Free: Love Reigns could be something special

ARCADIA, Calif. – From Keeneland, to Royal Ascot, to Churchill Downs and Santa Anita, the cross-country journal is full. And it starts with a rocket ship . . .

Wesley Ward’s latest burner

As if a 9 3/4-length margin was not enough, 2-year-old filly Love Reigns made history in a dazzling debut April 29. Her time of 1:02.33 was the fastest by a 2-year-old at Keeneland since juvenile turf races at 5 1/2 furlongs began in 2018. That includes the 2020 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint and every juvenile turf sprint stakes.

Wesley Ward trains Love Reigns for Stonestreet Stables. Irad Ortiz knew he would be riding a missile.

“She was his pick of all the babies,” Ward said. “[Ortiz] has been on all of them, and always said – this is my filly, this is my filly. All her works have been in hand. We’ve never let her go. She saved it all for that day.”

Although a wickedly fast debut causes some young horses to melt, not Love Reigns.

“A lot of them get hot, but she doesn’t care about anything,” Ward said this week from Kentucky. “She’s a real easygoing filly; she’s laying down right now. She’s just a runner.”

Love Reigns, by first-crop sire U S Navy Flag, will ship to England next month for Royal Ascot. She runs June 15 in the Group 2 Queen Mary, a sprint for 2-year-old fillies that Ward has won four times, most recently in 2020 with subsequent Group 1 winner Campanelle.

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Ward plans to send at least four to Royal Ascot, including 2021 BC Turf Sprint winner Golden Pal, Campanelle, and 2-year-old colt No Nay Hudson. Six months from the 2022 Breeders’ Cup at Keeneland, Love Reigns is the early favorite for the Juvenile Turf Sprint.

Love Reigns will not be assigned a Beyer Speed Figure. Andy Beyer explained: “This was the only turf sprint on the card, so there was nothing with which to compare the 1:02.33. In a race with experienced horses, we could have used the previous performances of the runners as a basis for improvising a figure. We have no problem with doing that. But the race was dominated by first-time starters and none of the horses had ever raced over turf.”

Echo Zulu’s stock rises

One month ago, this column questioned Echo Zulu at low odds in the Kentucky Oaks, based on static speed figures and nine-furlong uncertainty. The bet-against opinion is hereby revised due to a possibly tepid pace scenario. The Oaks includes only one other front-runner, Yuugiri. Furthermore, rain is possible. Echo Zulu’s 480 wet rating in Daily Racing Form past performances is the highest in the field. The speed-figure and distance concerns still apply, but the possibility of soft fractions benefits Echo Zulu, the 2021 champion juvenile filly. One other thing – Echo Zulu has raced five times, and never lost.

Kathleen O. hard to judge

Florida-based fillies have curiously underachieved in recent Kentucky Oaks. Cathryn Sophia raced at Gulfstream Park, but prepped at Keeneland prior to her 2016 Oaks, while the last seven Gulfstream Park Oaks winners who ran in the Kentucky Oaks finished off the board. Perhaps that one factor is not enough to fade undefeated Kathleen O. But combined with a final work that was ordinary, according to Daily Racing Form onsite reporters, Kathleen O. carries some uncertainty despite a last-out 98 Beyer that tops the field.

Nest has look of eagles

The most productive prep for the Kentucky Oaks is run 80 miles east of Churchill Downs. Since 1985, fillies who prepped at Keeneland won 14 of the 36 Kentucky Oaks run in spring, including 11 exiting the Grade 1 Ashland Stakes. It’s a nice, tidy historical stat. More significant – the filly Nest enters the Kentucky Oaks off the most dominant performance by a 3-year-old stakes filly this season. Nest crushed the Ashland by more than eight lengths and will take some beating Friday as the 5-2 program favorite.

Don’t say you weren’t warned

If the track is wet, don’t you have to consider Candy Raid as a potential bomb in the Kentucky Oaks? Candy Raid, listed at 30-1, is by super wet-track sire Candy Ride, from a dam that went 2 for 3 on wet. Not only that, but trainer Keith Desormeaux has a knack for mud. Five of his 14 graded wins on dirt were on wet, including three Grade 1’s by Exaggerator (Santa Anita Derby, Preakness, Haskell). My Boy Jack paid $19.60 in the Grade 3 Southwest Stakes on a muddy Oaklawn Park track in 2018.

Sure, Candy Raid is a reach. But we’re talking about 30-1 on a bred-for-mud filly with a history of outrunning her odds. Candy Raid paid $106.60 last out, $28.40 four starts back.

Winner, winner, chicken dinner!

Do you recall your first winning wager on the Kentucky Derby? For me, it was 40 years ago this week – $5 across the board on Gato Del Sol. We listened to Dave Johnson’s race call on the radio in our blue Ford Pinto: “And down the stretch they come!”

Gato Del Sol, trained by Eddie Gregson and ridden by Eddie Delahoussaye, rallied from last to win the 1982 Derby by 2 1/2 lengths. Jackpot! He paid $44, $19 and $9.40. The primitive reason for betting Gato Del Sol? He was a late-runner. Genius handicapping by a lucky novice.

Early furlongs crucial in Derby

From where Kentucky Derby front-runner/presser Epicenter is drawn in post 3, directly inside speedster Summer Is Tomorrow and inside every front-runner, the first furlong will be crucial. It begs the question – for which of the 20 entrants is the first furlong of the Derby not crucial?

As for the most important entrant, he is aforementioned Summer Is Tomorrow. He is a stone front-runner, and the fractions he sets while hounded by Messier and Classic Causeway will determine if the Derby is won by a presser like Epicenter, a closer such as Zandon, or if the race devolves into complete and utter chaos.

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Idol should benefit from race

Before the filly Nest came along, her full brother Idol had won the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap in 2021. Idol misfired in a comeback last fall, was sidelined, and returned April 23 with a bland sixth in the Grade 2 Oaklawn Handicap.

“He needed it,” trainer Richard Baltas said. “He came back good, scoped clean. I’m chalking it up that we got a race into him. Now, we go from here.

Baltas added, “A mile and a quarter is his best distance.”

Depending on how Idol trains at his San Luis Rey Downs base, the Grade 1 Hollywood Gold Cup, 10 furlongs at Santa Anita on May 30, is a possible spot for him. Idol, a 5-year-old by Curlin and produced by Marion Ravenwood, has won three races and $426,964 from eight starts.

Early look at Gold Cup

Big Cap winner Express Train will take a break after finishing second to Stilleto Boy in the Grade 2 Californian Stakes on April 30 at Santa Anita. But Stilleto Boy will train on, and is likely for the Hollywood Gold Cup against two fresh runners making their second start following a layoff – Idol and 2021 Gold Cup runner-up Royal Ship. Royal Ship’s dominating comeback April 10 and sharp work since suggest he will be on point for the Gold Cup. Stilleto Boy or Royal Ship? As of now, it’s a coin flip.

Tarantino: Movie-star looks

Stilleto Boy, the 108-Beyer winner of the Californian, is the best horse trained by Ed Moger and owned by brother Steve Moger. But the most physically attractive Moger-Moger runner is Tarantino.

“Isn’t he beautiful?” Ed Moger said, viewing the Pioneerof the Nile colt in his stall.

While minor issues including a foot abscess have prevented the statuesque 4-year-old from a start this year, the good news is that Tarantino, a graded-placed colt purchased last fall for $235,000 at a Keeneland horses-of-racing-age sale, is nearing a return to the work tab. He could be ready at Del Mar. Stay tuned.

Maiden-race Conundrum

Ed Moger regularly scours sales catalogs for older horses, which certainly panned out with Stilleto Boy. Purchased for $420,000, Stilleto Boy has earned $781,500 since. But a little-known fact – Moger actually acquired two geldings at the 2021 Fasig-Tipton July horses-of -racing-age sale – Stilleto Boy and a $25,000 purchase who is still trying to find his way.

Conundrum, a six-start maiden-claiming sprinter, could score an overdue win Friday in race 2 at Santa Anita. Conundrum was claimed last out by Todd Cady and is now trained by George Papaprodomou. His main rival is the class dropper Vetoed.