Hammersly: Can Snowday come back breathing fire?
Saturday, May 24, preview
There was no doubt in 2012 that Snowday had the makings of a quality turf sprinter/miler. The then-2-year-old won a Group 3 in France, and his connections thought enough of him to run in the Group 1 Prix Morny (ninth), Group 1 Grand Criterium (fourth) and Group 2 Criterium de Maisons-Laffitte (fifth). So, while those waters proved a bit too deep, there was cause for optimism come 2013, and that feeling was buoyed when he came back that April to be a fine second in the Group 3 Prix Djebel.
However, he wasn’t seen again in Europe. He next surfaced in the United States in the Grade 3 Eddie D. on this hillside course Sept. 27 for new trainer Gary Mandella. He pressed the pace, took over as if he was going to go on to victory in midstretch, but couldn’t sustain his bid, finishing fifth, beaten a length by proven stakes horses Chips All In, Boat Trip, and Unbridled’s Note. That was a most-encouraging U.S. debut.
However, he had to be vanned off, and again his face went onto a milk carton. Well, the 4-year-old resurfaces in Saturday’s second race, again on the hillside course. The competition is stiff, to be sure – sharp speedsters like Rangi and Big Note pose elusive targets and have the oomph to make it difficult to get past them. But they’re not the Grade 3 animals that he faced here in the fall, and their speed may well lead them to go toe-to-toe from the start, leaving Snowday to sit the dream trip just behind them.
It’s all a matter of whether what sent him to the sidelines for so long has taken some of the run out of him. Judging by his works, that doesn’t appear to be the case.
Keeping them on the path
For all of trainer Bob Baffert’s success in different categories, one that seems to get lost on players is the notion that once he gets them on the right track, they tend to stay there. Saturday’s card sees two Baffert runners who recently beat maidens. While a good rule of thumb is to be leery of a maiden winner taking on winners for the first time, the history with Baffert says you should think twice about such a handicapping rule.
In race 3, he sends out Consecrate. The $250,000 purchase didn’t show much flash in her first five starts. Baffert even sent her to Golden Gate Fields this winter to see if a change of venue might do the trick. It didn’t. The next move was obvious – a drop. But you always worry when you take a horse this expensive and drop her in for a much smaller tag like $75,000, as Baffert did with her here March 27.
Well, it worked. Not only did she find the company to her liking (she won nicely), but they didn’t lose her via a claim. And now they bring her back in a spot where they can’t lose her via a claim. And while it’s her first time against winners, it’s not as if she’s facing any monsters here. The horse to beat, Onna Bugeisha, is legitimate, but she comes off a pair of seconds at this level, so she’s no world-beater.
Race 5 sees his regally bred Front Range (by Giant’s Causeway, multiple Group 1 winner in Europe, second in the Breeders’ Cup Classic in the United States, top sire, out of Lakeway, a multiple Grade 1 winner in the United States). A debuting third in a sprint wasn’t bad, but she moved forward nicely to beat maidens routing on dirt here May 1. Now it’s her first time against winners and her first time on turf, but pedigree-wise, there’s no reason she shouldn’t relish the sod, and as with Consecrate, while these winners are nice, none of them should have her quaking in her shoes.
Spot play
Race 9
WICKED HEAT (#8, 9-2) didn’t show much of anything in his first two starts, but then came almost three months off and a drop, and the gelding appears to be getting things figured out. He was second for $30,000 on dirt April 10 and second again (well clear of third) for $30,000 on May 1 and was claimed that day by Melody Conlon (15 percent off a claim). He returns without a tag attached, which is encouraging. He moves to turf, for which he’s bred thoroughly, and while he ran poorly on grass here Jan. 11, remember that that was his debut, and you can always forgive a poor debut outing.