Harness: Bergman ponders some early-season standout 2-year-olds
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For standardbred lovers this is probably the best time of year. The inspiration that brings yearling buyers to the fore from September through November evolves into a half-year of training. When the calendar hits June, all the hopes and dreams of big prices paid and great training reports received turn into a dose of reality that separates fact from fiction, or better yet hope from reality.
As an outsider not privy to what the trainers or owners saw when they shopped the yearling market and certainly not witness to conversations regarding promise or progress in the six months that followed, my only inspiration comes from watching pacers and trotters roll out in countless baby races across North America.
Such was the case last week and when I first spotted a colt by Green Manalishi in a 2-year-old event at Woodbine Mohawk Park on Saturday (June 20). Grand Manalishi cruised to a wire-to-wire victory for Tyler Jones in a 1:58 2/5 mile. What caught my eye was not just the final time but the way the colt hit the ground perfectly with each stride and cut the pace, reserving a 28 2/5 final quarter while in need of no urging. As is generally the case when I am impressed with a performance, I seek guidance from the pedigree to expand speculation. In the case of Grand Manalishi there is plenty of upside in a pedigree that oozes talent, not necessarily at first asking, as he’s the seventh foal from the mare Grand Canyon and first colt to take a record. Grand Canyon is a Donato Hanover-sired sister to Grand Stand, the dam of 2023 Yonkers Trot winner Up Your Deo. The second dam Grand Cameron is one of only three foals from the $1.8 million winner Cameron Hall, herself a close relative to champion racehorses and stallions Andover Hall, Cantab Hall and Conway Hall. Dustin Jones trains Grand Manalishi, from Green Manalishi’s third crop, and perhaps destined to be among his best male performers.
A day earlier I watched Ake Svanstedt send out a trotting colt that has both talent and an exemplary pedigree to boot. Mats, the first colt and second foal from the $400K winning Beautiful Sin, blitzed a final quarter in 27 for the second time in a row, this time completing the mile in 1:57 3/5, two full seconds faster than his first victory on June 6. Mats, a son of Walner, got out of the gate quickly but the quarter came up slow and he was slotted third through much of the mile. What was impressive was once Svanstedt pulled the trigger getting off the pylons on the final turn, Mats shifted into a gear and quickly drew away from horses at his flank. Mats is by Walner and from a dam that sold for $480,000 as a yearling in 2017 from Jeff Gural’s consignment.
The dawn of the 2-year-old stakes season came earlier this week when Oak Grove hosted Kentucky Sire Stakes races. It’s hard to believe the manners and speed in some of the trotting fillies and colts witnessed in action on the Tuesday (June 23) program. Making matters that much more interesting was a host of young sires putting their mark in a program that is incredibly competitive given the rules surrounding the Kentucky program.
Swedish-based sire Calgary Games has made an impact with limited offerings in North America and he appears to have another solid prospect in Delivery Boy, a colt trained and driven by Dewayne Minor. Delivery Boy marched first-over from seventh and last at the quarter to an eye-catching 1:56 4/5 victory in a $40,000 Kentucky Sire Stakes division. A 28 2/5 quarter at the end was just good measure on a colt that looked like he could go around again, and this time not parked for three quarters. Delivery Boy is the seventh foal from Demoiselle Hanover, a half-sister to Donato Hanover. Just a $20,000 yearling purchase from the Hunterton Farm consignment at the Lexington Selected auction last fall, Delivery Boy has paid for himself already.
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Gimpanzee has had some success from his first two crops but is still in search of one home run-type to solidify his stallion value. Carbon Fiber, a $20,000 yearling buy at Harrisburg, is named for the material that lightens the weight of many a supercar and allows them to go faster. The moniker fit perfectly when Carbon Fiber was light on his feet marching from fifth to first in the blink of an eye on the backstretch. Yannick Gingras guided the Ron Burke-trained colt to a handy 1:56 1/5 victory by nearly a dozen lengths. I’m not sure why Carbon Fiber didn’t sell for more as the first foal from Brunella, a full sister to Insta Glam, the wickedly fast filly that led against colts in the first Mohawk Million and finished fourth. The family also includes the $1.1 million winner The Bank, the surprise Breeders Crown winner as a 3-year-old in 2015.
The first crop of Rebuff was expected to contend in Indiana this year as freshmen. That Redice woman-handled a field that included top stallions from Pennsylvania and New Jersey was a bit of a surprise. Redice put a 27 4/5 kicker at the end of a 1:56 3/5 mile with Atlee Bender driving for trainer Erv Miller. A $30,000 Lexington Selected yearling, Redice is the first foal from Fuzzy Dice. From a pedigree perspective you must go back 20 years to find the 2005 Hambletonian winner Vivid Photo on the maternal side.
At this time of year I generally try to steer clear of pacers, only because a 1:55 clocking will hardly separate the good from the great. Over the last few years we’ve seen 2-year-old pacers flirt with 1:50 clockings in July, and thus there’s a large pool of horses that may never reach that level but could still be decent raceway horses. There was one horse I watched on Wednesday (June 24) morning at Gaitway Farm that fit a different profile. Trainer Chris Ryder has appeared to have a magical touch with pacing fillies over the last decade and beyond. Sister Girl Blues put forth a 1:55 mile that stood out from the rest on the Gaitway program with Chris’ son Patrick in the bike. Sister Girl Blues is a daughter of Captaintreacherous that cost $170,000 on the first day of last year’s Lexington Selected Sale.
“There were two fillies I liked on the first day,” Chris Ryder said on Wednesday. “There was this filly and another one that was going to sell after her that I thought would go for too much money.”
Ryder plucked Sister Girl Blues as HIP number 28 on the program and let HIP number 44 sell later.
“The other filly was bought by Andrew Harris and she went for $500,000,” said Ryder.
The two yearlings, now 2, have similar pedigrees in that Sister Girl Blues is the first foal form Warrawee Youknow, an unraced full sister to Warrawee Ubeaut. The filly Ryder didn’t get and Andrew Harris did was Seaside Ubeaut, the second foal from Warrawee Ubeaut and first by Downbytheseaside. For the record, Seaside Ubeaut, bred by Burke Racing Stables and Crawford Farms Racing, has won both of her qualifiers in identical 1:56 4/5 clockings.
No doubt there will be countless horses that have yet to make a first appearance that will enter the fray. I’m looking forward to seeing how they all do.