Breakout Beyers: Pricey yearling Extra Anejo looks extra special in debut
Each week in this space, the top Beyer performances by maiden winners will be featured and analyzed. Click here for a complete archive.
EXTRA ANEJO
Oct. 13, 7th race Keeneland, MdSpWt99k
Beyer: 92
7 furlongs, 184 feet: 1:27.17 – 1st by 9 1/2 lengths
b. c. 2, Into Mischief – Superioritycomplex, by Hard Spun
Noteworthy siblings: None
Auctions: Keeneland September yearling 2021 – $1.35 million
Owner: Winchell Thoroughbreds
Trainer: Steve Asmussen
Breeder: Mt. Brilliant Farm and Orrin Ingram
Tend toward skepticism with these seven-figure yearlings, as many never live up to the auction hype. For instance, the sale-topper at Keeneland’s 2021 September yearling auction, by American Pharoah out of Letgomyecho, just posted the first timed workout of her career on Nov. 15. This colt was the second-highest priced lot at that same sale – skepticism proved misguided. Extra Anejo came up hot on the tote board debuting around one turn over an extended seven furlongs, and having watched the colt work after his first race, I can see why; namely, he’s tremendous. He broke somewhat awkwardly here but had the speed to make the lead, set a solid pace, changed leads just a quarter-step late after turning for home, and drew away through the entire stretch run despite being seriously geared down the final half-furlong. Visually excellent and absolutely looks like a prospect for longer distances. He’s the first foal to race from a mare, exported from England to America in 2017, who was capable from 10 to 12 furlongs on grass. An early serious hope for the 2023 Triple Crown.
ARABIAN KNIGHT
Nov. 5, 1st race Keeneland, MdSpWt149k
Beyer: 97
7 furlongs: 1: 21.98 – 1st by 7 1/4 lengths
b. c. 2, Uncle Mo – Borealis Night, by Astrology
Noteworthy siblings: None
Auctions: Keeneland September yearling 2021 – $240,000; OBS spring 2-year-old 2022 – $2.3 million
Owner: Zedan Racing
Trainer: Bob Baffert
Breeder: Corser Thoroughbreds
Amr Zedan has made it clear his focus is 2-year-old sales where he wants to buy the individual, not the pedigree, as is the case with this colt. He’s the first foal to race from a mare who made one start, finishing fourth in a $50,000 maiden-claiming sprint, and there is nary a graded stakes winner going back four generations in the female family. What we did see was a bunch of graded stakes-class workouts as Baffert prepared Arabian Knight for a high-profile debut on Breeders’ Cup Saturday, working the colt with older horses as talented as Laurel River, scratched from the BC Dirt Mile, where he’d have been no worse than second choice. Arabian Knight definitely is not the prettiest mover, but his stride does cover a whole lot of ground, and if he indeed proves to be a route horse, he’ll be one with plenty of speed. He quickly made the lead in this race, set a strong pace while racing into the turn with his ears pinned, and just blew away the competition in upper stretch. Yet another extremely talented 2-year-old colt in Baffert’s stable this fall.
FORT WARREN
Oct. 30, 6th race Santa Anita, MdSpWt62k
Beyer: 87
6 1/2 furlongs: 1:15.92 – 1st by a half-length
b. c. 2, Curlin – La Appassionata, by Bernardini
Noteworthy siblings: None
Auctions: Keeneland September yearling 2021 – $550,000
Owner: SF Racing, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables, Robert Masterson, Stonestreet Stables, Jay Schoenfarber, Waves Edge Capital, Catherine Donovan
Trainer: Bob Baffert
Breeder: Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings
The margin of victory hardly tells the whole tale of another Baffert-trained standout 2-year-old colt who won his career debut. Fort Warren broke from the rail and did not leave the gate especially fast, and while he wasn’t furiously rushed to the lead, he was tapped for speed to hold his position, eventually coming through along the fence to make the front, but forced into a fast pace while so doing. A colt named Johannes who already had raced once pressed the pace and turned up the heat at the three-furlong marker, poking his head in front as the leaders turned into the homestretch, but eventually paid the price for his exertions, flattening out before the furlong grounds. Spun Intended, who had stalked three paths wide, took his shot at Fort Warren, bridging the gap past the sixteenth pole. Make no mistake – Fort Warren still had plenty of gas in the tank. Not only could Spun Intended not pass the pacesetter before the finish, he failed to pass him on the gallop-out as well, the top two running far clear of the rest of the field around the clubhouse turn. This is the first foal to race from a stakes-winning dam who is a sister to Grade 2 winners Beethoven and Wilburn.
VICTORY FORMATION
Oct. 21, 7th race Keeneland, MdSpWt99k
Beyer: 81
6 1/2 furlongs: 1:17.94 – 1st by 4 3/4 lengths
b. c. 2, Tapwrit – Smart N Soft, by Smart Strike
Noteworthy siblings: Grade 1-placed Bellamore (Empire Maker, foaled 2018)
Auctions: Keeneland November breeding 2020 – $100,000; Fasig-Tipton Kentucky summer yearlings 2021 – $150,000; Fasig-Tipton Midlantic May 2-year-old in training 2022 – $340,000
Owner: Spendthrift Farm and Frank Fletcher Racing Operations
Trainer: Brad Cox
Breeder: Gainesway Thoroughbreds
This full field finished spread out all over the sort of loose, laboring track that was fairly standard at the fall meet. This colt handled it, setting splits that in a vacuum would be very, very slow for this distance, but which were fairly typical for the race meeting. From the first crop of Tapwrit, he did attract auction attention all the way back to his sale as a weanling with a solid family behind him, though his dam did nothing special as a sprinter-miler on the track. Victory Formation had plenty of gate speed and took an early lead he never came close to relinquishing while vigorously ridden all the way to the wire. The lack of a properly produced gallop-out makes post-finish analysis difficult, but one would expect him to at least a get a chance in a one-turn mile this fall.