Road to the Triple Crown

ROAD TO THE TRIPLE CROWN

JANUARY 20

by James Scully

Saturday featured four two-turn stakes for three-year-olds and last year's

best juvenile filly, SWEET CATOMINE (Storm Cat), returned to the races with a 2

1/2-length score in Sunday's Santa Ysabel S. (G3). Trainer Julio Canani has

reason to think about taking on males later this year. Sweet Catomine is

well-built physically, loves a route of ground and proved to be faster than her

counterparts last season.

We'll come back to her later. Santa Anita hosted the one-mile San Rafael S.

(G2) on Saturday and SPANISH CHESTNUT (Horse Chestnut [SAf]) took top honors,

sprinting past favored KIRKENDAHL (Menifee) for the lead entering the first

turn, setting the pace on the backside, and then asserting himself at the top of

the stretch for a clear advantage before holding on in the latter stages for a

half-length score. Jockey Gary Stevens came away impressed, labeling Spanish

Chestnut a "classic colt," but the Patrick Biancone charge may not want any part

of classic distances.

The headstrong chestnut was able to catch a breather on the backside and

might have fried himself on the lead if another horse had fought him for the

early advantage. Spanish Chestnut hasn't shown the ability to rate, finishing

fourth at 3-5 odds when forced to stalk after an awkward start in the Lone Star

Park Juvenile, and he's failed to earn a triple-digit BRIS Speed rating in all

five career starts. The runner-up, ICED OUT (Comic Strip), had broken his maiden

two starts previously against $32,000 claimers at Golden Gate Fields.

The one-mile LeComte S. (G3) brought together five runners Saturday at the

Fair Grounds and Overbrook's homebred STORM SURGE (Storm Cat) wound up clearly

the best despite only a neck margin on the wire. A strong sprinter, Storm Surge

did not disappoint his many backers here, rallying from fourth entering the far

turn to reach a narrow lead on the outside entering the stretch drive. Under

steady pressure, Storm Surge was kept to task by jockey Robby Albarado while not

being seriously threatened by runner-up SMOOTH BID (Rubiano) and third-place

KANSAS CITY BOY (Boston Harbor).

However, the Dallas Stewart-trained colt received only a 93 Speed figure and

probably doesn't want much more ground than eight furlongs.

A scrappy performance from the aptly named SCRAPPY T (Fit to Fight) resulted

in a front-running score in Saturday's Count Fleet S. at Aqueduct. Smarty Jones

won last year's one-mile and 70-yard event en route to capturing the Kentucky

Derby (G1), but the connections of Scrappy T probably don't have the same

aspirations. The speed-conducive bias of Saturday's inner track helped the

gelding withstand a good late run from runner-up NAUGHTY NEW YORKER (Quiet

American), a New York-bred trying open company for the first time.

Naughty New Yorker broke his maiden by 10 1/4 lengths two starts

previously and entered the Count Fleet off an 8 1/2-length victory in December's Damon Runyan S. The Pat Kelly trainee earned an excellent 104 Speed figure on Saturday

and did it from a difficult outside post while rating far off a speed-favoring

oval. He'll be tested for class in the future, but Naughty New Yorker made a

very favorable impression.

The Golden Gate Derby went to BUZZARDS BAY (Marco Bay), who battled for the

lead for a long time with DOVER DERE (Cherokee Run) before withstanding the late

rally of SHARP WRITER (Capote) for a nose decision. No other horses were a factor because only three

went to the gate. The Jeff

Mullins-conditioned winner showed a lot of heart, but there wasn't much to run

against.

An allowance winner of note last week was HARLINGTON (Unbridled), who made

his seasonal bow with a three-length score going nine furlongs over a sloppy

Gulfstream track on Saturday. Out of champion Serena's Song, the Todd Pletcher-trained

colt rallied from just off the pace to win going away through the stretch and

improved his career record to two-for-two. Harlington earned a solid 99 Speed

figure.

Sweet Catomine faced four overmatched rivals at Santa Anita on Sunday and

while she didn't come home very quickly (33 seconds for final 2 1/2 furlongs), she

was never threatened and probably short on conditioning due to missing some

training with the recent harsh weather. While males will have every opportunity

to catch up over the next few months, Sweet Catomine has more bottom and is

probably better than any three-year-old in training right now. She showed that

last October at Lone Star Park, overcoming trouble to win the Juvenile Fillies

(G1) and finishing nearly three-fifths of a second faster than boys in the

Juvenile (G1) while earning a mammoth 106 Speed rating.

She'll need to keep improving, but Sweet Catomine is part of the discussion

when talking about top Kentucky Derby contenders at this early stage.

There are no graded races for sophomores this coming weekend.