Come Dancing's 114 Beyer leaves trainer with pleasant problem
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Come Dancing earned a whopping 114 Beyer Speed Figure for her 7 3/4-length domination of Friday’s Grade 3 Distaff Handicap at Aqueduct, putting her in rarified air and giving her connections something to think about when it comes to selecting her next start.
Rachel Alexandra earned a 116 Beyer Speed Figure in the 2009 Haskell. Come Dancing’s 114 equals the highest figure Beholder achieved, that coming in the 2015 Pacific Classic. Zenyatta earned a 112 Beyer winning the 2009 BC Classic.
“When you see those kind of numbers everybody gives [them] time, and the people that don’t, it seems like inevitably it kind of bites them in the ass,” trainer Carlos Martin said Saturday morning in his Belmont Park barn office. “What she did yesterday was so special. Going into it, in my mind, I’m thinking I have room to go forward. I thought she was going to run well, hopefully win on class, and I said to the owners next time she’s going to even improve. It’s a long year; I’m not killing her for her first race back.”
In the Distaff, Come Dancing was making her first start in 125 days, or since finishing second to Marley’s Freedom in the Grade 3 Go for Wand here. Under Manny Franco, Come Dancing cruised on the front end, and, on a slow track, ran seven furlongs in 1:22.31.
The options for Come Dancing’s next start include bringing her back in one month in a race like the Grade 1 Humana Distaff at Churchill Downs on May 4 or the Grade 2, $250,000 Ruffian at Belmont Park on May 5, or simply train to the Grade 1, $700,000 Ogden Phipps at 1 1/16 miles on June 8, Belmont Stakes Day.
Martin said he would nominate Come Dancing to the Humana Distaff, a seven-furlong race on the Derby undercard. Martin, a third generation horsemen, reveres New York stakes like the Ruffian and Phipps and, later this summer, the Ballerina at Saratoga, so a part of him wants to concentrate on those races.
“Such an important part of this business is managing these kind of good horses,” Martin said. “It’s not an easy call.”