Breakout Beyers: $1.1 million purchase Shaaz gets late start but impresses

Each week in this space, the top Beyer performances by maiden winners will be featured and analyzed. Click here for a complete archive.

Shaaz

Dec. 26, 4th race Santa Anita, MdSpWt68k

Beyer: 105

6 1/2f 1:16.11 – 1st by half-length

b. c. 3, Uncle Mo – Miss Ocean City, by Mineshaft

Noteworthy siblings: Azar (Scat Daddy) – graded stakes winner, $357k earnings

Auctions: Fasig-Tipton select yearling Saratoga 2019 - $185,000 (RNA); Fasig-Tipton spring 2yo 2020 – $1.1 million

Owner: Michael Lund Petersen

Trainer: Bob Baffert

Breeder: William Backer Revocable Trust

Shortly after his client had plunked down $1.1 million to acquire the colt who’d be named Shaaz, a price tag motivated by the horse’s obviously grand physique and a one-furlong breeze timed in 10 seconds, bloodstock agent Donato Lanni told bloodstock reporters that “he’s a horse we’ll take our time with.” The comment likely referred to presumably minor injuries sustained the week of the sale, when Shaaz spooked and bumped the inside rail while exercising. Surely no one anticipated it taking 18 months for Shaaz to make a start, but it did. Shaaz worked three times during November 2020, then went missing from the tab until this past July, subsequently logging 19 workouts before his debut the day after Christmas. Shaaz began his racing career with a poor break, but that wound up not mattering, nor did racing wide on the turn and failing to change leads through the homestretch (he’d changed flawlessly in all workouts for which there’s video). His Bob Baffert-trained stablemate Hopkins (another first-time starter – 104 Beyer for this) had broken sharply from the rail and led, but even on the wrong lead, Shaaz surged at him in the final furlong and won with something to spare. The Beyer obviously is off the charts, and this horse should stretch out, but, as with all impressive maiden winners who have gone unraced until late in their 3-year-old season, there will be concerns about durability and stringing together races.

Cyberknife

Dec. 26, 13th race Fair Grounds, MdSpWt45k

Beyer: 80

1 1/16M 1:44.90 – 1st by 1 1/4 lengths

ch. c. 2, Gun Runner – Awesome Flower, by Flower Alley

Auctions: Fasig-Tipton select yearling 2020 - $400,000

Owner: Gold Square

Trainer: Brad Cox

Breeder: Ken and Sarah Ramsey

This was Cyberknife’s second first-place finish; the first one didn’t count owing to his disqualification from a debut sprint win in September at Churchill Downs. Blinkers came off for his second start, another Churchill sprint, but Cyberknife once again failed to keep a straight course and wound up second as a 2-5 favorite. This marked the colt’s first route race and he won despite making more mistakes. The first came at the start, where he stumbled slightly, but he rated nicely from a stalking position thereafter, losing ground around both turns but coming with a sharp move past the three-furlong pole to reach contention. Cyberknife had this contest won at the quarter pole, but, racing out front by himself, he appeared to lose focus, drifting in and out and allowing the eventual runner-up, whom he’d already easily passed, to gain ground through the final half-furlong. The dam was a versatile, hard-knocking multiple stakes-winning route horse and this colt’s sire, clearly, is something special. Cyberknife possesses appealing talent and the mistakes he’s making now leave him room to improve through the winter.

Gilded Ruler

Dec. 26, 12th race Fair Grounds, MdSpWt45k

Beyer: 81

6f 1:10.25 – 1st by 1 1/2 lengths

b. c. 2, Into Mischief – Golden Cropper, by More Than Ready

Auctions: Keeneland September yearling 2020 – $375,000 (RNA); Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October yearling 2020 – $260,000

Owner: Juddmonte

Trainer: Brad Cox

Breeder: Mt Brilliant Farm & Ranch

This second-time starter had raced from mid-pack debuting over a sloppy Churchill strip but broke right on top here and came through the opening stages closest to pacesetting, odds-on favorite Peaceful Waters. The leader got away from the field going past the three-furlong pole and at the quarter pole I’d have made him 2-5, but Florent Geroux on Gilded Ruler really got to work on his mount, who ate into the lead to the sixteenth pole and wound up winning going away. The figure was only good, not great, but Peaceful Waters did put more than seven lengths on the show horse, an encouraging sign vis à vis strength of performance. The dam’s sire is More Than Ready, but the female family is all Australian until you get back to Nijinsky II five generations ago. Though Gilded Ruler galloped out solidly, he has the body type of a one-turn horse and the trainer reported this week that the plan is to keep him sprinting for the time being.

Bernabreezy

Dec. 20, 7th race Fair Grounds, MdSpWt45k

Beyer: 76

1 1/16M 1:45.48 – 1st by 2 1/4 lengths

b. f. 2, Bernardini – Super Allison, by Super Saver

Auctions: Keeneland September yearling 2020 – $25,000; Fasig-Tipton Florida March select 2-year-old 2021 – $40,000; Fasig-Tipton spring 2-year-old 2021 – $100,000

Owner: Nelson McMakin and Aaron Kennedy

Trainer: Matt Shirer

Breeder: Machmer Hall, Tamme Valley Farm, Godolphin

Second-time starter found the one-turn mile at Churchill, her debut spot, too sharp; she lagged at the field’s tail and by the time she found momentum the race had ended. She improved her Beyer 27 points second out with shift to Fair Grounds and route racing and might have run even better than the figure considering she lost ground on the far turn and rallied from many lengths behind a slow pace. She stood very quietly in the starting gate – so quietly that then the stall doors sprang, Bernabreezy continued standing for a half-second, allowing the speed to get away from her. No worries, as James Graham settled her into a comfortable rhythm, the filly racing several lengths behind the lead pack to the half-mile pole. Her run began before the three-furlong marker, Graham going wide, and by the quarter pole Bernabreezy had just about made the front. Once there, she drifted down to the inside while under stout encouragement and was much the best over a seemingly modest bunch. Went from a mere $25,000 yearling to a $100,000 2-year-old and ought to be a later-maturing sort of youngster.