2YO Maiden Special Weight ‘Picks, Plays and Pontification’
Churchill Downs, Race 4 – Sunday, June 23, 2024
By The 2YO EdgeMan
CD4:062324 – 4 1/2f on the Dirt. Ten colts are set to get after it in this short, unrestricted, Sunday event for the youngsters. Interestingly, none of these guys have ever previously tried their luck in afternoon competition. The list of trainers is solid – Lynch, Romans, Stewart, Asmussen, Ennis, Lukas, Calhoun, and Ward. We’ve also got some fine sires represented in this one and the standouts include two from Speightstown (Thursday’s winning sire here at The Downs) and singles from Practical Joke, Daredevil, Gun Runner, and City of Light. Add to that, two Newby Sires – the flaming, red-hot Vekoma (Spendthrift) and Promises Fulfilled. This should be a fun one, so let’s peel the onion back on five of these guys …
#1 – Jimmy’s Daily (6/1) – there is no sire hotter than the First-Crop sire, Vekoma who is responsible for this homebred colt that comes to us from a First Dude mare. She was a fine racer in her day winning seven of the 17 races that she started (including her second start during her 2YO season at GP in August) and raked in a total of $235K of purse money. She’s thrown three others of racing age – one was a winner at the age of two, but that was in a MCL event at Los Al in his second start in July. To prep for his first afternoon race, trainer Brian Lynch has put a total of six works into him – his first four were done in Lexington at KEE and his most recent two were over today’s oval. His penultimate work was 5/8th of a mile and his last drill was nifty – 47.8 seconds from the gate over four furlongs on 6/14/24 (11/88). Jose Ortiz will be the man in charge.
#3 – Eighty West (6/1) – The first of two from Speightstown is conditioned by Dallas Stewart. This colt was thrown by a Medaglia d’Oro dam that earned $269K on the track, going four for 12 – this is her first foal. The breeder put today’s competitor up for auction last year as a yearling, but he didn’t reach his minimum bid of $120K. Earlier this year, as a 2YO, he did sell, however, he only brought $40,000. Stewart has logged just 17 furlongs into this dude over the course of five drills, all here at Churchill. His last two works have been bullets – on 6/11/24 he went four panels in 47.4 seconds (1/23) and most recently, on 6/16/24, he cut back to 3f and did it from the gate in 35 seconds flat (1/11). Brian Hernandez, Jr. will get the opportunity to pilot him.
#4 – El Prestigio (5/1) – Steve Asmussen will tighten the girth on this Practical Joke colt whose mama is by Flatter. She was winless in five tries and has only produced one other foal – a 3YO that has yet to make it to the track in the afternoon. It took $260K for Ben Gase to buy this fella out of the Keeneland Yearling sales in 2023 (11/90). As Steve has done with most of his babies, he’s had him working at Keeneland where he’s been out five times, totaling a relatively light 16 furlongs. Cristian Torres will slip his boots into the irons.
#8 – Perfect Force (8/1) – Hailing from the mighty Gun Runner, this colt was snapped up for $625K by BC Stables as a yearling (12/63) after being purchased in 2022 as a weanling for $550K (3/11). His now 21YO mom, by Smoke Glacken, won four times in her 16 starts and brought home north of $200K in prize money. She’s tossed six other foals of racing age – a Tapit filly who posted a record of seven for 30 with earnings of nearly $3/4 million and another filly who won over $300K. The Coach has been prepping today’s starter here under the Twin Spires and has put six drills into him (21 furlongs). Jamie Torres will get the leg up from D. Wayne.
#10 – Floodlites (3/1) – The Morning Line fav is by City of Lights and will be saddled by Wes Ward. His dam is an Uncle Mo mare that went two for nine on the track, only cashing in for $30,000 and this is her first foal. The bidding stopped at a solid $375K last year when this colt was a yearling (4/66). Ward has only given this guy two works and they were both at KEE. His first, just over two weeks ago on 6/5/24, he earned a bullet going a half mile in 47 seconds flat from the gate (1/34). Gerardo Corrales is the jockey today.
Pick – #4 El Prestigio – Although intrigued by the Gun Runner colt at 8/1, I’m going with Mr. Asmussen’s Practical Joke’s son. His works have not been flashy, but they’ve been solid and this guy was sold in the top 15% of his class. 16 total furlongs is not the base that I’d prefer to see, but Steve knows what he’s doing and likely feels this guy is ready and the 4 ½ furlong distance should be helpful.
Next week is the last week of the Churchill Spring Meet. We’ll move to Ellis Park where purses for our baby races look like they’ll be a solid $71,000. We’ll then cover Saratoga when it opens on July 11 and also continue to spotlight Ellis whenever we see something there that we like. Thank you for your continued support and encouragement – you are the best Edgies in the world. Be safe, healthy, and happy – now go get yourself a winnah!
