Churchill Downs, Race 3 – Thursday, June 13, 2024
By The 2YO EdgeMan
CD3:061324 – 5f on the Dirt. Six colts and one gelding make up the small field of seven in this non-restricted battle. Five of these guys have never competed in the afternoon and two have started three times each. A solid list of trainers includes two runners from Asmussen and one from Kenneally, Colebrook, Jack L. Hancock, and John A. Hancock. Over on the sire side, we’ve got Twirling Candy, Frosted, and Bernardini. Additionally, the First-Crop sire Volatile has the gelding who will give it a go. Let’s rock and roll…
#1 – Spiralizer (5/2) – The second choice on the Morning Line will have to make his first career start from the rail and he comes out of the Asmussen barn. Twirling Candy is his pops and his unraced mom is by Speightstown; this is her first foal of racing age. The hammer fell on this colt at $250K when he was a yearling (9/70) and then he really stepped up as a 2YO down in Ocala this past March when he sold for $550K (4/25). Steve has put him through six morning drills over at Keeneland and his most recent was completed here at Churchill for a total of 25 furlongs. His second at KEE was a bullet – 36 seconds flat for three panels on 4/24/24 (1/18). He earned another bullet on 5/11/24 when he zipped the same distance in 35.4 seconds from the gate (1/59). Tyler gets the honor of guiding him today.
#2 – Asleep At Eight (6/1) – Asmussen’s second runner is another firster and he will start alongside his stablemate; he’s a colt by Frosted. His mom was a good race mare having scored four times in the 22 starts that she made on the track ($223K). She’s by Sky Mesa and this is also her first foal. The bidding stopped on today’s competitor with a bid from Kirk and Judy Robison of $90,000 last year when he was a yearling (15/78). He started his training regime in Keeneland on 5/11/24 and worked a total of three times in Lexington before a van ride to Louisville for one spin over the oval under the Twin Spires. He’s logged a total of 13 furlongs with his best probably being his sole half mile drill – on 6/1/24 he went 48.2 seconds (19/143). Steve will give Ricardo Santana, Jr. the leg up.
#3 – Morlock (6/1) – This colt is another First-Time starter and he is trained by Eddie Kenneally, his stallion is Bernardini. Mama is from Include and she only won twice in her racing days, but one of those was a G2 affair and she banked a lofty $613K. She’s thrown five other foals of racing age and two of them earned north of $100K and one of those won in October of their two-year-old season at Keeneland in their third outing sporting an EBSF of 81. Today’s entrant went through the auction ring as a yearling, but the bidding stopped before it reached his $95,000 reserve amount that had been set. However, Kenneally was the high bidder at Ocala this past March when he went to $125K on him as a 2YO. Eddie has put him through five morning works, all here at Churchill, totaling 19 furlongs. His last drill covered three panels and earned a small bullet – on 6/6/24 he went in 47.4 seconds from the gate (1/10). Belmont champ, Luis Saez, will pilot him.
#6 – Charlie Tolu (2/1) – The Morning Line fav is one of the two in here that have raced on three previous occasions. This homebred’s last two tries were both here at CD and both were runner-up finishes, both times he was within a half-length of the winner at the wire. This colt’s sire is Cinco Charlie and his mom is by Big Surf – she has two other nondescript foals of racing age. On the track, she won twice from nine starts, but only netted $15,000 in purse money. Jack L. Hancock is her conditioner and he looks to Mitchell Murrill for a return engagement with him in the saddle.
Pick – #1 Spiralizer – His dad hits at 18.2% with FTS babies at the MSW level (purses $30,000 and over) and he’s been working well. Asmussen is fantastic, Tyler is terrific and this colt has a good sales history. This dude’s odds will not be huge, but hoping that the ML fav – #6 – takes a bunch of money, so let’s go with this guy.
CD4 on Friday is a fabulous affair for the young ladies. There is one filly entered in that one that I’m superexcited about, so don’t miss our piece on it on www.PastTheWire.com. Stay safe and enjoy – all the best to my Army of Edgies!
