Horses to Watch: 2 exciting sprinters, rising 3-year-old return
In this biweekly series, racing analyst J. 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.
Upcoming entries
Perfect Shances
Perfect Shances showed a lot of potential when debuting in a 4 1/2-furlong maiden special weight over a sloppy Keeneland main track last month. After carving out the pace, she drew clear easily down the homestretch to win by 4 3/4 lengths.
Now Perfect Shances is making her stakes debut in Saturday’s eighth race at Gulfstream Park, the Royal Palm Juvenile Fillies, post time 4:49 p.m. EDT, a five-furlong turf sprint that awards the winner a berth to compete at Royal Ascot in England next month. She is one of only two proven winners in the 12-horse field, as the rest are unraced or still maidens. Perfect Shances is a serious win threat for high-percentage trainer Wesley Ward, even while switching from dirt to turf.
Straight No Chaser
After scratching from last week’s Lake Hamilton at Oaklawn, Straight No Chaser has turned up in the entries for Saturday’s fourth race at Belmont at the Big A, the Runhappy (G3), post time 2:06 p.m. EDT.
Straight No Chaser was coming to hand impressively during the spring of 2023. First he dominated a six-furlong $50,000 allowance optional claimer at Oaklawn Park, and then he wired the six-furlong Maryland Sprint (G3) at Pimlico by 7 1/2 lengths. Both of those victories yielded flashy 104 Brisnet Speed ratings.
An injury subsequently sent Straight No Chaser to the sidelines, and he hasn’t raced in nearly a year. But he’s been posting sharp workouts at Santa Anita, and if he returns to action as sharp as ever, he can take home top honors in the Runhappy and resume his ascent through the stakes ranks.
The Wine Steward
The Wine Steward has won three of his five starts and finished second by less than one length in his two defeats. He opened his career with three straight sprint wins, including triumphs against stakes competition in the Bashford Manor and Funny Cide. Then he stretched out in distance for the 1 1/16-mile Breeders’ Futurity (G1) last fall and battled gamely to finish second by half a length against the talented Locked.
The Wine Steward recently returned from a six-month layoff to finish second in the 1 1/16-mile Lexington (G3), beaten only three quarters of a length by promising up-and-comer Encino. Two sharp workouts since then suggest The Wine Steward is a formidable win threat while making his second start of the season in Saturday’s sixth race at Belmont at the Big A, the Peter Pan (G3), post time 3:08 p.m. EDT.
The Wine Steward is 3-for-3 sprinting and 0-for-2 running long, so the 1 1/8-mile distance of the Peter Pan could theoretically be a question mark. But given that his route defeats came against graded stakes foes–and in races where The Wine Steward finished well clear of the rest–longer trips are likely not an issue. The Wine Steward is bred to run long and improve with maturity, so it’s possible he’ll move forward nicely in his second run of the season and secure his first graded stakes triumph.