Horses to Watch: 4 impressive juveniles you need to follow
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
You can count on trainer Todd Pletcher to send out a bevy of promising maiden winners at Gulfstream Park each winter. The 2021-22 Championship Meet is barely underway, but Pletcher already has unveiled exciting prospects, including Dean’s List.
A 2-year-old son of champion sprinter Speightstown, Dean’s List flashed plenty of speed in his debut sprinting six furlongs on Saturday. After pressing and setting fast fractions of 21.70 and 44.36 seconds, Dean’s List powered away down the homestretch to defeat pace rival Felix by 5 1/2 lengths in 1:09.92 seconds.
Speightstown has sired several Grade 1 winners over 1 1/4 miles, including dirt stars Golden Ticket and Haynesfield, so there’s a chance Dean’s List will prove capable of stretching beyond sprint distances. The Road to the Kentucky Derby surely beckons.
One of the most impressive debut winners of the weekend was Doppelganger, a son of leading sire Into Mischief conditioned by Bob Baffert. Favored at 1-2 to win a six-furlong maiden special weight on Saturday at Los Alamitos, the bay colt delivered with an eye-catching performance.
After getting bumped at the break, Doppelganger was initially slow to challenge, settling in seventh place through an opening quarter-mile in 22.09 seconds. But the field was tightly bunched, and after a half-mile in 45.36 seconds, Doppelganger was all the way up to second place.
From there, the race was over. Under an easy hand ride from jockey Flavien Prat, Doppelganger seized command and drew off to win by 3 1/2 lengths. Thanks to a quick final furlong in 11.98 seconds, Doppelganger reached the finish line in a solid 1:09.21 seconds, cementing his status as a promising player for the spring classics.
Dean’s List wasn’t the only winning juvenile saddled by Pletcher last Saturday. Emmanuel also made a successful debut at Gulfstream Park, claiming a one-mile maiden special weight in dominant fashion.
Under jockey Luis Saez, Emmanuel dashed to the front through fractions of 23.66, 45.97 and 1:11.08, then kicked away from his pursuers down the homestretch. Sprinting home under a hand ride, Emmanuel clocked the final two furlongs in 12.58 and 12.81 seconds to reach the finish line clear by 6 3/4 lengths in 1:36.47 seconds.
A son of More Than Ready out of a Hard Spun mare, Emmanuel has the breeding to shine around two turns and could be bound for a start on the Road to the Kentucky Derby.
Worth another try
Although Messier was defeated as the 1-2 favorite in the Los Alamitos Futurity (G2) at Los Alamitos, it is hard to knock his performance. After chasing (and then setting) solid fractions of 22.79, 46.62 and 1:10.83, Messier battled gamely down the homestretch to finish second by a length against the stretch-running Slow Down Andy.
Messier was easily best of the rest, pulling nine lengths clear of third-place runner Barossa. The closing fractions were solid, as was the final clocking of 1:42.33, and Messier is bred top and bottom to improve with maturity. I will not jump off the bandwagon just yet.
Here is my complete, updated list of Horses to Watch.