DrugSalvastore
09-19-2005, 09:49 PM
It's very tricky to do a top fifteen 2yo list this early in the year. You have to rate horses like the INSANELY fast Bro Lo--who might not be around for long--with unproven future stars like Superfly, Flanders Fields, and Menacing. Here goes....
#1. Bro Lo- This is one WICKEDLY fast Cal-bred and a very treacherous horse to rate #1. In his career debut, on opening day at Del Mar, he ran five furlongs in a record 56.44 seconds, winning by 8 lengths over 4-to-5 shot Da Stoops. This Dougie O' Neil trained son of In Excess resurfaced again to score a blowout win in a 100K Cal Bred stake. Very strong stamina influances in the female side of the pedigree--including Roberto, and his dam sire is 1987 Irish Derby winner Sir Harry Lewis. It was well documented how inside posts performed poorly in sprints at Del Mar, but this guy won both starts from post 2. Anytime a horse runs opening quarters in 21 and change under a hold--you have to assume he can't go far--but I think this one might be real special.
#2. Dr. Pleasure- I'm taking another stab--in a year where exciting prospects are everywhere. This son of Thunder Gulch out of champion mare Beautiful Pleasure was a very impressive debut winner at Saratoga. He won by 7 1/2 lengths and won the faster of split MSW heats by 1.37 seconds. Make no mistake---this is a VERY serious horse---who should thrive as the distances increase.
#3. First Samurai- This is a very good looking son of Giant's Causeway. Trained by Frankie Brothers. This horse was VERY highly touted from the start---winning his debut at 1-to-2 odds in a big field at Churchill. He went to Saratoga and neatly disposed of ALW horses, and followed that up with a workman like win in the Hopeful. BIG KNOCK--his female family is loaded with sprinters--albeit classy sprinters like Sky Blue Pink--but still sprinters.
#4. Stevie Wonderboy- A flashy son of Steven Got Even, he took the Del Mar Futurity with a visually impressive, six wide, sweeping move around the far turn. He did sit a nice trip--and the pace did come back to him--still this is a very good prospect with a bright future. BIG KNOCK--he is the kind of horse that makes his own trouble...if he wants to be an elite horse...he must mature markedly. Trainer Dougie O' Neil has another good one on his hands.
#5. Superfly- This looks like a giant reach. Ever since this horse ran 2nd to Discreet Cat in a maiden at Saratoga--I've pretty much conceded the 2006 Kentucy Derby to him. This horse is a full brother to Andromeda's Hero--the dreadful 2nd place finisher in this year's Belmont. Superfly's mother won at 12 furlongs and his 4th dam is a sister to Prove Out--Prove Out famously beat Secretariat by 4.5 lengths in the 12 furlong Woodward. This horse has SHOCKING raw talent, tactical speed and athletic ability for a horse with that kind of blood. Our hero did brake his maiden in a 55K stake at Delaware over the weekend, but he wasn't all that impressive doing it. You'll hear from this one when it's time.
#6. Sorcerer's Stone- A flashy and undefeated son of Gulch. He's shown exceptional versitilty. In his debut he beat Futurity winner Private Vow. In his 2nd start he won a 5.5 furlong stake over a horse named Cole Express--a horse who was considered the best 2yo on the Arlington grounds at the time. Finally, he was a very nifty 8.5 length winner, in stakes record time, in the Arlington Futurity, over the weekend. His mother is a full sister to Grade 1 winning multi-millionaire Dramatic Gold. Impossible to knock so far. Pat Byrne has him.
#7. Flanders Fields- Here's a son of A.P. Indy out of the great 2yo champion Flanders. His debut loss at Saratoga is utterly meaningless. No son of A.P. Indy has ever won a Saratoga race at 6 furlongs or less--and A.P Indy's offspring have racked up over 100 wins at Saratoga. Flanders Fields scored a deceptivley strong maiden win, over a pretty dull track at Belmont. This horse has a little more talent than people think--and should adore nine furlongs. There are some cavitys---his trainer is the worthless Dallas Stewart. The maiden field he beat might have been a field of future claiming horses.
#8. Private Vow- It might disturb some that highly unproven types like Superfly and Flanders Fields are above Private Vow. Private Vow is a very useful horse---his maiden win at Saratoga was just 0.03 seconds slower than an N2X ALW for older fillies. He proceeded to take apart a three horse field in a Saratoga Alw--and than beat up on a shaky looking group in the Futurity.
#9. Discreet Cat- Earned a 106 Beyer figure in his debut at Saratoga, faster than Lost In The Fog's 105 on the same card. This guy is by a horse who adored Saratoga out of a horse adored Saratoga and is a sibling to a horse who adored Saratoga. I just don't think he'll be the same horse as he was in his debut at Saratoga.
#10. Menacing- Another horse that looks like a massive reach. Let's not forget Afleet Alex, Bellamy Road, and High Limit all broke their maidens first time out at Delaware Park last year. This son of Lemon Drop Kid looked WONDERFUL winning his debut at DEL over the weekend. He's trained by Tim Richey and ridden by Jermey Rose--so that team has a shot again this year.
#11. In Summation- Five for five, four stakes wins, three massive beyer figs, but this son of sprinter Put It Back will have serious trouble beating top company around two turns. His mother loved the slop--and so does he!
#12. Frisco Star- It's hard to go crazy about a horse who's only lifetime race was a 5.5 furlong maiden dash at Santa Rosa. Still, this son of More Than Ready broke the track record in a razor sharp effort. He's trained by Lost In The Fog's trainer. Another exciting sprint prospect from the Gilchrist machine.
#13. He's Got Grit- VERY quick son of Songandaprayer---he's taken apart rivals in New Jersey sprint Stakes. I know one real good handicapper who's told me he's way better than where I have him. We'll see what he has against better company. Distance is a big question as well.
#14. Henny Hughes- I've never liked this horse. He beat bums in his New Jersey debut. He than took apart two disgracefully weak fields in New York Stake races. His 2nd place finish in the Hopeful to First Samurai was actually the best race I felt I've seen out of him. He also doesn't figure to get any better with age or as the distances increase. I'm ice cold on this guy.
#15. Bashert- Lost his mind before the Del Mar Futurity---should have been scratched, and ran like crap. If you can look past that race---he's a nifty son of Tiger Ridge who's really done nothing wrong.
#1. Bro Lo- This is one WICKEDLY fast Cal-bred and a very treacherous horse to rate #1. In his career debut, on opening day at Del Mar, he ran five furlongs in a record 56.44 seconds, winning by 8 lengths over 4-to-5 shot Da Stoops. This Dougie O' Neil trained son of In Excess resurfaced again to score a blowout win in a 100K Cal Bred stake. Very strong stamina influances in the female side of the pedigree--including Roberto, and his dam sire is 1987 Irish Derby winner Sir Harry Lewis. It was well documented how inside posts performed poorly in sprints at Del Mar, but this guy won both starts from post 2. Anytime a horse runs opening quarters in 21 and change under a hold--you have to assume he can't go far--but I think this one might be real special.
#2. Dr. Pleasure- I'm taking another stab--in a year where exciting prospects are everywhere. This son of Thunder Gulch out of champion mare Beautiful Pleasure was a very impressive debut winner at Saratoga. He won by 7 1/2 lengths and won the faster of split MSW heats by 1.37 seconds. Make no mistake---this is a VERY serious horse---who should thrive as the distances increase.
#3. First Samurai- This is a very good looking son of Giant's Causeway. Trained by Frankie Brothers. This horse was VERY highly touted from the start---winning his debut at 1-to-2 odds in a big field at Churchill. He went to Saratoga and neatly disposed of ALW horses, and followed that up with a workman like win in the Hopeful. BIG KNOCK--his female family is loaded with sprinters--albeit classy sprinters like Sky Blue Pink--but still sprinters.
#4. Stevie Wonderboy- A flashy son of Steven Got Even, he took the Del Mar Futurity with a visually impressive, six wide, sweeping move around the far turn. He did sit a nice trip--and the pace did come back to him--still this is a very good prospect with a bright future. BIG KNOCK--he is the kind of horse that makes his own trouble...if he wants to be an elite horse...he must mature markedly. Trainer Dougie O' Neil has another good one on his hands.
#5. Superfly- This looks like a giant reach. Ever since this horse ran 2nd to Discreet Cat in a maiden at Saratoga--I've pretty much conceded the 2006 Kentucy Derby to him. This horse is a full brother to Andromeda's Hero--the dreadful 2nd place finisher in this year's Belmont. Superfly's mother won at 12 furlongs and his 4th dam is a sister to Prove Out--Prove Out famously beat Secretariat by 4.5 lengths in the 12 furlong Woodward. This horse has SHOCKING raw talent, tactical speed and athletic ability for a horse with that kind of blood. Our hero did brake his maiden in a 55K stake at Delaware over the weekend, but he wasn't all that impressive doing it. You'll hear from this one when it's time.
#6. Sorcerer's Stone- A flashy and undefeated son of Gulch. He's shown exceptional versitilty. In his debut he beat Futurity winner Private Vow. In his 2nd start he won a 5.5 furlong stake over a horse named Cole Express--a horse who was considered the best 2yo on the Arlington grounds at the time. Finally, he was a very nifty 8.5 length winner, in stakes record time, in the Arlington Futurity, over the weekend. His mother is a full sister to Grade 1 winning multi-millionaire Dramatic Gold. Impossible to knock so far. Pat Byrne has him.
#7. Flanders Fields- Here's a son of A.P. Indy out of the great 2yo champion Flanders. His debut loss at Saratoga is utterly meaningless. No son of A.P. Indy has ever won a Saratoga race at 6 furlongs or less--and A.P Indy's offspring have racked up over 100 wins at Saratoga. Flanders Fields scored a deceptivley strong maiden win, over a pretty dull track at Belmont. This horse has a little more talent than people think--and should adore nine furlongs. There are some cavitys---his trainer is the worthless Dallas Stewart. The maiden field he beat might have been a field of future claiming horses.
#8. Private Vow- It might disturb some that highly unproven types like Superfly and Flanders Fields are above Private Vow. Private Vow is a very useful horse---his maiden win at Saratoga was just 0.03 seconds slower than an N2X ALW for older fillies. He proceeded to take apart a three horse field in a Saratoga Alw--and than beat up on a shaky looking group in the Futurity.
#9. Discreet Cat- Earned a 106 Beyer figure in his debut at Saratoga, faster than Lost In The Fog's 105 on the same card. This guy is by a horse who adored Saratoga out of a horse adored Saratoga and is a sibling to a horse who adored Saratoga. I just don't think he'll be the same horse as he was in his debut at Saratoga.
#10. Menacing- Another horse that looks like a massive reach. Let's not forget Afleet Alex, Bellamy Road, and High Limit all broke their maidens first time out at Delaware Park last year. This son of Lemon Drop Kid looked WONDERFUL winning his debut at DEL over the weekend. He's trained by Tim Richey and ridden by Jermey Rose--so that team has a shot again this year.
#11. In Summation- Five for five, four stakes wins, three massive beyer figs, but this son of sprinter Put It Back will have serious trouble beating top company around two turns. His mother loved the slop--and so does he!
#12. Frisco Star- It's hard to go crazy about a horse who's only lifetime race was a 5.5 furlong maiden dash at Santa Rosa. Still, this son of More Than Ready broke the track record in a razor sharp effort. He's trained by Lost In The Fog's trainer. Another exciting sprint prospect from the Gilchrist machine.
#13. He's Got Grit- VERY quick son of Songandaprayer---he's taken apart rivals in New Jersey sprint Stakes. I know one real good handicapper who's told me he's way better than where I have him. We'll see what he has against better company. Distance is a big question as well.
#14. Henny Hughes- I've never liked this horse. He beat bums in his New Jersey debut. He than took apart two disgracefully weak fields in New York Stake races. His 2nd place finish in the Hopeful to First Samurai was actually the best race I felt I've seen out of him. He also doesn't figure to get any better with age or as the distances increase. I'm ice cold on this guy.
#15. Bashert- Lost his mind before the Del Mar Futurity---should have been scratched, and ran like crap. If you can look past that race---he's a nifty son of Tiger Ridge who's really done nothing wrong.