Breakout Beyers: Wet track may have carried El Capi, but he still impresses

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

El Capi
Dec. 2, 2nd race Aqueduct, MdSpWt85k
Beyer: 99
7 furlongs 1:21.99 – 1st by 9 3/4 lengths
b.c.2, Maclean’s Music – Nightlife Baby, by Flatter
Noteworthy siblings: None
Auctions: Keeneland November breeding 2021 – $35,000; Fasig-Tipton winter mixed 2022 – $35,000; Fasig-Tipton summer yearling 2022 – withdrawn; FTI yearling 2022 – $75,000; OBS March 2-year-old 2023 – $220,000
Owner: P & G Stable
Trainer: Richard Dutrow
Breeder: Maclean’s Music Syndicate and Robert Losey

Either this first-time starter wasn’t showing a whole lot in the morning or connections did fine work keeping his ability under wraps (the trainer, after all, is Richard Dutrow), but in any case, El Capi debuted at odds just short of 14-1. He won like a 1-4 shot. Though the 99 Beyer ranks among the highest 2-year-old debut figures of 2023, caveats apply. This was the Cigar Mile/Remsen/Demoiselle card, and there’s little question the wet Aqueduct surface carried a speed bias. El Capi broke from the rail and went straight to the front, and it would be imprudent not to think that track conditions flattered his performance. That said, he was barely asked for anything at any point in the race and won well within himself, and he ran so fast that even accounting for circumstances, one would have to rate him highly. The dam was claimed out of her last start for a mere $75,000. El Capi has about as long an auction history as you can find, ending this past March, when he worked a 10-second furlong at OBS. His stride, while hardly beautiful, looked even longer there than it did in this race, and there are route hints in the pedigree of a horse who already saw out seven furlongs with aplomb.

Texas Town
Dec. 8, 5th race Oaklawn, MdSpWt115k
Beyer: 84
6 furlongs 1:11.63 – 1st by a neck
ch.c.2, Speightstown – I Know That Mom, by Distorted Humor
Noteworthy siblings: None
Auctions: Keeneland September yearling 2022 – $210,000; OBS spring 2-year-old 2023 – $250,000
Owner: Flashland Racing Stable
Trainer: Chris Hartman
Breeder: Upson Downs Farm and WinStar Farm

The margin was just a neck, Texas Town holding on over 6-5 first-time starter Crushed It, but Crushed It had six lengths on the third-place horse in a full field. Probably a legitimate performance, though one might want the runner-up – who lugged in and raced greenly, which likely cost him victory, and quickly galloped out in front – more than the winner going forward. Texas Town did do some good things, however, starting with a sharp break and a display of early speed that established a clear early lead. Lots of young horses can do that, but more impressive was the push-button turn of foot he showed when the rider asked for run upon straightening for home, acceleration that won him the race. Texas Town’s action has become more efficient since he worked a furlong in 10 seconds at the OBS spring sale this year. A timely winner for the recently deceased sire, Speightstown.

In Good Taste
Dec. 8, 10th race Oaklawn, MdSpWt115k
Beyer: 79
1 mile 1:39.53 – 1st by a head
b.f.2, Tapiture – Maho Bay, by Spring At Last
Noteworthy siblings: None
Auctions: None
Owner: Barry Butzow and Joni Butzow
Trainer: Brad Cox
Breeder: Barry Butzow and Joni Butzow

Mixed signals emanate from this performance. On the one hand, In Good Taste ran a very game race, and while she won by just a head, more than 10 lengths separated second from third in a field of 11. On the other hand, connections ran In Good Taste for a $150,000 claiming price first time out, and the horse who nearly beat her was a fourth-time starter who went off at 50-1. That filly, Honor Cat, clearly has improved since this past summer and fall, but one wonders, in the end, how much was really behind the top two across the wire. Between horses just off a tepid pace around the first turn and onto the backstretch, In Good Taste came up to make the front before the half-mile pole, leading past the three-eighths before dueling through the final five-sixteenths with Honor Cat.