn and seventh in the King Cotton over the same track.
But Nashville turned things around in a six-furlong allowance optional claimer on Friday at Fair Grounds. Roaring to the front by half a dozen lengths through stiff fractions of 21.89 and 44.43 seconds, Nashville forgot to stop down the homestretch, running the final two furlongs in 11.69 and 12.49 seconds to win by 4 3/4 lengths.
Nashville stopped the clock in a blazing 1:08.61 seconds, earning a powerful 102 Beyer speed figure. If Nashville can maintain this level of form in the immediate future, watch out – a graded stakes win could be on the horizon.
Here is my complete, updated list of Horses to Watch.