Thoroughbred Beat

THOROUGHBRED BEAT

JANUARY 11, 2007

by James Scully

Penna -- CHATAIN (Forest Wildcat) faced a difficult

challenge against Sweetnorthernsaint (Sweetsouthernsaint), Sir Greeley (Mr.

Greeley) and Strong Contender (Maria's Mon) in Saturday's Hal's Hope H. (G3).

With only three career starts, he had raced only once since March, winning an

allowance at Meadowlands in mid-October. But Angel Penna Jr. had the

inexperienced four-year-old ready and Chatain delivered a terrific performance,

wearing down Sweetnorthernsaint in the stretch to reach the lead before

determinedly withstanding the late rally of Sir Greeley to win by a head. He

earned a 108 BRIS Speed rating in the one-mile, one-turn Hal's Hope, and Chatain

has the pedigree to easily get a route of ground, posting a 10-length allowance

score in his lone previous attempt around two turns. It's interesting to note

that his only career setback came when finishing second to Showing Up (Strategic

Mission) last winter.

No factor -- Strong Contender left his supporters shaking

their heads with his fifth-place finish in the Hal's Hope. The four-year-old

colt ran a monster race off a lengthy layoff at Gulfstream last February, taking

a one-mile event by 4 3/4 lengths, but Strong Contender never got involved in

the running on Saturday. The chestnut hardly raced during the first part of last

year, making only his second outing of 2006 in the Blue Grass S. (G1) in

mid-April, and he disappeared last fall after winning the Super Derby (G2) in

September. Strong Contender has a layoff line before most of the starts in his

part performances, and soundness problems appear to be still dogging the

talented colt this year.

Belmont winner -- JAZIL (Seeking the Gold) returned to

the races last Friday with a runner-up effort in an allowance/optional claiming

event at Aqueduct on Friday, and many observers have been quick to point out the

dreadful record of the winner, Take the Bluff (Pine Bluff), who had won only two

of 19 previous starts and won't be confused with a stakes-caliber horse. But the

winner simply had a complete pace advantage in the short field, and Jazil

managed an encouraging performance, making up a lot of ground through the

stretch over the inner track. It's important to remember that Jazil was a late

bloomer last season who was just starting to hit his best stride when he

captured the Belmont S. (G1) by 1 1/4 lengths, and an injury forced him to the

sidelines shortly afterward. The Kiaran McLaughlin charge needed Friday's race,

and Jazil has the opportunity to develop into a top-class handicap performer if

he remains healthy. His half-sister, sophomore filly RAGS TO RICHES (A.P. Indy),

also looks very promising this season, breaking her maiden by six lengths at

Santa Anita on Sunday. She received an excellent 95 BRIS Speed rating while

making her second career start, and her connections have to be thinking Kentucky

Oaks (G1) off this effort.

Key race -- The Audrey Skirball-Kenis S., a nine-furlong

turf event for three-year-old fillies at Hollywood Park on November 12, has

produced four next-out winners, including CITRONNADE (Lemon Drop Kid), who

parlayed a victory in the Audrey Skirball-Kenis into a three-length score in

Sunday's San Gorgonio H. (G2). Now three for four on the turf, the Bobby

Frankel-trained Citronnade led wire to wire to register her first graded

victory, and Stronach Stables' homebred is one to watch out for in the turf

distaff ranks this year. Grande Melody (Ire) (Grand Lodge), who captured the

Dahlia H. (G2) after finishing third in the Audrey Skirball-Kenis, checked in a

disappointing fourth in the San Gorgonio.

Bordonaro -- His connections blamed it upon an East Coast

bias, and it's still difficult to imagine why BORDONARO (Memo [Chi]) wasn't

named a finalist for champion sprinter. Likely champion Thor's Echo (Swiss

Yodeler) dropped two of three starts against his rival last year, and

Bordonaro's only setback prior to a fourth in the Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) came

when he finished a close second in the Bing Crosby H. (G1) after being struck in

the face by the first-place finisher's jockey. Bordonaro was passed over in

favor of Discreet Cat (Forestry), who didn't run in a sprint stakes race and

never will in his entire career. Eclipse voters who put Discreet Cat on their

ballot in the sprint division were probably just imagining that he was one of

the best in North America.

New tactics -- It's easy to root for DECLAN'S MOON

(Malibu Moon). Champion two-year-old in 2004, he overcame injury and more than

16 months on the shelf when returning to the races with a good effort versus

allowance/optional claiming rivals last July, falling short by just a nose in

second. However, his three starts since then have been a disaster, including a

last-place finish in Saturday's San Pasqual H. (G2). As a result, trainer Ron

Ellis will add blinkers. "Physically, he's 110 percent but mentally, we've got

to change his attitude," Ellis explained. "I have to go from being a trainer to

a horse psychologist." Will blinkers or any form of counseling make any

difference?

New races -- The Breeders' Cup announced three new races

for this year's program at Monmouth Park, but the one-mile dirt race is the only

one that really makes sense to me. The Juvenile Turf will be new this year, but

how many top-class turf juveniles are there in the United States each fall? Most

years, there aren't any by the time the Breeders' Cup rolls around. It looks

like they added this race strictly for Europeans. I also don't understand the

need for a Filly & Mare Sprint. The Sprint (G1) and the Mile (G1) were the only

races on the Breeders' Cup program where distaffers have truly held their own

versus the opposite sex. Nine times in the first 18 runnings of the Breeders'

Cup (50 percent), distaffers finished either first or second in the Sprint.

Safely Kept, Very Subtle and Desert Stormer won previous runnings of the Sprint;

Meafara (twice), Xtra Heat, Honest Lady, Soviet Problem, Safely Kept and Pine

Tree Lane all ran second. Distaffers have had nothing to fear going six furlongs

on the main track against males, but the Breeders' Cup apparently doesn't want

that to happen anymore. A Turf Sprint would have been a much more suitable

addition.