Breakout Beyers: Drip provides Beckman with another quality 3-year-old

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

Drip
Feb. 17, 7th race Fair Grounds, MdSpWt65k
Beyer: 94
6 furlongs (sloppy, sealed) 1:09.77 – 1st by 2 1/4 lengths
b.c.3, Good Magic – Sky Saver, by Super Saver
Noteworthy siblings: Procrastination (Not This Time, foaled 2020) – graded stakes-placed
Auctions: Fasig-Tipton Kentucky summer yearling 2022 – $90,000
Owner: Legion Racing
Trainer: Whit Beckman
Breeder: Ramspring Farm

Trainer Whit Beckman had said a couple weeks before this race that he had high hopes for an unraced maiden who had been working in company (outworking, at times) his Grade 2 winner Honor Marie. Beckman had good reason for optimism – the colt is a runner. Drip does not really travel like a sprinter, nor does he have an especially sprint-leaning pedigree, and in the end he could easily turn out to be a middle-distance horse. All that said, he was plenty fast enough for this six-furlong debut. Drip did not break especially well, and it took the better part of a half-furlong for him to emerge between horses and make the lead while dropping down to the rail under Jareth Loveberry. Outside pace pressure applied down the backstretch and around the turn did not discourage Drip, who set a fast pace on a sloppy track that, if anything, played slightly against inside speed. Shrugging off his pace rivals in upper stretch, Drip failed to change leads all the way to the wire, yet edged gradually clear and held his advantage through an encouraging gallop-out. Had he changed leads, this would have turned into an even faster performance, and as it is, Drip already looks like stakes material.

Beeline
Feb. 10, 8th race Gulfstream, MdSpWt70k
Beyer: 87
6 furlongs 1:09.74 – 1st by 3 3/4 lengths
ch.c.3, Bee Jersey – Secretariat Humor, by Distorted Humor
Noteworthy siblings: Topsy (Bee Jersey, foaled 2020) – stakes winner, graded stakes-placed, $227K earnings
Auctions: Keeneland September yearling 2022 – withdrawn; OBS June 2-year-olds and HORA 2023 – $70,000
Owner: Vintage Thoroughbreds, Scott Estes, Brian Hanley
Trainer: Riley Mott
Breeder: Charles Fipke

The final time sure seems like a fast race, especially for a debuting early season 3-year-old, but in the end it’s somewhat hard to say since this 12-race program included but one other dirt contest. That lower-level race was won by a stalker while Beeline made a beeline for the lead from an inside post and was right on the pace the entire trip. He did not, however, go wire to wire as the 76-1 first-timer Mr Skylight, also trained by Riley Mott, poked his head in front past the quarter pole. Beeline was having none of that, quickly reasserting after turning for home before putting in one final eye-catching burst at about the sixteenth pole, hinting that he might be something more than a standard high-level maiden winner. Not only did Beeline go his half-mile in a crisp 44.90, he also turned in the fastest final furlong, 12.53, among a 12-runner field. His stakes-winning full sibling Topsy wanted to sprint, and this colt has the look of a horse who might not want more than one mile. He also looks like he could be very good.

Top Conor
Feb. 17, 8th race Gulfstream, MdSpWt71k
Beyer: 86
1 mile 1:38.22 – 1st by 2 lengths
gr.c.3, Twirling Candy – Divine Dawn, by Divine Park
Noteworthy siblings: None
Auctions: Keeneland September yearling 2022 – $200,000; OBS March 2yo 2023 – $1 million
Owner: Flanagan Racing
Trainer: Chad Brown
Breeder: International Equine Holdings

This million-dollar baby worked three times last June and three more times in July while stabled at Saratoga after he exited a March breeze-up sale, but after those six drills he didn’t appear on the work tab again until late December. Looks like the colt was worth the wait – though one might cap this debut showing as “very good” rather than reaching the “truly outstanding” range. Top Conor did have post 1 in a bulky field, and though he broke well enough, he wasn’t rushed to make the lead, sticking to the fence and getting shuffled back to fourth going into the turn. The rider took Top Conor off the rail but was locked behind a wall of horses at the five-sixteenths pole, but when the horse on the outside of that wall grew weary approaching the homestretch, Top Conor was able to be steered right for a clean run. He reacted greenly to both a right- and left-handed crop but still won comfortably over the late-running favorite, showing further spark through the gallop-out. The stride won’t blow your doors off, and Top Conor’s head carriage falls short of ideal, but the colt has talent, no doubt of that.

Antiquarian
Feb. 17, 9th race Fair Grounds, MdSpWt65k
Beyer: 80
1 1/16 miles (sloppy, sealed) 1:45.73 – 1st by 1 length
ch.c.3, Preservationist – Lifetime Memory, by Istan
Noteworthy siblings: None
Auctions: Keeneland September yearling 2022 – $250,000
Owner: Centennial Farms
Trainer: Todd Pletcher
Breeder: Brereton Jones

This figure really is too low to merit inclusion here for a mid-February 3-year-old, but several factors push Antiquarian onto the list. He got an 83 Beyer in his first start (behind the highly regarded Conquest Warrior), hinting he is at base a faster colt than this, and a slow half-mile pace tamped down this race’s final time. Antiquarian beat a well-regarded colt, Cornishman, while appearing to idle after making the lead in upper stretch, and Antiquarian’s connections have designs on the Louisiana Derby. Without a doubt Antiquarian did pull an easy trip here, pressing those slow fractions, but he is a powerful-looking young horse who could have ample upside going into spring.

Universal Sound
Feb. 16, 5th race Turfway, MdSpWt66k
Beyer: 88
6 1/2 furlongs (Tapeta) 1:16.39 – 1st by 2 lengths
b.c.3, Uncle Mo – Sould Singer, by Flatter
Noteworthy siblings: None
Auctions: Keeneland September yearling 2022 – $300,000
Owner: Bradley Thoroughbreds, Cambron Equine, Gary Finder, Belmar Racing and Breeding
Trainer: Steve Asmussen
Breeder: Gary Broad

Well, we know he can handle snow, since it covered the racing surface and was falling heavily during the race. In fact, the remainder of the Turfway card was canceled after this contest. This is a good-looking colt who has some substance to him, and the runner-up in a 12-horse field, odds-on favorite Bowstreet, might be all right himself. Still, Universal Sound, who worked twice in May before going dark until this past fall, did debut at Turfway for trainer Steve Asmussen, who is much more likely to start a strong prospect out at Fair Grounds or Oaklawn this time of year. True, some horses do slip through the cracks, though Universal Sound also got a perfect pocket trip, coming through on the rail in upper stretch to take the measure of Bowstreet. No surprise if the horse gets a look at two turns next time.