KY Horsemen Series: Black Jack Blues, Elite Groom Ted, Bermuda in top freshmen colt matchup
Kentucky– We’ve reached the glorious halfway point in the KY Horsemen Spirits Series. Seven special Saturdays play host to 16 Grade 1 races. All are showcases for the game’s best talent and, this week, the top freshmen colts and fillies tackle graded Monster Miles for the very first time in their careers. California, New York, Florida, and of course the Bluegrass Racetrack here in Kentucky give away $4-million in total prize money………
And, boy, did the sponsors of this Series, The Kentucky Horsemen Residency, save the most exciting race for their home track:
- Unbeaten dual graded winners Black Jack Blues and Bermuda put their win streaks on the line. Both are a perfect 3-for-3 so far and ranked 3rd and 6th respectively in their division.
- Grade 2 winner Elite Groom Ted brings his #2 ranking to the table. The Western Groom clone lost by a smidgeon LTO to Black Jack Blues.
- Those wily DelPenners get in on the action too. Valentine Avenger and Rio Secco were just a whisker apart at the wire, finishing 1-2 with a smokin’ 86 SP# in the restricted DelPenn Mile Open Dirt.
- Outsider Ape The Great turned some heads with his own 86 SP# LTO, winning a mile open allowance.
- Stakes winners Cat Five Cyclone, Blue Skies Ahead, and Seperated At Birth and more all test their mettle for the prize, glory, and Breeders Bowl points!
Let’s take a look at the full lineup:
The Big Boys:
9 – BLACK JACK BLUES blackswan D Givins 6/1
Beautiful beginning to this Came Home x Alydar x Native Dancer colt. Heavily inbred with 3×4 to Raise a Native and 3x4x5 to Native Dancer and the result is some macho speed. Bagged his high-purse MSW debut well enough and then determinedly zipped through both the Television(G3) and Faber College Juvenile(G2) where he scored an 84 SP# for the 6f. Possible with so much RAN inbreeding that he’s gonna a sprinter, so this’ll be a litmus test for him. Faces some pace pressure, but has overcome that before. Not a lock, but a threat all the same. Top jockey Denny Givins aboard.
7 – ELITE GROOM TED tempstable V Wright 7/1
Gone West son won the Vermont BB Juvenile(G2) over Cat Five Cyclone before finishing second fiddle to Black Jack Blues in the Faber College Juvenile(G2). Splendid looking colt makes two-turns debut as well and should be behind the pace a bit. No reason to suspect that he won’t enjoy the mile — he’s a copy breeding of the famous Hall Of Famer Western Groom. Lightweight jockey aboard. Should be right there at the wire and turf sometime down the road too. Dangerous.
12 – BERMUDA super7 P Cadigan 12/1
12 – BERMUDA super7 P Cadigan 12/1
Topicount bred this gorgeous Speightstown son, winner of both the Montana Futurity(G3) and Early Morning Special(G3). Perfect 3-for-3 so far, but all of those starts came at 5f-5.5f. With Saint Ballado as dam sire, no reason to suspect that he won’t take to the mile. Versatile youngster — won his first two starts stalker-style, then switched to big-time closing in his last. Litmus test, but has well proven his class. Top jockey P Cadigan aboard for a romp.
Those DelPenners:
4 – VALENTINE AVENGER theavenger B Sipe 8/1
It was a battle between the closers in the full 20-horse DelPenn Mile Open Dirt. ‘Valentine displayed a sweeping-turn-of foot closing from far, far back to snare the photo by a nose. Avenger must’ve been sky-high considering this Seattle Slew 2×3 inbred took 4 starts to break his maiden. Talented and vindicated in that two-turns victory. Good jockey in B Sipe. Love both of these DelPenn colts.
2 – RIO SECCO fatattack2 B Carley 7/1
Last year’s champion trainer brings a Sky Mesa to the battle-royale — great female family to boot. Bagged debut MSW well enough before losing a nasty heartbreaking photo to theavenger’s colt. Rio Secco scored an 86 SP# too though. The duo might just shadow one another, though ‘Valentine could trail further on back. Difficult to seperate the pair at this point — both bred for two-turns. ‘Rio gets the lesser jockey. Tough.
Black Type Already:
13 – SEPARATED AT BIRTH sportoking L Cardinal 8/1
Black Jack Blues handed this Distorted Humor colt his first loss LTO in the Faber College Juvenile(G2). Had previously won a North Carolina stakes around 6f with an 81 SP#. His effort LTO wasn’t half-bad, resulting in another 81 and missing by just a length and 3/4s. Speedy sire crossed with milerish turfy female family. Excellent jockey. Very interesting. Not without a shot.
14 – CAT FIVE CYCLONE ydracing3 M Margolf 8/1
Mr Greeley colt out of a royal female family finished 10th (beaten 4 lengths) in the Faber College Juvenile(G2). Won the Queensland Juvenile in 2nd career start with an 80 SP# and subsequently finished 3rd in Vermont BB(G2). Promising closer — no reason to suspect that he won’t appreciate the added distance. Look for a better effort near the wire this time around.
Vermonster:
5 – BLUE SKIES AHEAD 4stardave S Blood 30/1
Breaking his maiden in the Freshmen Sires Series, this Roses In May colt then proceeded to cough it up big time in the ALW race afterwards. Was possibly injured and thus came back 8 weeks later, winning a Pastures-restricted stakes race. 74 SP# for the 6f — not an eye-catching SP# that might warrant an entry on paper here. But ya never know and gotta try ’em. Great jockey aboard, so that helps. Fair chance, but true outsider.
Stakes-Placed So Far:
3 – APE THE GREAT ape K Stabler 11/1
Event Of The Year son broke his maiden precociously enough in debut start, but then struggled at ALW level versus short fields. the closer even finished 2nd to Seperated At Birth in a 6f stakes race. While the latter went on to test the graded level, Ape The Great tried two-turns for the first time at ALW level. Big reward there too with an 86 SP# romp from midpack. Totally agree — the SP# warrants entry next at graded level. It was a forward effort, so worth a shot. Decent enough jockey — we’ll see what this colt’s made of Saturday.
11 – APACHE SUNRISE poorman B Alt 10/1
This Harlan’s Holiday colt is a puzzle. Little guy throws a gorgeous 81 SP# in MSW debut loss. then takes two more starts to break maiden running 70s….. and then hits the wall in a 66 SP# yicky effort. Can’t blame it on the off track since his debut was over the off surface. Had to be the 3 weeks rest then — *however* he raced back again 3 weeks later to finish a decent runner-up at stakes level. Will his A-game show up here? Lots of questions. Pace/stalker.
10 – FOLLOW THE FLAG flaw S Garber 18/1
Pulpit speedball joins classy pace fray. Freshest horse in the field on 8 weeks rest. Yet to break 70 SP# — 2-for-2 on dirt followed a runner-up turf stakes effort. Trainer asks him to pass two-turns and graded test without any SP# backclass. I think this is an ambitious placement and should be at longer odds. Good jockey, but too much to prove.
ALWers To The Bigtime:
1 – HAUNT arrakis R Connor 11/1
Speedy Ghostzapper son racing in restricted competition so far. Won 2-of-3 and really manhandled the field over a mile LTO. 84 SP# indicative of even better things down the road. Lousy jockey but I think this is a great placement — gotta try him versus the big boys and see if that SP# was no fluke. Has proven he can withstand a speed duel, but faces classier run-and-shoot foes this time around. Live sleeper if he can take bumbling jockey for a ride.
8 – WOETTE’S HOPE derbystud K Bortz 15/1
Strong Hope son makes tw-turns debut. Won 2-of-4 so far around one-turn and threw a nice 80 SP# victory around 6f LTO. I think his pedigree certainly leaves room for the mile and maybe a bit more. Competitive colt, but in the toughest spot of his young career. We’ll see what he’s made of.
6 – GHOSTLY DEBUT lasthope D Sherman 12/1
Another Ghostzapper midpacker. Won 2-of-4 so far and also broke his maiden in the Freshmen Sires Series. Romped over an off track mile LTO at ALW level. 77 SP# puts him right up there near the faves and of course the off track could’ve slowed him down too. One of the best KY jocks aboard merits possibilities. Needs to put his best foot forward.
Snowchief’s Picks:
Anything can go in these freshmen races, but the favorites here are pretty enticing. Black Jack Blues might be something special even if he doesn’t pass this two-turns test. Bermuda reeks of talent and Elite Groom Ted’s aching for more ground.
Look for better efforts from Seperated At Birth and Cat Five Cyclone. Ape The Great might grab a piece of the purse if not shock the field. Haunt is an up-and-comer but perhaps needs more seasoning to pull off this level of victory.
Unbeaten horses make great stories, but I’m gonna bet with my head and not my heart (LOL!) here and go with the two DelPenn colts. Valentine Avenger and Rio Secco both ran their guts out over the mile LTO. One or the other might bounce after such a tough effort, but I’ll gamble that they will prove their class Saturday.
I’ll go with the midpacker over the extreme closer:
Win: Rio Secco
Place: Valentine Avenger
Show: Black Jack Blues or Elite Groom Ted
Good luck to all and thanks to The Kentucky Horsemen Residency for this ongoing awesome Series!