Breakout Beyers: Disarm fires big on slow track
Each week in this space, the top Beyer performances by maiden winners will be featured and analyzed. Click here for a complete archive.
Disarm
Aug. 6, 6th race Saratoga, MdSpWt105k
Beyer: 86
7 furlongs 1:24.51 – 1st by 6 1/4 lengths
b. c. 2, Gun Runner – Easy Tap, by Tapit
Noteworthy siblings: Total Tap (Candy Ride, foaled 2014) – stakes-placed, $22K earnings; Tap Daddy (Scat Daddy, foaled 2015) – stakes-winner, graded stakes-placed, $252K earnings
Owner: Winchell Thoroughbreds
Trainer: Steve Asmussen
Breeder: Winchell Thoroughbreds
The star 2-year-old maiden of the week throughout North America ran seven furlongs in 1:24.51, 5.01 seconds off the track record. Such is racing right now at Saratoga, where the main track varies between slow and slower. We know a lot of horses are struggling over a surface this demanding, which can make those that do handle it look better than they might really be. But there’s evidence Disarm is good. Start with his debut, where he was a rallying third in a Churchill maiden sprint won by Mo Strike, who came right back to capture the Sanford with an 85 Beyer. Here he broke from the rail and was perfectly content to sit behind the pace while hugging the fence. Jockey Tyler Gaffalione took him off the rail at the quarter pole and asked for run. Disarm collared the leader at the three-sixteenths pole and, after one left-handed pop of the crop, steadily drew away to a blowout win, galloping out with his ears pricked. The two siblings of note both ran best in turf routes, and there’s no reason this colt shouldn’t handle a middle distance.
Jace’s Road
Aug. 6, 3rd race Ellis, MdSpWt61K
Beyer: 75
6 furlongs 1:09.80 – 1st by 6 1/4 lengths
b. c. 2, Quality Road – Out Post, by Silver Deputy
Noteworthy siblings: Isolated (Candy Ride, foaled 2015) – 95 Beyer, 97 Beyer
Auctions: Keeneland September yearling 2021 – $510,000
Owner: West Point Thoroughbreds and Albaugh Family Stable
Trainer: Brad Cox
Breeder: Colts Neck Stable
The speed figure here probably undervalues the strength of this first-time starter’s performance, but in any case, suffice it to say he was very sharp. Not out of the gate, however, as Jace’s Road was off a half-beat slow, but his natural speed quickly carried him to a three-wide, stalking-pressing trip. Jockey Joe Talamo sacrificed ground loss for a clean trip with the well-bet favorite, and Jace’s Road easily put away his pace rivals, including the second choice, second-time starter Retained, who could not come close to matching Jace’s Road’s final furlong. This in fact was the most impressive part of his race, a closing eighth in 12.22, 1.05 seconds faster than the next-best final furlong, and Jace’s Road appeared to do it well within himself. Given his finish, his smooth gallop-out, and the look of the colt, you’d think he’d could do a middle distance. The dam, however, was a sprinter, as was her best foal to date, Isolated.
Raging Sea
Aug. 7, 5th race Saratoga, MdSpWt105k
Beyer: 74
7 furlongs 1:25.36, 1st by a neck
b. f. 2, Curlin – Stormy Welcome, by Storm Cat
Noteworthy siblings: Welcoming (Tapit, foaled 2013) – stakes-placed, $180K earnings; Weather Wiz (Tiznow, foaled 2014) – $309K earnings, 93 Beyer
Auctions: Keeneland September yearling 2021 – $300,000 RNA
Owner: Alpha Delta Stable
Trainer: Chad Brown
Breeder: Alpha Delta Stable
This wasn’t a bad trip, but she does get extra credit because it wasn’t an easy trip for a first-time starter. Raging Sea didn’t have a lot of gate speed (likely one reason they started her out going seven furlongs) and after the first furlong settled into a stalking trip about two paths off the fence, between rivals and behind the lead group. There she stayed, seeing no daylight, around the turn and past the quarter pole, where two rivals in front of her split, opening a gap, which Raging Sea willingly stuck her nose into, thus claiming the space. She did not show a huge turn of foot, but who could, really, on a track this deep and laboring, and rallying inside Peace Cruiser, the 2-1 favorite making her career debut, she inched clear through the final furlong for a narrow victory. The top two had more than six lengths on the third-place horse in a full field, and Raging Sea got her final furlong in 13.16, .21 of a second faster than Peace Cruiser and nearly a second faster than anyone else. Her third dam, Weekend Surprise, is a blue hen. The filly has route potential.
Mister Iceman
Aug. 6, 5th race Del Mar, MdSpWt82k
Beyer: 77
5 furlongs 58.17 – 1st by a neck
b. c. 2, Girvin – Cherohala, by K One King
Auctions: OBS yearling 2021 – $43,000; OBS spring 2-year-old 2022 – $80,000
Owner: Gary Barber
Trainer: Peter Miller
Breeder: Ponder Hill
Borderline inclusion in the Breakout Beyer space, but during a relatively slow week, he just makes the cut. This is the first foal to race out of a dam who did next to nothing in four lifetime starts, and while I am an eternal fan of her sire, K One King, he has not amounted to much as a sire or broodmare sire. There is turf on both sides of the pedigree, however, and wonder if a grass sprint wouldn’t suit this horse. To his credit, he came out atop a multi-horse pace duel and gamely fended off two closers, including the Baffert-trained first-time starter Caramel Road, who settled for third and had three lengths on the fourth horse home. Another winner for the hot freshman sire Girvin.