Thoroughbred Beat

THOROUGHBRED BEAT

JUNE 22, 2006

by James Scully

Upset -- Jockeys played a key role in Saturday's $844,500 Stephen Foster H. (G1)

and Calvin Borel was the only one to perform well. He guided the winner, 91-1

longshot SEEK GOLD (Touch Gold), who gulped up the victory in the final

sixteenth of a mile as the rest of the field staggered to the finish line. LOVE

OF MONEY (Not For Love), the lone speed in the field who trainer Richard Dutrow

touted, was the wildcard and had the other riders overly concerned. As a result,

top contenders BUZZARDS BAY (Marco Bay), BRASS HAT (Prized) and PERFECT DRIFT (Dynaformer)

all moved too early, launching their rallies into the fastest fractions of the

race before coming up short late. Buzzards Bay, the 7-5 favorite, went after the

pacesetter entering the far turn but could not get past with his initial surge.

Brass Hat was in a full drive midway on the far turn and had swept into

contention before reaching the top of the stretch. Perfect Drift didn't move as

prematurely as his two main rivals but still swept to the lead too early,

opening a clear advantage shortly after straightening into the stretch. He's

shown the tendency to pull himself up when making the front too soon in the past

and didn't stride out well in the final sixteenth of a mile. The presence of Love of Money

adversely affected most of the field, and he wasn't even on his best game. The

speedy colt broke sluggishly from the gate and had to be asked by jockey Edgar

Prado to make the lead three deep entering the first turn. He offered no

response turning for home and tired to eighth. Seek Gold likes the track at

Churchill Downs, finishing second to Saint Liam in the 2004 Clark H. (G2), but his victory is hard to gauge in any manner other than a fluke.

He hadn't won in nearly 22 months and has been consistently overmatched when

competing at the highest level over the past two seasons. The six-year-old

gelding took advantage of the right circumstances on Saturday, and I wouldn't

expect him to run back to this performance in his upcoming starts. By the same

token, Buzzards Bay, Brass Hat and Perfect Drift were all done in by the false

speed threat. The Stephen Foster wasn't a true indication of their ability.

Dirt dynamo -- Trainer Murray Johnson once envisioned running PERFECT

DRIFT abroad and stated that he would be better on the grass. That didn't pan

out, with the seven-year-old gelding earning more than $4.3 million in 30 dirt

starts and only $122K from eight turf attempts, but Johnson has continued to use

the turf as a launching pad to the classy veteran's seasonal campaigns over the

past four years. Perfect Drift, who made his 2006 dirt debut in the Stephen Foster off a

10th and last-place finish in the Woodford Reserve Turf Classic (G1), thrived

like a duck returning to water on Saturday, missing the victory by only a nose

under a poorly timed ride. While he isn't able to flourish on the green, Perfect

Drift probably benefits from the early-season starts on the lawn. The turf

races help him prepare for the grind of a long season, and we can count on

Perfect Drift being around at the end of the year. He's run in the last four

editions of the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1). When he finished 12th in 2002 and

sixth in 2003, the bay was essentially flat at the end of a long campaign.

Perfect Drift has had more to offer recently, finishing fourth behind Ghostzapper in 2004 and third to Saint Liam last year, and his Foster effort

proves he still has something left in the tank. Given his charge's

accomplishments under the Twin Spires (Perfect Drift defeated eventual Horse of

the Year Mineshaft in the 2003 Stephen Foster), Johnson is looking forward to

this year's Breeders' Cup Classic at Churchill Downs.

Bridesmaid no more -- HAPPY TICKET (Anet) finally got the best of a

rival in deep stretch, dramatically capturing Saturday's Fleur de Lis H. (G2)

over OONAGH MACCOOL (Ire) (Giant's Causeway). The five-year-old mare had dropped

her last two starts in heart-breaking fashion to top-class rivals, sticking a

head in front in deep stretch of both the Apple Blossom H. (G1) and Azeri

Breeders' Cup S. (G3) before just missing on the wire, and her seconditis

streak, which excludes her start in the Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) (she exited

the race sick) and an easy win over Louisiana-breds in February, extended to

last October's Beldame S. (G1), when she was turned away late by champion Ashado

in a very game performance. She got over the hump with a tremendous effort in

her first start at Churchill Downs, outfinishing the once-beaten Oonagh Maccool,

who showed a preference for the track when crushing her opponents in the

Louisville Breeders' Cup H. (G2) last time out, following a lengthy stretch

duel. Out of the West Virginia-bred mare Love and Happiness (Septieme Ciel),

Happy Ticket became only the second Louisiana-bred millionaire with the victory.

The Andrew Leggio Jr. runner has notched BRIS Speed ratings as high as 109 this

season and takes her track everywhere. This year's distaff division is deep with

talented runners, but Happy Ticket is the standard-bearer.

Impressive -- LADY OF VENICE (Fr) (Loup Solitaire) is lightly raced

and appears ready to do some damage in the filly and mare turf ranks. Utilizing

a devastating late turn of foot, she bulled her way through

traffic and accelerated away from the pack in the blink of an eye in Saturday's

Regret S. (G3) at Churchill Downs, drawing off to an easy four-length decision.

Unbeaten in four starts since breaking her maiden at Longchamp last September,

the sophomore filly made her stakes and U.S. debut in the Appalachian S. at

Keeneland in late April and dominated her rivals in posting a 2 1/4-length

score. It was more of the same on Saturday, but the competition will get more

difficult for Lady of Venice in upcoming starts. The improving Patrick Biancone

trainee will be the one to beat if she shows up for the $750,000 American Oaks (G1) on July 2,

and she could prove to be something special the rest of the season.

Colonial -- Colonial Downs in Virginia will host the $1 million

Colonial Turf Cup S. and $200,000 All Along Breeders' Cup S. (G3) on Saturday,

and Patrick Biancone is once again holding a strong hand for a big afternoon of

turf racing. In the Colonial, the Frenchman will send out STREAM CAT (Black

Minnaloushee), who has established himself as one of the best three-year-old turf

horses in the United States with victories in the Crown Royal American Turf (G3)

and USA S. in his first two appearances this year. Unbeaten in

three turf starts so far, Stream Cat will face 13 rivals in the overdrawn 1

3/16-mile event, including stakes winners SHOWING UP (Strategic Mission), GO

BETWEEN (Point Given), LEWIS MICHAEL (Rahy), OUTPERFORMANCE (Aptitude) and ROMAN

DYNASTY (Theatrical [Ire]). Biancone won't saddle the favorite in the All Along,

but JOINT ASPIRATION (GB) (Pivotal) will enter the 1 1/8-mile contest off two

extremely promising efforts and can't be dismissed from consideration against

FILM MAKER (Dynaformer) and WEND (Pulpit). The four-year-old lass is part of a

deep roster of turf-based distaffers that includes GORELLA (Fr) (Grape Tree Road

[GB]), SILVER CUP (Ire) (Almutawakel [GB]), ASI SIEMPRE (El Prado [Ire]), LOUVE

ROYALE (Ire) (Peintre Celebre) and LADY OF VENICE.

Lord Derby -- Kudos to the owners of OUIJA BOARD (GB) (Cape Cross

[Ire]) for keeping her in training at age five. In 2004, she captured the

Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1), English Oaks (Eng-G1) and Irish Oaks

(Ire-G1) and finished a close third in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (Fr-G1) en

route to being named Europe's Horse of the Year. Many owners would have retired

her after that season, citing their dreams of watching her babies perform, or,

at best, raced her only at four. The wealthiest owners in the sport do it all

the time without hesitation. Lord Derby went against protocol, deciding to keep

providing thrills to fans all over the world, and he was richly rewarded in

Wednesday's Prince of Wales's S. (Eng-G1) at Royal Ascot when the superb mare ran

down ELECTROCUTIONIST (Red Ransom) to win grandly. Top class runners DAVID

JUNIOR (Pleasant Tap) and ACE (Ire) (Danehill) were also left in her wake as she

added another prestigious accomplishment to her lengthy honor roll, and Ouija

Board can hold her own against any turf horse in the world from distances of

10-12 furlongs. It would have been so easy to retire her late last year. She had

her share of physical issues and could only race sparingly in 2005, finishing a

non-threatening second in the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf at Belmont after

dominating the same event a year earlier and a subpar fifth in The Japan Cup

(Jpn-G1) next out in late November. Trainer Ed Dunlop kept her going and Ouija

Board bounced back to win the Hong Kong Vase (HK-G1) over males in December. The

Prince of Wales's trumps all of her previous efforts. Ouija Board has never

looked better, and it will be a pleasure to see her perform at Churchill Downs in early

November.