Brazen Son towers over his rivals

EDMONTON, Alberta - Two-year-olds are in the limelight here at Northlands Park on Saturday as 13 Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society yearling sale graduates are set to compete in two gender-based divisions of the Yearling Sales Stakes.

Brazen Son is a standout among the seven in the colts and geldings division. As a winner of his first two starts, including the $50,000 Edmonton Juvenile, Brazen Son has more wins than the rest of his competition combined.

Brazen Son took a maiden special weight race in his first start before going on to win the Juvenile. In his latest effort, Brazen Son was the 4-5 favorite in the $50,000 Birdcatcher, but he was unable to get the easy lead he had gotten in his first two races, and he could not turn back Just Call Me Duke. He held second, 7 1/4 lengths ahead of the third-place finisher.

The only other winner in the field is Up Grader, who won his maiden for a $12,000 tag before getting blown away in a first-level allowance in his most recent start.

Bears Artiste, a daughter of Alphabet Soup, heads the filly division. Like Brazen Son, Bears Artiste won her debut for no tag. She followed that win with a fourth-place finish in the Princess Margaret before finishing second in the Bird of Pay in her latest start.

An interesting newcomer to the filly division is Victory Romance. She lost her two starts, both at Woodbine, but her Beyer Speed Figures measure up favorably in Saturday's field.