Horses to Watch: Follow these rising Cox and Pletcher juveniles

New to the watch list

Gettysburg Address

Well-bred son of Florida Derby (G1) winner Constitution out of Summertime Oaks (G2) heroine Jojo Warrior debuted in a six-furlong maiden special weight at Ellis Park on Sunday and won in fine style. After tracking splits of 22.62 and 46.54 seconds from third place, Gettysburg Address rallied gamely in the final furlong to prevail by three-quarters of a length in 1:12.28. This Brad Cox trainee is bred to run long, so look for Gettysburg Address to improve once he stretches out around two turns.

Locked

Todd Pletcher-trained colt showed promise in a six-furlong maiden special weight on Saturday at Saratoga. After steadying at the start and losing a lot of ground, Locked trailed the field by nearly a dozen lengths through an opening quarter-mile in 22.56 seconds. But the son of Gun Runner never gave up and closed three lengths through the final furlong alone to finish third, beaten 3 1/2 lengths in a quick race completed in 1:10.22. With a clean break next time, I believe Locked will break his maiden.

Technical Analysis

Saratoga standout brought her record racing on grass at the Spa to 4-for-5 with an authoritative victory in the one-mile De La Rose. Setting easy fractions of 24.54, 48.49 and 1:11.84 left Technical Analysis with plenty left to blaze her final two furlongs in 11.00 and 11.14 seconds to beat the Grade 1-placed White Frost by 3 1/2 lengths in the snappy time of 1:33.98. I suspect Technical Analysis will win at least one graded stakes (perhaps multiple) before the year is over.

Worth another try

Cody’s Wish

Failed to fire his best shot when stretching out over 1 1/8 miles for the Whitney (G1) at Saratoga, getting off to an awkward start before launching a mild rally to finish third by 10 lengths. Getting back to a fast-paced sprint or mile race should help Cody’s Wish rebound with a winning run next time.

Copper Em

Ran way below expectations in the Adirondack (G3) at Saratoga, fading steadily to finish last by 20 1/4 lengths. This was such a sharp regression from Copper Em’s decisive debut victory at Ellis Park (in which she trounced next-out winner Bella Haze by 4 1/4 lengths) that I’m tempted to draw a line through Copper Em’s Adirondack performance and assume something went wrong.

Far Bridge

Put forth a good try in the Saratoga Derby (G1), closing ground from behind a slow pace to finish third by 1 1/2 lengths against a gate-to-wire winner. The yielding turf course might not have been suitable for Far Bridge, who has repeatedly shown a strong turn-of-foot on firm turf, so I’ll view his game performance against a tricky pace scenario in a positive light.

Signator

Returned from a lengthy layoff in a seven-furlong allowance at Saratoga last Saturday and settled for seventh place after breaking slowly. Signator was beaten 8 1/2 lengths over a distance likely shorter than his best (he broke his maiden with a fast finish over one mile), so I’ll wait and see if he improves over a longer trip next time before deciding whether to remove him from my watch list.

Off the watch list

Capture the Flag

Showed little when returning from a long layoff in a seven-furlong allowance on Saturday at Saratoga, tracking the early pace before steadily retreating to finish last by 27 3/4 lengths. I’ll want to see Capture the Flag bounce back with a stronger showing before returning him to my watch list.

Maple Leaf Mel

Sadly suffered a fatal injury when leading in the homestretch of the Test (G1) at Saratoga.

Here is my complete, updated list of Horses to Watch.

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.