Don Jaun Con will be tough to catch

FRESNO, Calif. - Trainer William E. Morey has no illusions about Don Jaun Con. The 2-year-old gelding is a sprinter, one who has yet to need 22 seconds to get his opening quarter-mile.

Morey is not tempted to try stretching Don Jaun Con out, so Thursday's $40,000-added Harvest Festival Futurity at six furlongs has long been on his radar.

"He's a sprinter," said Morey, who claimed the California-bred son of Suggest for $32,000 from his winning debut May 13. "This comes up perfectly for him. It's the only sprint for 2-year-olds in this time frame."

In his second start, in the $75,000 Malcolm Anderson Stakes, Don Jaun Con reeled off fractions of 20.97 and 44.48 before finishing third. He followed with a wire-to-wire victory in the Everett Nevin-Alameda County Futurity.

He set the early pace before fading to fourth in the $125,000 Graduation Stakes at Del Mar and finished first in the Beau Brummel at Fairplex but was disqualified in a controversial decision for causing interference at the quarter pole. Morey said Don Jaun Con came in "a bit," but not enough to justify a disqualification.

"You don't usually see horses taken down for that," he said.

has worked very well since then - three solid works, including a six-furlong bullet drill and half-mile bullet drill.

Regular rider Chad Schvaneveldt will accompany him to Fresno.

might challenge Don Jaun Con. Trained by Ed Moger Jr., Western Sovereign has won two straight starts, the first on a disqualification and the other by five lengths over Passive Income in an $80,000 optional claimer.

"He's training good and getting better and better," Moger's assistant Frank Rodriguez said. "The more races he has run, the better he has gotten. That was a tremendous race last time."

The last win earned Western Sovereign an 85 Beyer Speed Figure, one point higher than Don Jaun Con's best and 30 points higher than any of his other rivals.

Although he led wire to wire in his last victory, Western Sovereign will have to settle for a stalking trip Thursday. Moger expects him to be laying second, and is confident Western Sovereign can make up ground in the lane in what figures to be strictly a two-horse race.

, third by 15 against Western Sovereign last time, could fill out the trifecta.