Francua Chronicles: 2 Year Old’s Cooling Off
I got some better results this week in terms of ITM runners. However, what was once a hot 2 year old barn earlier in the year has now cooled off quite a bit during the summer season. I still have three more to run tonight (8-22-18) but figured if I didn’t get this in today I wouldn’t get the opportunity to work on it till next week. A stakes victory still eludes me but there is hope as I have another opportunity with WILD SAMURAI in the Dublin Lass Dirt Juvenile this week.
This week’s Record: 21-2-5-0
Last Weeks’ Watch List:
JUST FOR KAT (NOONMARK x STREET CRY x SADLER’S WELLS) – At 18-1 and running against a very good group of ESR runners I was hopeful he could land the old SP badge. Instead he got hurt and finished 10th by 7 lengths. That would make his 5th race in his 2 year old campaign and the injury only solidified my stance on shutting him down for the rest of the year. He’ll get things rolling again at the beginning of 2019.
GARGANTUAN GRAY (GRAYDAR x BIG BROWN x GIANT’S CAUSEWAY) – She made her debut in front running fashion going 8 furlongs on the dirt against maiden 56K’s. She ran a pretty bang up race that saw her leading through the majority of the race before getting passed in the stretch and finishing 2nd by 2 lengths.
ROUNDTABLE RICHES (VERRAZANO x MINESHAFT x MONTJEU) – She’s out of sjmeola’s stakes placed PLANET OF THE APES and is coming back after running 9th against maiden 56K’s at 7 furlongs. Considering she never really got into the race going 7 furlongs in his debut, I decided to give her some more ground to run at. she’d end up making huge strides forward closing from about 7 off the pace to get up for 2nd. Given her breeding I think he will continue to want more distance as she matures.
ROGUE ZIP (CITY ZIP x AFFIRMED x ICECAPADE) – Through his first two races he’d only run at 6 furlongs and he showed an ability to close from off the pace in his last. So for that reason I decided to stretch him out to 8 furlongs to see if he could get the distance. I think asking him to go eight was a bit too much as he didn’t have the same kick in the stretch and would finish 4th by 4 lengths.
ROBIX (HARD SPUN x ELUSIVE QUALITY x FOREST WILDCAT) – I have a few out of HARD SPUN and they all seem to give me fits. This guy was a bit different breaking the maiden at first asking but even then I wasn’t sure what to expect when going against winners. I stretched him out to 7 furlongs hoping he’d continue his front running ways but I was mistaken. He held strong through the first three calls but faded to 6th by 2.5 lengths.
CURSED WORLD (IRONICUS x KITTEN’S JOY x GIANT’S CAUSEWAY) – Paid over 100K for her in the auction and through two races the juice hasn’t been worth the squeeze. Most recently she ran in an 8 furlong allowance NW2x in which she finished 5th by 4 lengths. Past performances suggest she doesn’t want to go much further than this week’s distance so we will have to see what the best course of action is next month.
SOUL SERGEANT (OFFICER x VINDICATION x FORESTRY) – Claimed for 17.5K she’s run twice for me. Once with allowance rivals in which I swung a little too far above his pay grade and most recently against Starter Allowance 50Ks. The most recent event saw her close from off the pace to a nice 2nd place finish. I’m thinking more distance is in his future, but not sure at what level we are going to run him.
Studs:
BROCKMIRE (FINNEGAN’S WAKE x FIRST SAMURAI x CANDY RIDE) – After the stretch out from 6.5 furlongs to 8 furlongs she was much improved finishing a 2nd by a head. I’ll more than likely give her the same 16K turf conditions in her next.
THE MARVELOUS ONE (ITSMYLUCKYDAY x A.P. DELTA x STREET HERO) – Once a problem child it looks like I’ve finally figured him out. It seems he just wants to run for days at a time as the more distance I give him the better he performs. This week saw this 3 year old go 14 furlongs against NW1x 14K’s and he won by almost 4 lengths. It’s tough to find spots at these super long distances but he’s going to run against NW3L allowance horses going 13 furlongs in his next.
MAJOR SADLER (DAIWA MAJOR x SALDER’S WELLS x CADOUDLA (FR)) – I got the sense from her first run that she was looking for more distance to run at, so I piled on two more furlongs and gave her a go. She’d run a much improved race that saw her stalk the pace from about three off before making a nice little move to get up for 2nd place.
GRAY HUMOR (GRAYDAR x DISTORTED HUMOR x HALO) – Claimed for 5K I moved him up to 30K claimers in his first attempt under my tutelage and he finished 4th going 7 furlongs. Fast forward to this week and he finishes a game 3rd going 7.5 furlongs in which he was picking up ground in the stretch against 20K claimers. I’ll continue to add distance until he hits the proverbial distance wall.
Duds:
WARRIOR OF GHOST (MAJESTIC WARRIOR x SCAT DADDY x GHOSTZAPPER) – If nothing else comes out of this I’m thinking he doesn’t like the dirt. In both of his starts he really starts to fade as he hits the stretch most recently going 8 furlongs. I think in his next I’ll give him a go on the turf at a mile and see how he fares.
DEL FRISCO (NOVELLIST (IRE) x KING KAMEHAMEHA x HARD SPUN) – Well much like my other horses with HARD SPUN or KING KAMEHAMEHA in their blood he seems to give me fits. Most recently he went 8 furlongs on the turf and finished 5th by about 4 lengths. He’s not really picking up much ground in the stretch so I may just give him a shot on dirt.
REALM GUARDIAN (MORE THAN READY x GONE WEST x WILD AGAIN) – Saw a little improvement out of him but not enough to earn a spot with the studs. He got stretched out to 8 furlongs and while he lost ground in the stretch, he did pass some horses to get up for 5th.
SAVAGE UNION (UNION RAGS x WILD AGAIN x ALYSHEBA) – My obsession with WILD AGAIN is present here again. Unfortunately for me he didn’t really improve with the stretch in distance. He kind of just lingered at the back of the back before passing some of the tired horses in the stretch.
Next Week’s Watch List:
AMERICAN CHAOS (AMERICAN PHAROAH x WILD AGAIN x RAISE A NATIVE) – Debuted with a 4th place finish and a 66 speed fig going 7 furlongs. He comes back to run the same 7 furlong distance on the dirt.
BECAUSE REASONS (SPEIGHTSTOWN x UNBRIDLED x GREEN DESERT) – Ran a nice 2nd place going 6 furlongs and posting a 77 speed fig. Only one to beat him that day was his stablemate STRIKE PAY DIRT so he’ll get an opportunity to run 7 furlongs on the dirt in his next.
TWO STONES SALOON (NYQUIST x TAPIT x HARLAN’S HOLIDAY) – I claimed him for 30K and immediately dropped him into an allowance race going 8 furlongs. He was beaten pretty soundly that day finishing 3rd by 5 lengths going 8 furlongs. He’s being wheeled back to run 7 furlongs against allowance NW2X’s.
NUMBER CRUNCH (ELUSIVE QUALITY x POLISH NUMBERS x EL PRADO) – Recently bred he’s debuting at 6 furlongs on the dirt against maiden 33Ks.
WILD SAMURAI (WILDCAT RED x DEHERE x FIRST SAMURAI) – He’s 3-3 ITM with two victories and a second place finish at 5.5 furlongs. He’s getting an opportunity to run in the Dublin Lass Dirt Juvenile for fillies this weekend.
WINTER DREAM (SIYOUNI (FR) x MEDAGLIA D’ORO x MALIBU MOON) – Started to move late in her debut but ran out of real estate and finished 7th by about 4 lengths. She’ll be running 8 furlongs on the turf this weekend against maidens this weekend.
SEGWAY (EXCEED AND EXCEL x MONTJEU x LEMON DROP KID) – Super disappointing debut that saw her only post a 59 speed fig and an 11th place finish going 7 furlongs on the turf. She’s coming back to try 6.5 furlongs on the turf in hopes of some improvement.
IMPOSSIBLY DASHING (HONOR CODE x DANEHILL DANCER x DYNAFORMER) – Gave her a shot on turf in her first due to the heavy backend turf pedigree. She showed she didn’t really care for the turf running a 56 speed fig in an 11th place finish so she gets the switch to dirt going 6.5 furlongs.