Breakout Beyers: Favorite Outlaw shows who’s top gun in Oaklawn duel

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

Favorite Outlaw

Jan. 29, 7th race Oaklawn, MdSpWt84k

Beyer: 95

6f 1:10.68 – 1st by 3 1/2 lengths

b. c. 3, Maclean’s Music – Coco Belle, by Storm Boot

Noteworthy siblings: Cofactor (The Factor) – stakes winner, $140K earnings

Auctions: Keeneland November breeding 2019 – $12,000; Keeneland September yearling 2020 – $14,000; Fasig-Tipton Midlantic spring 2-year-old 2021 – $350,000

Owner: Alex and JoAnn Lieblong

Trainer: Steve Asmussen

Breeder: Hill ‘n’ Dale Equine Holdings

Debuted with a fine second to Apprehender (who earned Breakout Beyer status) yet it was the third horse from that maiden race, Insolito, favored here. Favorite Outlaw broke on top, but it was Insolito who led, Favorite Outlaw taking up a pressing/stalking position while on a loose rein. A three-wide mover forced jockey Ricardo Santana Jr. to play his hand at the three-furlong pole, his mount coming up to engage Insolito, whom Favorite Outlaw overhauled at the three-sixteenths pole. His lead change was awkward, but he got it done, and while Favorite Outlaw (who’d lugged in first time out) didn’t keep a completely straight course, he quickly put away Insolito and didn’t come close to facing a challenge from behind. The 95 Beyer was the highest thus far this year by a 3-year-old. This is one of the more dramatic sales-price differentials you’ll find, especially because the colt sold for so little not once, but twice, before bringing a hefty sum at a breeze-up sale last year. His dam was a very good sprinter, the most successful siblings sprinted, and the sire’s offspring lean sprint.

High Front

Jan. 28, 4th race Gulfstream, MdSpWt54k

Beyer: 85

5f turf 56.16 (hand-timed) – 1st by 6 1/2 lengths

b. g. 3, Summer Front – Tide Is High, by Broken Vow

Owner: Augustin Stable

Trainer: Jonathan Thomas

Breeder: George Strawbridge

Broke brilliantly and showed plenty of speed, never allowing another horse to get anywhere close to him, but though this was a five-furlong dash, High Front didn’t move much like a five-furlong horse. He’s got an exuberant stride and extends nicely and appears to have the body type to at least handle a mile. He’s the second foal to race from a lower allowance-class dam who mixed middle-distance and sprint starts, and the sire’s influence tends to be more of the same. It’s not like he had stop-and-start early days; his first published work came in late September, and he has since stuck to a steady pattern. Connections sent debut runner Mouffy out Jan. 8 to a Gulfstream win over the Tapeta surface strong enough it made this list.

Happy Boy Rocket

Jan. 29, 6th race Gulfstream, MdSpWt54k

Beyer: 81

1 1/16M 1:45.76 – 1st by 2 3/4 lengths

b. c. 3, Runhappy – Bible Belt, by Pulpit

Noteworthy siblings: Gospel Way (Brody’s Cause) – multiple stakes-placed, $101K earnings

Auctions: Keeneland November breeding 2019 – $250,000; Keeneland September yearling 2020 – $120,000 (RNA); OBS spring 2-year-old 2021 – $490,000

Owner: Frank Fletcher Racing Operations

Trainer: Bill Mott

Breeder: William Thompson Jr.

First Lasix, first blinkers, and first route for a second-time starter who’d been a decent if distant third debuting in a seven-furlong Gulfstream maiden. He broke just so-so and ran somewhat wide around the first turn, albeit with cover, racing four or five paths off the fence through a tepid second quarter-mile, then getting more serious about his business angling into the far turn. His move to reach contention hardly was electric, but it was purposeful, and after taking the measure of the front-runners, he had plenty of gas to hit the sixteenth pole finish well clear of the closers. He looks like a big boy, tall and standing over a lot of ground, and appears to have a grinding way of going that could suit longer distances than this. The dam won her maiden for a $10,000 claiming tag; her dam crossed the wire sixth in the 1997 Kentucky Oaks. This colt fetched big bucks as a weanling and as a 2-year-old, but not so much, interestingly, as a yearling.

Epoch

Jan. 30, 1st race Santa Anita, MdSpWt68k

Beyer: 83

6 1/2f turf 1:15.27 – 1st by a neck

b. c. 3, Mastery – Extravaganza, by Elusive Quality

Auctions: Keeneland September yearling 2020 – $50,000

Owner: Don’t Tell My Wife Stables and Keith Desormeaux

Trainer: Keith Desormeaux

Breeder: Stone Farm

Second-time starter had dueled and tired turf-sprinting in his debut, but here was outrun for the early lead by 2-5 favorite Mo Gold. Epoch closed a considerable gap between himself and pacesetting Mo Gold around the turn, jumped to the leader after cornering into the homestretch, raced neck and neck with Mo Gold as the pair drew far clear of the others, and took his measure in the final 50 yards. Epoch’s win margin might only have been a neck, but 12 1/2 lengths separated second and third in what seemed like a solid heat, at least for the top two. The dam was a turf sprinter herself, winning a non-graded stakes at Fair Grounds.

Old Homestead

Jan. 28, 6th race Delta, MdSpWt35k

Beyer: 86

5f 58.72 – 1st by 11 1/2 lengths

b. c. 3, Overanalyze – Pearl de Vere, by Songandaprayer

Owner: Marablue Farm and Pegasus Stud

Trainer: Brett Brinkman

Breeder: Marablue Farm and Pegasus Stud

He was withdrawn from a 2-year-old sale last year, winding up with veteran trainer Brett Brinkman for this eye-catching debut. Broke on top, was engaged by an inside speed down the backstretch before easily drawing clear from that rival around the turn, continuing to widen while the jockey still had hold of the reins. The Delta homestretch is very short, just about a furlong, yet Old Homestead still managed to put a vast margin on his nearest pursuer, belatedly changing leads at the sixteenth pole and galloping out crisply. He’s the first foal to race from a dam who sprinted and descends from some overseas turf influences as well as 1975 Kentucky Derby winner Foolish Pleasure. We’ll see if connections give him a look at the bigger time after this interesting unveiling.