Prospect Watch: 4 well-bred juveniles debut at 3 tracks
A quiet weekend of racing is shaping up as we wait for Santa Anita’s post-Christmas opening. But that doesn’t mean the weekend is lacking in competitive maiden special weights for 2-year-olds.
To the contrary, a number of intriguing events are on the agenda. Here are four promising horses in three Saturday races at three tracks for this week’s edition of Prospect Watch:
Aqueduct Race 1: Maiden special weight (one mile, 12:20 p.m.)
No. 7 Early Voting
Pedigree: Gun Runner–Amour d’Ete, by Tiznow
Purchase price: $200,000
Trainer: Chad Brown
Chad Brown has been hot at Aqueduct, winning at a 24 percent rate, and he could keep his momentum going on Saturday with Early Voting. A son of hot young sire Gun Runner (responsible for 24 percent winners from first-time starters), Early Voting was produced by the unraced mare Amour d’Ete, who already has foaled two winners from two starters.
Early Voting has the pedigree to run long and has put together a solid work tab in preparation for his debut, highlighted by a couple of bullet breezes at Belmont Park last month. Jockey Jose Ortiz (a 30 percent winner when teaming up with Brown) is named to ride, stamping Early Voting as a prospect well worth watching.
Oaklawn Park Race 7: Maiden special weight (six furlongs, 5:19 p.m. EST)
No. 2 Hot and Sultry
Pedigree: Speightster–Hot Water, by Medaglia d’Oro
Purchase price: $475,000
Trainer: Steve Asmussen
Purchased for nearly half a million dollars as a yearling, Hot and Sultry has the pedigree to win from an early age. Speightster was a debut winner who sires a solid 14 percent winners from first-time starters, while Hot Water has foaled a pair of juvenile winners led by the graded stakes-caliber Tracksmith.
Steve Asmussen is off to a hot start at Oaklawn, winning at a 20 percent rate, so Hot and Sultry figures to be ready for a sharp showing on Saturday. The dark bay filly has put together a solid work tab highlighted by five furlongs from the Oaklawn starting gate in 1:00.2 seconds, making her 6-1 morning-line odds quite enticing.
No. 8 Peace Peddler
Pedigree: Gun Runner–Embur’s Song, by Unbridled’s Song
Purchase price: $200,000
Trainer: Richard Baltas
The second of the Gun Runners I am highlighting this week, Peace Peddler has been cranking out fast workouts like clockwork at Churchill Downs and Oaklawn Park. Five furlongs in one minute flat … five furlongs in a bullet 59.4 seconds … five furlongs from the starting gate in 1:00.6 seconds … and five furlongs in 1:00.2 seconds. Surely she is ready to fire a winning shot?
From top to bottom, Peace Peddler is bred to be a top-class filly. Gun Runner was voted 2017 Horse of the Year, while Embur’s Song won a trio of graded stakes over distances from 6 1/2 furlongs to 1 1/16 miles. Throw in the fact that trainer Richard Baltas is a 26 percent winner at Oaklawn since 2020, and Peace Peddler looks like a logical win threat.
Gulfstream Park Race 11: Maiden special weight (1 1/16 miles on turf, 5:05 p.m. EST)
No. 15 Simms
Pedigree: American Pharoah–Quarter Moon, by Sadlers Wells
Purchase price: $100,000
Trainer: Mark Casse
Talk about a beautiful pedigree! It is hard to believe Simms sold for only $100,000 as a yearling, considering that he is bred like a Grade 1 winner in the making. American Pharoah is renowned for winning the 2015 Triple Crown and has sired a bevy of talented turf horses at stud, while Quarter Moon won the Group 1 Moyglare Stud and previously has foaled Pretty Polly (G1) winner Diamondsandrubies.
Unfortunately, Simms is marooned as the sixth also-eligible in Saturday’s field, so the Mark Casse trainee will need a lot of scratches to compete. But if he draws in, expect a competitive performance – the surface should be perfect, and Simms enters off back-to-back bullet workouts at Palm Meadows.