No Pyrrhic Victories, Please
At two, Alnaab Avenger wasn’t top of his class, but he did win four of his ten starts, including the Dragon Palace Handicap. The Alnaab son went on to be a reliable racehorse, winning nineteen of seventy-seven starts and hitting the board thirty-three times. Oklahoma’s feature race this week is named in his honor and ten two-year-olds will line up for a shot at the $50,000 prize. You can’t see the future from where they’re standing, but if stakes names are like fortune cookies, there are worse things to shoot for than “useful and durable.”
Of course, even better would be to include “fast,” and favored Rocking Forty is all about the speed. A bright chestnut son of Rock Hard Ten and a maiden Storm Cat mare, Rocking Forty pressed a hot pace in his debut effort before drawing off to win. The second- and third-place horses in that race both flattered his effort by winning their next starts, and Alyslew III BG is now twice stakes-placed. Rocking Forty himself went off as the second choice in the Grade III Television Stakes, but settled for an even-running sixth. He’s not the only speed in Saturday’s race, but does own the top speed figure.
One of those other speed horses is co-second choice Pyrrhic Victory. It’s a tempting-fate name for a racehorse, but so far, so good. He’s a son of Victory Gallop, out of a winner by Danzig. He beat a short, soft field at first asking, but met some legitimate race horses in the Alypeach Special and won that one, too. The brown colt may be hampered by a below-average jock, but his running style so far is very simple: get in front, and stay there.
It’s one thing to have a fast juvenile; it’s another thing altogether to have a tough and professional one. Sunset Mesa–a Sky Mesa son out of a Fusaichi Pegasus winner–looks like exactly that. He battled through the early fractions of his debut race and drew off, but was headed at the wire by a late-flying rival. Next time out, he wasn’t taking any chances at all: he went to the lead and steadily put ground between himself and any challengers. K. Clay doesn’t get many big-money mounts, but does win at a respectable clip.
Freshman sire Flower Alley is off to a pretty good start and Saint Alley (out of a Saint Ballado mare) hopes to become his second stakes winner. The brown colt stalked the pace in his only race thus far and then stormed down the stretch to nose out Wild Legend on the wire. The 73 speed rating earned there is very solid and he should have plenty of pace to run at here.
Four-time starter Forest Man (Forest Wildcat x Into the Woods – Quiet American) is the veteran of the field. His first two races came on the turf and he broke his maiden there. Crandyiii Stables decided to change things up, though, and moved him to the dirt for his third start. He won an entry-level allowance there with a respectable 77. Last out, he was a bit flat in the stretch, finishing third in stakes company. The winner there had an easy lead; things should be different Saturday.
Desertfox Stables is showing some faith in giving the ride on their Bullback Mtn (by Holy Bull, out of a Mt. Livermore mare) to M. Mantle, an apprentice jock making his afternoon debut. Bullback Mtn is the second of his two mounts. Third at first asking, he came back tighter in his second race and led gate-to-wire with a speed rating improvement of 11 points. Another such jump forward puts him in contention, and these things are not out of the question with two-year-olds.
Irish-bred Fasiano will break from the far inside, and Tapered Stables is hoping for a rags-to-riches tale. The son of Fasliyev and a Rubiano mare, Fasiano began his career with a flop on the turf and was unceremoniusly dropped into a $25,000 maiden claiming race. He liked that surface much better, racing midpack and then kicking clear for the win. A double dose of Northern Dancer blood says that he was barely getting warmed up at 4.5 furlongs, and he certainly rates as much of a chance as any other here.
Kirby’s New Fox marks a second entry for Desertfox Stables and it’s too bad no other bug boys were available: N. Lingner has proven that finding his way around the track isn’t exactly his best thing. Still, this High Yield colt out of Hunter’s Event, a Grade III-placed stakes winner whose second foal won two stakes at two, has the pedigree to maybe overcome a monkey on his back. He’s won one of three races thus far, with that victory coming on an off-track, and may need additional distance to do his best work.
Quietly-bred Millview Stories is by Delaware Township, out of a National Emblem mare. He’s only started once, in a New Mexico MSW, where he ran attentive to the pace and then pulled away to win by a length. The 63 speed rating is fine, and C. Schell is pretty capable.
Hailing from the same barn but uncoupled in the betting is maiden Millview West, by Alydeed, out of a Kerosene daughter. He made his first start just two weeks ago and ran midpack with a nice move on the turf, but couldn’t catch Salida. Strange things happen with two-year-olds, but T. Browne isn’t known for his mad skills.