Breakout Beyers: Big Invasion displays some wicked speed in big-fig win
Each week in this space, the top Beyer performances by maiden winners will be featured and analyzed. Click here for a complete archive.
Big Invasion
Feb. 19, 6th race Gulfstream, MdSpWt54k
Beyer: 94
5f turf 55.64 – 1st by 4 1/4 lengths
b. c. 3, Declaration of War – Curls in Place, by Curlin
Auctions: Keeneland September yearling 2020 – $72,000
Owner: Reeves Thoroughbred Racing
Trainer: Christophe Clement
Breeder: John O’Meara
Sharp as this second-out performance was, it’s easy to wonder how he got beat in his debut. (The winner, American Starlet, has not yet run back.) Breaking from post 1, jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. snugged Big Invasion back behind the early pacesetter, his mount just barely accepting restraint, always traveling strongly through a 21.86-second opening quarter-mile. The horse pressing the pace on the outside faded past the half-mile pole, allowing Big Invasion an easy way out into the clear, and at the head of the homestretch he’d drawn alongside the pacesetter. With a furlong to go, Ortiz threw the reins at his mount, which was all it took to send Big Invasion quickly clear of the rival he’d just overtaken, and after a slower second quarter-mile, the colt did quicken up to the finish, going his final furlong in 11.20 and galloping out far in front. On the surface, this looks like a pedigree that would at least get a horse one mile, but that might not be the case. Big Invasion obviously is very, very fast, his dam was a sprinter, and the most successful sibling to race, Unitedandresolute, also is a sprinter. But if one is talking just about a turf-sprint prospect? Very nice.
Bombdiggity
Feb. 18, 7th race Fair Grounds, MdSpWt52k
Beyer: 83
6f 1:10.02 – 1st by 6 3/4 lengths
b. f. 3, Into Mischief – Checkupfromzneckup, by Dixie Union
Noteworthy siblings: Caribbean Caper (Speightstown) – multiple stakes winner, graded stakes winner, $346K earnings
Auctions: Keeneland September yearling 2020 – $600,000
Owner: Stonestreet Stables
Trainer: Steve Asmussen
Breeder: WinStar Farm
This filly debuted with a pace-and-fade sixth last November at Churchill and had been scratched out of a couple recent spots, but she clearly was ready for this outing. Broke just all right but quickly made the lead and set a moderate tempo while rating kindly enough for jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. Rivals remained within range at the quarter pole (which actually is on the straightaway at long-stretch Fair Grounds), but Hernandez threw a couple crosses at Bombdiggity, and she opened two lengths at the three-sixteenths pole. By the sixteenth pole, the race well in hand, the jockey’s pressure had eased, but the filly still went a very nice 23.74 final quarter-mile, which is how she got to a quick 1:10.02 final time off a moderate 46.28 half-mile split. Of course it’s one thing to do this on the lead against overmatched maidens, as was the case here, but Bombdiggity ran promisingly enough, even considering, and her lone sibling to race, Caribbean Caper, still is unbeaten after five starts.
Spirit Wind
Feb. 18, 4th race Gulfstream, Fla-bred MdSpWt53k
Beyer: 85
6f 1:09.19 – 1st by 15 1/2 lengths
b. f. 3, Bahamian Squall – Sacred Psalm, by Awesome of Course
Noteworthy siblings: Sing Praises (Hear No Evil) – multiple stakes winner, $484K earnings
Owner: Jacks or Better Farm
Trainer: Ralph Nicks
Breeder: Jacks or Better Farm
The filly made an early 2-year-old debut, finishing second for a $50,000 tag in a 4 1/2-furlong contest on May 6. Connections look fortunate no one claimed her because Spirit Wind, if this performance was real, ought to dominate Florida-bred sprinters. She made the lead comfortably and bounced around the turn with her ears pricked, completely putting this field to sleep with an 11.66-second fifth furlong, which was .60 of a second quicker than the next-fastest fraction and more than a full second faster than several rivals. She appeared to do that well within herself and just coasted to the wire after being mildly asked in upper stretch. Clearly an open question how she might react to racing against more talented foes, but in what mainly amounted to a solo mission, this was pretty sharp.