The Badge of Silver colt, Silver Max, looks to the the favorite this weekend. Although the colt's best race was the Shadewell Turf Mile, his only win at the grade one level. After coming 5th in the Holy Bull Stakes to Algorithms and Hansen, Silver Max went on a six-race win streak, including the G. II Virginia Derby. In the fall season of 2013 the colt won the Oceanport Stakes, Bernard Baruch Handicap and the Shadewell Turf Mile. Although he came 4th in the Breeders' Cup Mile, I am willing to over-look the result. His sire, Badge of Silver, came 3rd in the Breeders' Cup Mile. He won the Risen Star (1 1/16 mile) and an allowance optional claiming (6 furlongs) before coming 2nd in the Cigar Mile Handicap (1 mile). During the rest of the 2005 season Badge of Silver won the Hal's Hope Handicap and the New Orleans Handicap, both 1/8th mile, and came 2nd in the National Jockey Gold Cup Handicap (1 1/8th mile), where he lost to Pollard's Vision. His last two races in 2005 were nothing spectacular; he came 6th and 8th. He didn't do much in 2006. He won the San Gabriel Handicap(1 1/8th mile), came 3rd in the Breeders' Cup Mile and 2nd in the Cigar Mile Handicap, both one mile. He is sired by Silver Deputy (not the awesome sire though :( ).This Silver Deputy won 2 races out of 2 starts, his maiden and the Swynford Stakes. There's not much to say about this sire. But Silver Deputy is by the AMAZING (What are you talking about? I am NOT being bias!) Deputy Minister. He won 8/9 of his starts as a two-year old, coming 4th in the Champagne Stakes. As a three-year, Deputy Minister only started four times, none of them being graded stakes. In his final season, he won the Donn Handicap and Tom Fool Handicap, coming 4th in the Whitney and 6th in the Woodward. He came 2nd in the Stuyvesant Handicap and the Meadowlands Cup with a 3rd in the Vosburgh Stakes. Silver Max's dam, Kissin Rene, started six times and won once at Sam Houston. Silver Max's pedigree is best at this distance and he will most likely be the horse to beat here.
Seek Again is the third choice on the morning line. He has won at both seven furlongs and a mile overseas but returned to his birth country to win the Hollywood Derby, where he stretched out to 1 1/4th mile. His past two races, although not wins, have been nothing short of spectacular. He did lose to Wise Dan in the Woodford Turf Classic Stakes and to Real Solution in the Knob Creek Manhattan. He is by the Breeders' Cup Sprint winner, Speightstown, who lost only six times out of his 16 starts. He won three allowances in a row before jumping into graded stakes company, in which he came 2nd in the Amsterdam Stakes to City Zip. His first graded stakes win came in the Churchill Downs Handicap (7 furlongs). He won the Breeders' Cup Handicap (6 furlongs), Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap (6 furlongs) and the Breeders' Cup Sprint (6 furlongs). In between the Vanderbilt and the BC Sprint, Speightstown came 3rd in the Vosburgh (6 furlongs). He is sired by Gone West. Gone West won the Gotham Stakes, Withers Stakes, and the Dwyer Stakes. Gone West also did well in the Hutcheson Stakes (2nd), Fountain of Youth Stakes (3rd), Wood Memorial (2nd) and the Peter Pan Stakes (2nd). Seek Again is out of the Great Britain mare, Light Jig. Light Jig only won two graded stakes, the Beverly Hills Handicap (1 1/4th mile) and the Yellow Ribbon Stakes (1 1/4th mile). Seek Again has proved himself several times at this distance and I am not surprised with him being the third morning line choice.
As the second choice, Jack Milton will have a lot to live up to. He won the Transylvania Stakes (1 1/16th mile) and the Poker Stakes (1 mile). While the colt hasn't won much, his wins have been nothing less than spectacular. He is sired by the Claiborne Farm stud, War Front, who did best at distances between 6 to 8 1/2 furlongs. War Front only won once (BC Handicap), but came second in the Mr. Prospector Stakes, where he beat eventual Derby winner Funny Cide. He also came second in the Deputy Minister Handicap (6 1/2 furlongs), Tom Fool Handicap (7 furlongs), Vosburgh Stakes (6 furlongs) and he came 7th in the Breeders' Cup Sprint. His sire, Dazing, is unbeaten in three starts, all of which (besides his maiden) have been allowances. Preserver, dam of Jack Milton, was nothing special. She raced six times and only came third on two tries. She never broke her maiden. I do like Jack Milton's pedigree and who knows what can happen.
As I did with Social Inclusion in the Haskell, I will be tossing Dorsett in the trash for this race. He just isn't ready to face horses of this caliber and if you want quote me on this go ahead.
Sayaad is just a fun name to say but whatever. The colt hasn't won any races in the graded company, but I am beyond happy with his current wins, especially the Forbidden Apple Stakes. I do believe he will be a major threat here with his running style. He is by the Kentucky Derby winner, Street Sense. Street Sense has a TimeForm rating of 128. He won between 7 to 10 furlongs. He was one of the few horses that won the BC Juvenile and the Kentucky Derby. He also won the Tampa Bay Derby (1 1/16th mile), Jim Dandy (1 1/8th mile) and the Travers Stakes (1 1/4th mile). But he did lose the Breeders' Cup Classic to Preakness winner, Curlin. He is by Dubai World Cup winner, Street Cry. He also won the UAE Two Thousand Guineas and the Stephen Foster Handicap. Coming second in the Woodward to Left Bank, the colt retired to Darley America. There is absolutely nothing I like about Sayaad's dam. She raced in claiming races her whole life and only won 1/4th of them. I do like Sayaad and I am really interested in him for this race.
This horse has only one graded stakes win and that was one mile King Edward Stakes. Grand Arch doesn't have much to him and I don't think he'll be bringing anything extra to the table for this race.
Contenders:
-Seek Again
-Silver Max
-Sayaad
-Jack Milton
Pretenders:
-Dorsett
-Grand Arch
Until next time,
Madison
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