Breakout Beyers: Virasana delivers at a big price

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

Virasana

April 23, 2nd race Santa Anita, MdSpWt62k
Beyer: 89
6 furlongs 1:09.92 – 1st by 9 1/2 lengths
b. f. 3, Lord Nelson – Asana, by Arch
Noteworthy siblings: None
Auctions: Fasig-Tipton Kentucky summer yearling 2021 – $37,000; OBS spring 2-year-old 2022 – $225,000
Owner: Exline-Border Racing, William Hudock, Aaron Kennedy, Susann Wilson
Trainer: Peter Eurton
Breeder: Kenneth Ramsey and Sarah Ramsey

It’s true that prices can be hard to find these days, but 12-1 on a 9 1/2-length second-start maiden winner is pretty good stuff. Virasana was 32-1 first time out and really didn’t run badly, showing some high-level early speed after breaking from an inside post, getting hooked, and eventually succumbing to the pace pressure. It was the sort of performance that regularly leads to a stronger second-out showing, which the filly convincingly delivered, boosting her Beyer 24 points. Virasana, under noted gate rider Edwin Maldonado, broke sharply from an outside post this time, quickly opened an early lead, but was headed off along the inside by a fast first-time starter named Apple Fest. That was fine with blinkered Virasana, who definitely races on the keen side but assented to a light rating hold outside the pacesetter. Approaching the three-furlong marker, Maldonado let his mount out a notch and got an instant response, Virasana sailing past Apple Fest and into the homestretch with a widening lead. Maldonado stayed busy until glancing back at the eighth pole, where the competition had been left far behind, the jockey easing up on the pressure and eventually gearing the filly down to a cruising score. Virasana might not have been a pinhook home run, but she was a solid ground-rule double. There’s not a whole lot of her, and obviously she’s very fast; likelier than not one-turn racing will prove her forte.

Retained

April 18, 7th race Horseshoe Indianapolis, MdSpWt34k
Beyer: 90
5 1/2 furlongs 1:04.43 – 1st by 1 length
b. g. 3, Bayern – Rarities, by City Zip
Noteworthy siblings: None
Auctions: None
Owner: S B Stables
Trainer: Bill Morey
Breeder: Kaleem Shah

First of all, we’ll have to wait and see how the speed figure ages, since it was quite high. Retained was making his eighth start, and this represented a 15-point Beyer jump from his best number while coming back 25 points higher than the most recent figure. Moreover, the runner-up, beaten one length, was making his seventh start, and his Beyer came back 24 points higher than his career best. The next three finishers who had raced before also earned figures far higher than their peak. Kaleem Shah, the breeder, campaigned Retained his first four starts, the gelding was claimed for $50,000 last fall at Keeneland. He improved markedly switching to Tapeta at Turfway over the winter, missing by a neck to capable Scoobie Quando in a stakes while racing for trainer Ethan West. This was his first start since Feb. 11 and first for trainer Bill Morey, and Retained was bet down to even money. Breaking sharply from an outside draw, Retained pressed the leader, took over at the five-sixteenths pole, and repelled a bid from the three-sixteenths to the eighth pole from Magnificent Mile, a horse who had twice raced in $30,000 maiden-claimers. Granted, it was more than nine lengths from second to third in a 10-horse field and the race might just have been a legitimately fast short sprint. This is the first foal to race from a winless dam who is a sister to the accomplished racehorse and active sire, Palace.

Acquired Class

April 22, 10th race Santa Anita, MdSpWt65k
Beyer: 86
6 1/2 furlongs turf 1:14.54 – 1st by 3 lengths
gr. g. 3, Cairo Prince – Auntie Sparkles, by More Than Ready
Noteworthy siblings: None
Auctions: Keeneland September yearling 2021 – $70,000
Owner: Slam Dunk Racing and SoCal Seven Racing
Trainer: Peter Miller
Breeder: Kathryn Nikkel and Sanford Robinson

This gelding raced once as a 2-year-old, running poorly last May, before returning to action on a barn change on March 26. This marked a major blinkers-on improvement, the Beyer rising from 73 in his comeback run up to 86 – good, but far from great for a 3-year-old this time of year. Acquired Class showed more speed than he had before, getting right into the vanguard after the start and emerging from between horses to run clear into the turn. The pace of the race wasn’t strong, as the horse tracking Acquired Class around the turn comfortably held second, and while the winner finished things off nicely enough, this wasn’t a performance screaming stakes potential.