Jace’s Road took a huge step forward winning the Gun Runner Stakes by 5 1/2 lengths, earning a career-best 90 Beyer Speed Figure – and still might not have been the most impressive Brad Cox-trained 2-year-old colt to race Dec. 26 at Fair Grounds.   A few hours before Jace’s Road won the 1 1/16-mile Gun Runner, Corona Bolt rated while leading through a solid early pace before zipping a strong final quarter-mile in 24.04 for a final clocking of 1:09.96, romping by nearly seven lengths in the six-furlong Sugar Bowl.  That raw time yielded a 97 Beyer, an eye-catching speed figure for a 2-year-old, and one that was upgraded from an initial figure of 89. Randy Moss, who makes the Beyers at Fair Grounds, said he initially split the track variant on the card, surmising that the surface slowed later in the day, before deciding to make the figures based on a single variant. TimeformUS saw things differently than the Beyer Team, giving Jace’s Road a 111 and Corona Bolt a 106. Using the single variant, the winners of the card’s first three races all got career-best Beyers. But the notion the track played quicker during the card’s early portion runs into trouble trying to account for the slow final six-furlong time, 1:12.39, posted by the winner of an open maiden 2-year-old sprint, race 5.  :: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match and FREE Formulator PPs! Join DRF Bets. Speed figure arcana aside, Corona Bolt now has two wins from two starts, both sprints, and while blessed with natural early speed, he’s shown a willingness to respond to jockey Florent Geroux’s commands. “He’s a very smart horse,” trainer Brad Cox said.   By Bolt d’Oro out of Stormbeforethecalm, by Quiet American, Corona Bolt will get a chance to stretch his speed around two turns in his next start. That’s likely to come either in the Lecomte on Jan. 21 at Fair Grounds or the Southwest one week later at Oaklawn.   As for Jace’s Road, he controlled a moderate tempo, which worked in his favor, and thumped a decent field while finally following up on the promise displayed in a smart sprint debut win in August at Ellis Park. Jace’s Road, by Quality Road, finished a decent third in the Iroquois Stakes before taking a bad loss Sept. 30 in the Street Sense.   “I wanted to run him in a first-level allowance after the way he ran in the Street Sense, but with the way he breezed here at Fair Grounds and the [Gun Runner] not coming up with a large number of horses, I thought it’d be worth taking a shot.”  Cox said Jace’s Road won’t start in the Lecomte but will be considered for the Southwest at Oaklawn and the Risen Star on Feb. 18 at Fair Grounds.   Cox said he plans to run Instant Coffee in the Lecomte. Fourth in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity, Instant Coffee overcame a wide trip to win the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes on Nov. 26 at Churchill and has worked twice during December at Fair Grounds. “Physically, he looks amazing,” Cox said.  Giant Mischief, another 2-year-old colt who was second with an impossible trip in the Springboard Mile, is stabled at Oaklawn, and while Cox plans to bring the colt to Fair Grounds to train, he said Giant Mischief’s target race is Rebel Stakes on Feb. 25 in Arkansas.  The Cox-trained 2-year-old filly Dazzling Blue also will stretch out to two turns early in 2023 after running her record to 2 for 2 with an easy win Monday in the $100,000 Letellier Stakes. Bumped at the start, Dazzling Blue rushed between horses to make the Letellier lead, then switched off so soundly for Geroux that he had to awaken her in upper stretch when several rivals ate into her lead. Dazzling Blue responded, drawing away to win by three lengths, her time of 1:11.59 yielding a modest 74 Beyer. Owned by Juddmonte Farms, Dazzling Blue is a scopey, robust daughter of Curlin who could make her next start in the Martha Washington on Jan. 28 at Oaklawn or the Rachel Alexandra on Feb. 18 at Fair Grounds.  Another Cox-trained 2-year-old filly, Chop Chop, who was 13th as the favorite in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, had her first Fair Grounds timed workout Dec. 23, going an easy three furlongs.  :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.