Breakout Beyers: High Connection gets added to list of Baffert early flyers

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

High Connection

March 26, 2nd race Santa Anita, MdSpWt67.5k

Beyer: 90

6 1/2f 1:16.48 – 1st by 10 lengths

ch. c. 3, Connect – Forest Legend, by Forest Camp

Auctions: Keeneland September yearling 2020 – $75,000; OBS March 2021 2-year-old – $290,000

Owner: Sultan bin Mishal al Saud

Trainer: Bob Baffert

Breeder: G. Watts Humphrey

Seems like every other week that a Baffert-trained first-time starter makes this list with a standout performance. This was one of those. High Connection broke from the rail in his debut and while he didn’t explode out of the gate, he got away well enough that good early speed carried him to the lead within the first half-furlong. Three rivals stacked up outside him but couldn’t forge to the front, with High Connection holding a narrow advantage around the turn and into the stretch – but not any longer than that. Cornering athletically, he was the one that ran on at the three-sixteenths pole, widening his lead to the finish and galloping out into the distance. The figure seems legit and matched the eye test in this case. His dam, who could go nine furlongs but wasn’t a stakes horse, has produced a number of runners, none evincing this kind of ability. Like many Baffert maiden winners that show sprint speed, he has the pedigree and body type to make it at least a middle distance around two turns. Add him to the long list of very talented 3-year-olds in this barn.

Set Sail

March 27, 6th race Santa Anita, MdSpWt67.5k

Beyer: 89

1M 1:37.99 – 1st by 7 1/2 lengths

b. c. 3, Malibu Moon – Fleet of Gold, by Medaglia d’Oro

Owner: LNJ Foxwoods

Trainer: Richard Mandella

Breeder: LNJ Foxwoods

A classic American dirt-route race with a fast-early, slow-late shape. Don’t forget that our eyes (and track announcers!) deceive us in these cases. We see or hear that Set Sail is going strongly through the stretch, but, of course, in truth he’s just going less slow than his rivals. In this case, the colt got his final quarter in 26.42 seconds, easily the slowest portion of his race, and yet he still pulled clear for an open-lengths victory while strongly decelerating. Set Sail had gone seven furlongs on his debut and ran competitively in what has become a productive race. Here, he was allowed to run out of the gate and lead from post 1, setting a contested pace that was quick when considering the final time and how tiring this track must have been. It was the Baffert-favored Bletchley Park pressing him to the three-furlong marker before fading tamely away, at which point One More Bid’s three-wide move carried him into contention. Set Sail also shrugged away that challenge and, regardless of race flow, was clearly best in this heat. The big name in his pedigree is Fleet Indian, a powerhouse dirt-route mare produced by third dam Hustleeta. All in all, a very nice, route-leaning pedigree, and there could be quite a bit more to come form this colt.

Bright Future

March 19, 9th race Gulfstream, MdSpWt60k

Beyer: 91

1M 1:35.14 – 1st by 4 3/4 lengths

ch. c. 3, Curlin – Sophia’s Song, by Bellamy Road

Auctions: Keeneland September yearling 2020 – $350,000

Owner: Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable

Trainer: Todd Pletcher

Breeder: Clearsky Stables

The original posted splits and final time for this one-turn-mile maiden race were all 2 to 3 seconds slower than the eventual official hand-timed clockings. We’ll have to see how the number holds up. The runner-up, who had plenty of racing, got a career-best figure, while the show horse, who finished more than nine lengths in front of the fourth horse home, Gasoline, who was, like Bright Future, a Todd Pletcher-trained first-time starter by Curlin. Gasoline, in fact, was co-favored at 5-2, while Bright Future went off at 4-1 as much the best in his debut. This is the second named foal, first to race, for a stakes-winning dam (Pletcher trained her, too) for whom seven furlongs might’ve been an ideal trip. The biggest name in this family, Housebuster (produced by Bright Future’s third dam, Big Dreams) also likely was best going seven furlongs, but his great nephew gave the impression two turns won’t be any problem. Bright Future broke sharply and vied for the early lead but backed off to track the pace three wide as Touch Code split horses on the backstretch and challenged Gasoline for the top spot. Touch Code was 5-2 but basically ran out of gas at the half-mile pole as Bright Future came three wide around the turn to take up chasing Gasoline. He collared him at the quarter pole, had the lead at the three-sixteenths while under pressure, and wound up being hand-ridden to an easy win after the jockey looked at the video board and saw, “game over!” Galloped out better than standard, for sure.

Fluid Situation

March 27, 4th race Tampa Bay, MdSpWt32.6k

Beyer: 95

7f 1:22.04 – 1st by 5 3/4 lengths

b. c. 3, Warrior’s Reward – Volatile Vicky, by Elusive Quality

Noteworthy siblings: Axelrod (Warrior’s Reward) – multiple graded stakes winner, $820K earnings; Trelawny (Three Wonders) – 89 lifetime starts, $530K earnings

Owner: Curragh Stables

Trainer: John Terranova

Breeder: Hidden Point Farm

How about this Beyer pattern: 43-64-95. Those first two figures came from New York races, and I’m not really questioning the Tampa number; this field wound up spread all over the track and the raw time seemed legitimately fast. Fluid Situation broke on top from post 8 and had enough speed to find the rail in the first furlong. Really, from there, it was all over. No one came close to challenging him, and without being dramatically asked, the colt opened daylight in upper stretch and extended his lead to the finish while traveling well within himself. His most successful sibling, Axelrod, was a middle-distance dirt type, but on overall pedigree and body type, Fluid Situation could prove more a sprinter-miler. The “noteworthy sibling” listed above is far from the only brother and sister who showed durability on the track.