Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf: Key contenders

MADE YOU LOOK, by More Than Ready
Last 3 Beyers: 75, 72, 59

• Beyers may not tell the whole tale: No way he could clock a fast final time in the slow-paced With Anticipation, and to his credit he was able to sit in the pocket behind the slow pace coming out of sprints.
• Won going six furlongs. His tactical speed should help him gain favorable early position – key in this 14-horse field.
• DRF Formulator shows trainer Todd Pletcher with horses off 50-70 days returning in a graded turf stakes at one mile or longer is 21-4-5-2 with a $4.33 win ROI.

GOOD SAMARITAN, by Harlan’s Holiday
Last Beyers: 94, 79
• Has done nothing wrong in two starts, and trainer Bill Mott said he was “pleasantly surprised” Good Samaritan won his debut since he had not been cranked up for that start.
• Second choice to fast debut winner Conquest Fahrenheit in the Summer S. at Woodbine and blew past him at the top of the stretch.
• Bulky long-striding colt with come-from-behind style could find trouble in a 14-horse field on a tight course.

OSCAR PERFORMANCE, by Kitten’s Joy
Last 3 Beyers: 83-80-55
• Won two straight by more than 16 lengths combined, but was loose on the lead in both races and won’t be this time, though trainer Bryan Lynch thinks his horse will rate from off the lead.
• Post 13 not that significant an impediment since he has speed to get over.
• DRF Formulator shows the Pilgrim was Lynch’s first 2-year-old graded stakes win the last five years. His other five starters ran 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th.

FAVORABLE OUTCOME, by Flatter
Last 2 Beyers: 78, 88
• Trainer Chad Brown has gone dirt-to-turf into a graded stakes with just two horses the last five years. One, Money Multiplier, finished second.
• Pedigree leans dirt, and Brown said he was “bought as a dirt horse,” but Brown was mighty impressed by the colt’s breeze over a synthetic surface at the sale where he was purchased this past spring. “A horse that handles synthetic doesn’t always handle turf, but a lot of the time they do,” Brown said.
• He comes out of the Champagne, in which he was a good third, where the competition was stronger than in any North American turf race this year.
• Worked head and head with Ticonderoga in lone turf drill, which encouraged this entry.

BIG SCORE, by Mr. Big
Last 3 Beyers: 86, 80, 62
• Undeniably improved performance when he won the Zuma Beach last out. That local race never has produced a Juvenile Turf winner, though Luck of the Kitten used it as a springboard to a good second-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup.
• Kept closer to the pace last time without diminishing his finishing kick. The question is whether he’s good enough.

INTELLIGENCE CROSS, by War Front
Last 3 Beyers: N/A
• Gets leading stable jockey Ryan Moore, with Seamie Heffernan riding trainer Aidan O’Brien’s second horse in the race.
• Has raced only straight six-furlong courses in his six-start career. Has pedigree for a mile, and trainer believes he can get it in the U.S., at least.
• Has good form through Mehmas and Blue Point.

LANCASTER BOMBER, by War Front
Last 3 Beyers: N/A
• Has been used as a pacemaker for the highly regarded Churchill, but managed to stay on for second last out in the G1 Dewhurst, one of the top European 2-year-old races.
• Nowhere near the best 2-year-old in his trainer’s barn, but O’Brien’s three BC Juvenile Turf winners all have come in under the radar, going off at 7/1, 9/1, and 11/1.

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