Speed Abounds In Group 1 French 2000 Guineas

There’s speed galore on display this weekend in Paris for the 2014 running of the Group 1 French 2000 Guineas.

In fact, there’s so much legitimate speed in this weekend’s big three year old $500,000 turf classic in Paris that you might want to turn an eye to the few late closers in this race, if you’re handicapping this event.

Lenny271 Racing’s Northwest Evil looks like the most legit of the legitimate speed here this weekend in the 1600-metre event.  But Ryan’s colt will have to avoid falling into a speed duel trap and then hope he has enough left in the tank to hold off the closers here in Paris on Saturday.

The most impressive of those closers just might be Skunkbarn Racing’s Zoom Lens, a real blueblood if ever there was one.  When you look at Skunk’s colt’s running lines, you might think he wants longer than the mile he‘ll see this weekend in France.  But one thing that is easy to see is that Zoom Lens definitely belongs with this group in Paris this weekend.  And, his late closing running style might just suit him perfectly in a race that seems to be loaded with early speed.

Actually, that’s going to be the line in the sand for most of these speedsters.

Do you go with North West Evil early and tempt fate and try to steal it on the front end?  Or do you hold back a little, saving some energy for the turn for home, hoping to stave off the late closers who will surely be trying to run down the early speed burners in deep stretch?

But those two, as well as the rest of the field, will have to deal with a couple of even more impressive colts in your 9/2 morning line favorite, Unbridled Cry, who has drawn the far outside post here Saturday in Paris.  The colt from Balata Racing Stables looks really impressive coming in here, with a win in an 8.5 listed stakes two starts back in which he popped a 107 speed figure, the best of this bunch this weekend.  If Rick’s colt runs back to that 107 speed ball race two starts back, he will be a deserving favorite come Saturday afternoon.

And, then there’s the second favorite, K’s Teahupoo, who’s 5/1, according to the morning line odds makers.  As usual, the colt from Bacchus Racing Stable has been brilliantly placed throughout his brief career so far.  But the second favorite going into this Saturday’s race was beaten in the Grade 3 Stubenville by an 8/1 shot in here, an interesting colt who goes by the name of Theatre Critic.

All in all, this is a pretty serious field of 3 year old milers here in Paris this weekend.    

It’s going to be one of the more interesting editions of the French 2000 Guineas in recent memory, that much is certain.

French 2000 Guineas    (Group 1)

About 1600 Metres, or 8 Furlongs

Purse:  $500,000       Restricted To 3 Year Olds Only

 

 

( 1 )  ZOOM LENS  (KY)          Owner:  Skunktime

(Giant’s Causeway x Magnification (Kingmambo x Storm Cat))

Odds:  7 / 1         Record:  6:  3-0-0          Earnings:  $87,381

Zoom Lens might be exactly the kind of colt that could take advantage of the huge amount of early speed in this race and use his late charge to pick up a lot of the pieces.  Class, class, and more class here.  This colt’s blood is about as royal blue as it gets.  He’s by Giant’s Causeway, and he’s out of the Grade 1 millionaire he-mare Magnification (Kingmambo x Storm Cat), who is out of another Grade 1 millionaire dam by the name of Explosive Storm (Storm Cat x Danzig x Gone West).  I mean, come on.  There isn’t a single weak link in this colt’s pedigree.  If Zoom Lens is anything less than a superstar in his career, he would be a huge disappointment to his ancestors.   Zoom Lens lived up to his pedigree in his first three starts, winning two out of three.  In his fourth start, he finished out of the top three when he went 9 furlongs.  But he was coming on strong late there, and that class was starting to show. Two starts back, Skunk turned him back to a mile in an allowance event, and all Zoom Lens did there was come from 9 lengths off the lead midway through the race to score by a little more than a length.  Now, here’s where it gets interesting.  Last time out, he ran in the Group 3 Irish 2000 Guineas Trial, which, despite being a group 3 event, is usually a pretty loaded race every year.  This year was no different.  That field was stacked  with some pretty nice horses.  Zoom Lens was taken back behind most of the pack there, as he usually is, and midway through the race he found himself in 11^th place, about 10 ¼ lengths off the leaders.  Two furlongs later, at the six-furlong pole, he still hadn’t made up much ground on the leaders, finding himself 9 lengths back.  Against a field that was really stacked, Zoom Lens then  turned on the jets and cut the gap between himself and the leaders by six lengths.  That is some serious late flying!  He finished in fifth place there, but he was only beaten by a little over 3 lengths.  It’s hard to say whether this field here in Paris on Saturday afternoon is as good as the one in the Grade 3 Irish 2000 Guineas Trial.  But the field this weekend in France definitely has a ton of speed.  And it’s that fact that makes Zoom Lens so dangerous here.  If he can get some of these speed burners to kill each other off, he might just have his first group score.  And, that would make his owner, Skunk, and his ancestors pretty darned proud.  This colt has the class, the breeding, and exactly the right come-from-behind running style for this group in Paris this weekend.  And, you can bet he’s going to be very dangerous against this group.  The horse just has way too much class not to be dangerous in this field.  I don’t think it will matter much if he gets a dozen lengths behind this bunch in Paris.  He’s going to come charging late in this spot, and it might just be enough to get him over the top in the French 2000 Guineas.  He may need more distance, as he gets older, but here in Paris, he might have found the perfect field to help him put together his first group score.

 

 

( 2 ) SEEKING THE LYPH   (KY)          Owner:  Thehippos

Gio Ponti x Pharsquaw (Seeking The Gold x Lyphard)

Odds:  19 / 1         Record:   7: 2-2-2       Earnings:  $376,450

Seeking The Lyph has just enough speed on the front end of his pedigree and just enough stamina on the back end to make you think that he could pull off a win in the 1600-metre French 2000 Guineas here in Paris this weekend.  There’s only one hiccup.  The 3 year old son of Gio Ponti has never run the 1600 metres he’ll be asked to go this weekend in a career which includes a sparkling win in the 1000-metre Group 1 Nonethorpe across the channel in Surrey last August, when he was a 2 year old.   He jumped out in front of a full field that day in the U.K., and he stayed there the entire way, beating a couple of graded winners in the process as the sixth betting choice in the field of 14.  Seeking The Lyph showed off his impressive front-end speed that day, chewing up a pretty impressive field of sprinters, including graded winners Bedlamite and Careful Choice as well as four other group stakes-placed colts.  After his next start in the 1200-metre Grade 1 Middle Park Stakes last October resulted in a pretty sluggish effort that saw him give up the lead late and finish a fading sixth, his owner, Davarto Racing Stables, gave Seeking The Lyph the winter off and brought him back in January of this season.  The three year old out of the Seeking The Gold mare Pharsquaw seemed to have retained his early speed over the course of the winter layoff, but he has given up the lead late in two listed stakes efforts since his comeback at the beginning of the season.  He does have one open allowance win two starts back at 4.5 furlongs over this same Paris racecourse that he’ll be running on this weekend.  He held the lead the entire way in that event, as he staved off a late charge by Blue Choice to win by a quarter of a length in what was a visually impressive win for Seeking The Lyph.  Still, Seeking The Lyph has yet to show he can cover successfully the 1600 metres he’ll be asked to run in Paris on Saturday.  You might think this is a pretty tough task Davarto is asking his colt to accomplish for the first time at this distance in a tough Group 1 field.   But one thing Davarto has always had is a great feel for when his horses are ready to step up to the plate in new or uncertain circumstances, and he generally won‘t enter his horses against fields he thinks they can‘t do well against.  This might just be the right time for Davarto and Seeking The Lyph here in Paris.  Trust the owner’s gut feelings here.  Davarto might have a live entry here in this prestigious Group 1 event this weekend.  After all, Davarto is averaging about $55,000 every time he puts Seeking The Lyph on the track, and he’s one of the few in here who can boast that.  You might want to go with the money horse in the French 2000 Guineas this weekend, despite his lack of experience at this distance.

 

( 3 )  ROCK HARD REBEL  (SKOR)          Owner:  Droppinthhammer

(Rock Hard Ten x Silly Moose (Dansili x Cozzene))

Odds:    6 / 1       Record:  8:  5-2-1     Earnings:  $143,905

Normally, sons of Rock Hard Ten like to run a bit longer than 1600 metres.  But it looks like Bill of Nextbonus Racing has himself a pretty hot little miler here in Rock Hard Rebel.  This colt has done very little wrong in his first eight starts.  He’s finished in the top three in all eight starts, and he’s coming off a career high 105 speed figure while finishing third in his first graded event last time out in Kentucky.  Rock Hard Rebel was in the middle of the pack early in the Grade 3 Dracula in Kentucky last month.  He made a pretty tremendous late move and made up a lot of ground late to pick up a third place check in that spot.  It was kind of a different show put on there in Kentucky by the three year old out of the stakes placed Dansili he-mare Silly Moose.  In most of his previous seven starts he was either on or near the lead most of the race.  He had utilized that front-running style effectively in winning five of those seven events.  But, when he hit graded company for the first time, Bill’s colt took back quickly early before finally settling in mid-pack for much of the race.  He was in sixth place in the 14-horse field about six lengths back of the leaders, before he slowly began picking off horses one by one.  I don’t think he was  worse than any of these horses in front of him at the finish, by any means.  I think what happened was that Rock Hard Rebel was learning how to rate behind the leaders in the Grade 3 Dracula, and that third place finish was no disappointment.  Most owners would bring him longer this time.  But not Bill.  He’s been doing this Derbyfever thing a long time.  If he didn’t think his colt wanted a mile, he wouldn’t have Rock Hard Rebel in this spot.  I think Bill believes this colt is going to grow even more in the Group 1 French 2000 Guineas Saturday, and I believe Bill thinks his colt can rate just behind a field that’s full of speed and then pick them off at the end and possibly score his first graded win.  There is, indeed, a lot of legitimate early speed in this race, and this could set up nicely for a stalking type like Rock Hard Rebel.  He might be picking up more than just the pieces here late in the French 2000 Guineas.  He has a real shot to pick up the whole thing, if he can run anything like he did in his last effort.  Watch this colt closely as the front-end speed burners try to out-duel each other early.  If the early pace makes this race fall apart on the front end, and if Bill’s colt isn’t too far back by the 4-furlong pole, he could be a very dangerous beast in this 2014 French 2000 Guineas.  Definitely a colt to watch here this weekend in Paris.

 

( 4 )  K’S TEAHUPOO  (ENG)           Owner:  Bacchus  

Dansili x K’s Slew Wells (Sadler’s Wells x Seattle Slew))

Odds:  5 / 1        Record:  10:  5-5-1         Earnings:  $165,460

K’s Teahupoo has as much (if not more) stakes experience as any three year old in this field in Paris this weekend.  The three year old son of Dansili out of K’s Slew Wells has ten career starts dating all the way back to February of his 2 year old season, and he really hasn’t been given a very long break from racing since his debut over 14 months ago.  He started off his career with easy maiden and allowance scores in his first two starts.  But the lights didn’t really come on for this colt until career start number 7, which just happened to be his first try at a mile in a November listed stakes event in Thailand.  K’s Teahupoo threw his first 100-plus speed figure of his career in that event, and he absolutely trounced a field of six others by open lengths.  He scorched the track that day in a time of 1:35.41 for the 1600 metres, and that says a great deal about him as a late two year old.  If that wasn’t impressive enough, Bacchus Racing Stables threw its brilliant Dansili colt right back in against listed stakes company in his next start on the continent in Spain, where he nearly busted the 1:35 mark for the 1600 metres there.  He led 7 others in the field from gate to wire to score by a length and a half in the Irish Tarbash Turf Juvenile, a race that closed out his two year old season in early December.  K’s Teahupoo was then entered in the 3 year old Group 1 Equinics 1600-metre event in his 2014 debut after about six weeks of rest.  He picked up in 2014 right where he left off in 2013, throwing his third consecutive 100-plus speed figure run, before he finished a pretty impressive fourth, beaten only a length and a quarter.  He actually held the lead briefly there at the 1200-metre pole, flashing a pretty swift time of 1:09.36 at that point in the race, before being caught and passed in the final two furlongs.  In his last outing, K’s Teahupoo might have been asked to go a little bit longer than he liked in the Group 2 South African Classic at 1800 metres, fading in the last 200 metres to an 11^th place finish there.  But this weekend, he’s back to his preferred 1600-metre distance.  And it looks like his owner might have him ready to roll against this group in the French 2000 Guineas.  He’s been brilliantly placed so far in his career, and a win here in Paris this weekend might put K’s Teahupoo squarely back in the conversation for some of the  end of the year honors in the three year old division.  This is a pretty impressive son of Dansili here who’s held up well while running a pretty stiff schedule so far in his career.  And this test in Paris this weekend may show us exactly what this colt is made of.  Definitely one to keep your eye on here this weekend.

 

( 5 )  NORTH WEST EVIL  (ENG)         Owner:  Thethumb2

(Makfi (GB) x The South Side (Hussonet x Galileo))

Odds:  8 / 1        Record:  6:  3-3-0        Earnings:  $123,570

Lenny271 Racing sends North West Evil here to Paris on Saturday afternoon.  The English-bred three year old son of Makfi only has six career starts coming in here.  But look carefully at his PP chart and see what he did two starts back.  He ran against a pretty good colt by the name of Illusion Shaker, who went off as the second favorite in that allowance event behind North West Evil.  Ryan’s colt simply left scorched turf in his wake, when he jumped out to an early lead to win convincingly by open lengths in that spot.  Here’s the thing about that effort.  Illusion Shaker came back in his very next start to run a 107 speed figure, and I think that gives you a pretty good idea of exactly the type of colt Ryan’s North West Evil beat in that race two starts back.  This colt is one of many colts in here who will probably be dueling on the front end early, and North West Evil’s jockey will have to be extremely careful not to let himself get burned out early with the other flame throwers running here this weekend in Paris.  Ryan threw his colt on the dirt to start his career, and he did pretty well on that surface in his first three starts.  But after a couple of second place finishes that Ryan obviously wasn’t happy with, he tossed North West Evil on the turf.  He showed immediate improvement in the speed figure department, and he won his last two starts at a mile in pretty convincing fashion.  Ryan dropped him back down in distance to 7.5 furlongs in his first listed stakes attempt last time out, and he blew out to a big lead once again.  You usually don’t see that when a horse turns from a route back to a long sprint.  Usually you’ll see them taper off a bit and run with a bit shorter lead or not make the lead at all.  But North West Evil really turned on the burners in that 7.5 listed stakes and actually had a 4+ length lead two furlongs from the wire before he got caught late and finished second.   I think it’s very important that Lenny’s colt showed the same type of front end speed in that long sprint as he did in his two previous 1600-metre events, because that tells us that this colt’s speed is not of the cheap variety.  He’s got legit speed.  He might just be the one who burns out all the other speed burners and hangs on for the win.  At the very least, I think he’s got the best chance of all the front-runners here this weekend.  He should get the lead early here and hold it.  Can he hold off the late charges by some of the stalker types in here?  That’s the big question for North West Evil.  If his early speed is as legitimate as I think it is, the rest of the field had better not let Lenny’s colt get too far out in front early.  If he’s on his game on Saturday in Paris, the rest of the field may never catch this colt.

 

( 6 )  STREET ARTISTE  (KY)              Owner:  Boble

(Street Cry x Bogiantniner (Giant’s Causeway x Forty Niner))

Odds:  7 / 1         Record:    6:  4-1-0        Earnings:  $103,975   

Street Artiste is pretty regally bred, much like Zoom Lens.  He’s by Street Cry, and he’s based on the Giant’s Causeway he-mare Bogiantniner.  Street Artiste’s low place in the pecking order here based on his entry points is a bit misleading, and that’s because this is only his second career turf start.  I know, I know.  That seems to be asking a lot of a three year old to make his second career start in the Group 1 French 2000 Guineas.  But Boble Racing feels his colt has the class to run with this bunch.  After all, he’s won four of his six starts so far, finished second once, and he’s only finished out of the top three once.  He won his first two starts at seven furlongs, and he won easily when he went to his first route race at a mile in his third start on the dirt.  He had a little bump in the road in his fourth start, a listed stakes in Colorado, where he finished fifth.  Still, Blazing Sad Racing had faith in his colt’s dirt ability, and he even moved him up to 9 furlongs two starts back.  He wasn’t exactly awful there, finishing second.  He did lose a little ground late, as he maybe wasn’t quite ready for the 9 panels.  I’m not sure what happened there.  But Boble probably thought at that point, enough is enough.  He switched his colt to the turf for the first time ever in an 8-furlong allowance event in Colorado, where he won geared down late by three very easy lengths.  It was an eye-popping win, if you happened to be lucky enough to watch it.  He scored a 99 speed figure there, but if you watched that race, it’s pretty easy to see that if he were pushed harder late, he could have easily broken the 100 speed figure barrier.  The race in Paris this weekend is his first race across the pond, and Street Artiste has his work cut out for him here against this field in the Group 1 French 2000 Guineas.  He’s not only facing his first group level field, but it’s only his second start on the turf and his first in the EAAA Region, where the turf racing is king.  He’s got the deck stacked against him here, but if he can show that his first easy win on the turf home in America at this distance wasn’t a fluke, he might be a live long shot here this weekend.  If you’re looking for a long shot, watch this guy in his second career turf start.  The quick pace expected here certainly favors his off-the-pace stalking style.  But he’s never faced a group quite this quick.  Can he stay within striking distance early on in this race, especially against this seasoned bunch of 3 year olds?  That’s the big question for Street Artiste, and only he can answer it.   Let’s watch and see how he handles big-time EAAA turf racing.

 

( 7 )  THEATRE CRITIC   (KY)       Owner:  Jockeymax7

(Tale Of The Cat x Land Speed Record (Theatrical x A.P. Indy))

Odds:  7 / 1            Record:  8: 4-2-0         Earnings:  $211,195

Theatrical Critic got his career off to a flying start, winning three of his first four starts, including the 7-furlong Group 3 Stubenville.  His first two starts as a two year old came on the dirt, interestingly enough, and he did extremely well there before his owner, Jockeymax Stables, decided to try him on the turf.  The switch paid quick dividends, when Theatre Critic shipped across the pond to England for his first graded win at Surrey back in October of last season.  The Group 2 Lafitte Criterium proved a bit too much for him, when he turned in a 10^th place finish there.  Maybe it was the turn back in distance to six furlongs.  Maybe Theatre Critic just had a bad day.  Jockeymax shipped him back to the states, where he quickly regained his form, finishing second in an 8.5 furlong listed stakes in Pennsylvania.  That was a Del Penn Champions Day race, so you know it was probably loaded with talent that day in December.  In his last start, he won an allowance event at 8.25 furlongs in Pennsylvania.  Despite that being an allowance event, it was a big race for Theatre Critic for a couple reasons.  After his owner went back and forth with the distance, trying to find the right spot for his brilliant colt, he probably found that this colt  really likes to run around a mile or so, which is the distance he’ll see this weekend in Paris.  He absolutely coasted in that last time out allowance win with that huge 105 speed figure.  That definitely showed Jockeymax that his colt belongs with this bunch here in the Group 1 French 2000 Guineas this weekend.  What’s nice about this colt is that he can run on the lead and win gate to wire, which could be dangerous in this race, with so much front-end spend.   He can also rate right off the leaders and make a late charge in deep stretch.  It’s extremely nice to have a young colt with only eight career starts who’s already showing this type of versatility.  It’s exactly the thing that could make this a big payday for Theatre Critic this weekend.  Keep an eye on this one.  If Theatre Critic runs anything like he did last time out in that allowance, look out.

 

( 8 )  FAST IN THE PAST   (AUS)        Owner:  Pmjstable    

(Fastnet Rock x Nureyev x Roberto)  (Scratch-bred)

Odds:  8 / 1            Record:  10:  3-1-0         Earnings:  $247,786

The Australian-bred Fast In The Past started off his career in the EAAA Region, winning two of his five career starts there.  But it wasn’t until his owner, Mark Baggio, brought him across the pond to Canada that this three year old son of Fastnet Rock would score  a graded win in his first graded attempt ever.  The scratch-bred colt who has a pretty impressive back end that includes Nureyev and Roberto was doing just fine to kick off his career, where he won a MSW and a local-bred allowance event in his five attempts in the EAAA Region.   But no one could have foreseen from those performances what Mark’s colt was capable of doing when he entered Fast In The Past in the Grade 3 Summertime in Ontario in his first graded attempt ever on North American soil.  Certainly the betting public in Ontario didn’t see this colt coming that early October day, when they made him the fifth betting choice (at 6/1) in a pretty strong field of ten colts, one of whom would be the eventual Grade 1 Breeders’ Bowl Juvenile Turf winner and Grade 1 Futurity winner Bit Of A Buzz.  Fast In The Past came from dead last with a pretty mad rush and caught Bit Of A Buzz in deep stretch in the Grade 3 Summertime before drew off to win by a length and a half.  Fast In The Past also beat the post-time favorite and a pretty decent colt in his own right in Wayward Star that same day.  Mark’s colt then tossed a decent fifth place finish in the Breeders’ Bowl Juvenile Turf, where Bit Of A Buzz would extract his revenge on Fast In The Past.  But Fast In The Past was closing quickly late that day on the big Breeders’ Bowl day in California and simply ran out of ground late.  From there, Mark took his colt to the dirt in Louisiana to run in the Grade 3 Sam’s Town Delta Jackpot, a pretty important million-dollar Bluegrass Derby prep for late two year olds.  Fast In The Past showed he didn’t want much to do with the dirt on his first time on that surface, when he finished a well-beaten 10^th that day.  After that, he took about a month and a half off before he tried the turf again, this time in the 8-Furlong Grade 2 Fainting Goats Nightmare Stakes.  He threw a 95 speed figure that day, which tied his career high up to that point, in a very deceiving tenth place finish in Arizona.  What was so misleading about that tenth place finish was that Fast In The Past faced a pretty stiff field that day, yet he was only beaten by 3 ½ lengths.  Ten colts squashed together in a space of 3 ½ lengths?  Yes, it’s fair to say that it was pretty deceiving when you saw that he finished tenth that day, beaten by that scant margin.  Mark’s colt ran fifth his last time out in the Grade 2 Palms in Florida, coming from 12^th place in a field of 14 to grab a minor check there.  This colt has a pretty nice late charge in his bag of tricks.  If his jockey this weekend in Paris can keep him a little closer to the leaders early on, there’s no doubt this colt has the talent–as well as the class–to run with the best in the world.  He’s shown us that already, when he beat Bit Of A Buzz late last season.  Can he do it again here?  Can he make a strong enough late charge to beat an extremely talented field of colts in the $500,000 Group 1 French 2000 Guineas in his first return to an EAAA track since midway through his two-year old season?  That’s the big question for the Australian-bred Fast In The Past here in Paris on Saturday.

 

( 9 )  ALIEN FRED   (IRE)            Owner:  Fredjed

(Sir Prance lot (IRE) x Young Sensation (Medicean x Danehill))

Odds:  20 / 1          Record:  7:  2-2-1      Earnings:  $64,896

Alien Fred is the outsider in this field this weekend in Paris.  He doesn’t have the blue blood pedigree like some of these have, and he doesn’t have the speed figures most of these have coming into the Group 1 French 2000 Guineas.  He’s by an Irish sire named Sir Prancealot, a sire who has yet to throw his first stakes winner, much less his first group winner.  In his first four starts, Alien Fred has done very little wrong, winning two of those first four starts.  And, he was throwing around some pretty decent speed figures.  Then in his next two starts, a 7-furlong sprint and a 6.5-furlong sprint, he faltered just a bit, finishing second and fifth, losing a little ground late in both efforts.  When Fredje Racing finally brought his colt up to a mile last time out, he ran against a pretty quick bunch there in his homeland in Ireland.  The winner ran the mile in 1:35 and change, and Alien Fred kept close early on, before he faded to third.  Still, he was only beaten by four lengths.  Four of his starts have been in Ireland and three have been farther south in Newmarket, so he’s used to running against some pretty good turf colts.  But he hasn’t quite seen anything of the calibre that he’ll see in Paris this weekend in the Group 1 French 2000 Guineas.  That much is certain.  Still, there is hope, because Alien Fred’s last three speed figures have risen to the low to mid 90’s in those last three races of his.  That might not be good enough to compete with this group, but it’s always a lot of fun to watch a horse like Alien Fred step onto the track in a group 1 race, because everyone loves a long shot.  And, Alien Fred is definitely going to be a real long shot come post time here in Paris this weekend.

 

( 10 )  GIANT CIZIN  (KY)          Owner:   Musse

(Giant’s Causeway x Slew Montjeu (Montjeu x Seattle Slew))

Odds:  10 / 1        Record:  7:  4-0-1       Earnings:  $129,311

Here’s another one that could benefit from an early speed duel this weekend in Paris.  Giant Cizin, from Daniel Racing Stables, won two of his first five starts, including a fifth place finish in a listed stakes his second time out of the gates way back in October of last season in Germany.  In fact, this weekend, when he hits the turf course in Paris, it will be his first time racing outside of Germany.  In those first five starts, the son of Giant’s Causeway was doing pretty well, but he still hadn’t broken through with anything like a 90 speed figure.  Then, two starts back, he caught a bit of an off turf course in Germany, and the lights really came on for this colt.  He got up late to score a ¾ length victory in an allowance race, after stalking the early leaders.  What’s even bigger is that he popped a 98 speed figure in that start, his highest speed figure of his career up to that point.  After that, in his last start, Daniel put him in a NW4L allowance event, once again in Germany at a mile, and he popped his first 100 speed figure of his career, once again coming from just off the pace midway through the 8-furlong race.  Those last two 8-furlong starts will make him competitive here.  The colt who is out of the Grade 3 winning mare Slew Montjeu will have to be careful he doesn’t get too far behind the early leaders, because he has yet to face a field with this much early speed.  That’s going to be the key to Giant Cizin’s success–the ability to stay in touch with the leaders without expending too much energy early.  If Daniel’s colt is within three to five lengths of the leaders midway through the race, he’s got a very live chance to take this race this weekend in France.  Any farther back than that, and Daniel’s colt might be in trouble.  Daniel knows his turf racing.  He is a veteran turf-meister, especially in these big European events.  And he wouldn’t have his colt in this spot, with only one listed stakes try on his record, if he didn’t feel Giant Cizin was sitting on a big race.  I’ll trust Daniel’s gut feeling here, and I have a feeling that Daniel’s gut is telling him is colt is ready to roll in Paris on Saturday in the Group 1 French 2000 Guineas.  Giant Cizin’s won all three of his tries at this 1600-metre distance so far in his career, and he’s one of a few in here who can say that.

 

( 11 )   UNBRIDLED CRY   (KY)         Owner:   Hoganapex

(Street Cry x Unbridled Motion (Pine Bluff x Unbridled))

Odds:  9 / 2          Record:  6:  3-2-0        Earnings:  $137,240

Balata Racing Stables sends out the lightly raced Unbridled Cry here in Paris this weekend for a crack at the $500,000 purse on offer in the Group 1 French 2000 Guineas.   What Rick’s colt may lack in experience (only six career starts here), he more than makes up for in class.  This three year old by Street Cry is out of the sparkling Grade 1-winning dam Unbridled Motion, who showed precocity while scoring two graded wins in Ireland and Paris before she was three years old.  And, she also showed her longevity by winning over $1 million dollars in a ten-year career that included 52 starts.  Her first foal will be trying to do this weekend what his dam did, when he attempts to win his first Group 1 event on the same Paris racecourse that she won her only Group 1 event on.  Unlike a couple of these he’ll be running against this weekend, Unbridled Cry started his two year old season late, not debuting until early November, when he threw an 81 speed figure on the dirt while finishing second in a MSW event.  That would be good enough for most people to keep this colt on the dirt, but it wasn’t good enough for Rick.  After that debut, he immediately put his blueblood colt on the grass, where he absolutely demolished the field in a gate to wire allowance win at 6.5 furlongs.  What was more important was that Unbridled Cry busted out with a 91 speed figure, a ten-point increase over his MSW debut at the same distance on the dirt.   It was enough to show Rick that his instincts were correct.  His colt popped an even bigger number in his first allowance event in his next start, again winning gate to wire.  And, what’s most important to note was that all three of these starts came in Kentucky, where the best of the best generally run in North America.  After that, Unbridled Cry would lead most of the way, before giving way late and finishing second in an 8-furlong listed stakes in Minnesota.  But he threw his first 100 speed figure that day.   So the Unbridled Cry train was rolling along right on schedule.  He threw an even bigger number in his next start, a 107 speed figure, when he simply crushed a field of 12 others in the 8.5 listed stakes Propect Learn Turf Route.  He led from gate to wire there, cruising to as much as a 3 ½ length lead before gearing down  to an amazingly easy 2-length win.  You don’t see many numbers like that for any horse in only career start number five.  Balata’s colt is the real deal.   In his last attempt, Rick took his colt to the EAAA for the first time, and he suffered a bounce there in his first graded attempt, the Grade 3 Doctor Is In Memorial in Germany.  It wasn’t that the field was too stiff for Unbridled Cry.  To be sure, it was a good field that day in Germany, but it was nothing this colt couldn’t handle.  I think he just did what most horses do after a Herculean effort like throwing a 107 in his fifth career start.  He suffered a bit of a bounce.  He jumped out of the gates alertly in that group 3 race in Germany, and he actually led halfway through the 8.5 furlong event.  But what made this race different was that Unbridled Cry wasn’t putting any space between himself and the horses chasing him early.  And, when he began to fade a little more than halfway through the race, it quickly became apparent that it just wasn’t going to be his day.   Look for him to come back strong  here, if Rick’s got Unbridled Cry ready this weekend.  And, if he does get back to his previous form, you could be looking at a gargantuan speed figure number from Unbridled Cry–one that is maybe big enough to take down this Group 1 race in Paris on Saturday.  One thing is certain:  They’ll be calling this one’s number early and often on the lead this weekend, if he’s on his game.  This colt’s got speed to burn.