King: King Zachary among five ready to make stakes noise

If Triple Crown winner Justify receives any challenges this summer within the 3-year-old ranks, most likely it will come from a horse that performed well in at least one of the Triple Crown races. Good Magic, second in the Derby and fourth in the Preakness, quickly comes to mind as a quality adversary, as do Gronkowski, Hofburg, and Vino Rosso – who ran second, third, and fourth, respectively, in the Belmont.

As always, there also will be some new players in the major stakes this summer, and the aim of this column is to shed light on which 3-year-olds those could be. Here are five colts, none of whom raced in the Triple Crown, that I regard as having the potential to make some noise in the months ahead. Their tests might come in Grade 1 races such as the Haskell or Travers, or in less prestigious, but still lucrative, stakes, of which there are plenty for 3-year-olds.

Perhaps the most promising is King Zachary, upset winner of the Grade 3 Matt Winn on the Stephen Foster undercard last Saturday at Churchill Downs. Making just his second stakes start, he delivered a blowout performance, cruising past two front-runners who enjoyed setting easy splits, to draw off for an authoritative 4 3/4-length score in blazing time.

For running 1 1/16 miles on a fast track in 1:42.86, he received a 98 Beyer Speed Figure. That marked significant improvement on his previous top, a 79, and if he can avoid regression off this leap forward, a 98 is a figure that puts him in the mix with the division’s major players.

Dale Romans trains King Zachary, as well as another talented 3-year-old in the lightly raced Mr Freeze, who after winning a first-level allowance at Churchill on June 2 going 1 1/16 miles is perfect in two starts. He, too, ran quickly – 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.92, good for a 91 Beyer – and with a difficult trip, to boot.

Off awkwardly and impeded somewhat early in the run to the first of two turns, he had every right to grow discouraged – and yet did not. Showing a contrasting style compared to his debut, when he raced prominently from the start, he rallied from last, 10 lengths off the pace, to win by a half-length. Moreover, he managed this despite losing ground by rallying four wide on the second turn.

He should improve with seasoning, as should Rugbyman, runner-up in the Easy Goer on Belmont Stakes Day. Rugbyman seemed to beat himself in that race, getting too aggressive early down the backside when held up at the back of the pack and then by trying to lug in down the stretch after swooping into contention with a four-wide bid on the turn.

It reflects his potential that he did these things and still came within a neck of victory, receiving an 89 Beyer, just up from an 88 he posted in winning a maiden race at Belmont Park in his second start by 14 lengths in the mud.

Out west at Santa Anita, Draft Pick has elevated his performances over the past couple months, suggesting he has the talent to make an impact on the national scene. After losing his first five starts, he has won two in a row, including the Grade 3 Affirmed in his stakes debut.

He was professional in winning the latter race, stalking a slow pace three wide throughout and surging clear by 2 1/2 lengths down the lane. His time was not flashy, particularly by California standards – 1 1/16 miles in 1:44.34 – though the mediocre clocking seemed partially a result of a racetrack that played a little slower than normal.

Lastly, Telekinesis is an interesting 3-year-old in Canada. An Ontario-bred, he just won the Plate Trial at Woodbine in preparation for the June 30 Queen’s Plate there.

His Plate Trial performance likely was not even his best race. Rather, it was his runner-up finish to My Boy Jack in the Lexington Stakes on April 14 at Keeneland. That day he gamely battled to lose by a head while giving up seasoning to the winner, a colt that ultimately proved good enough to be fifth in the Derby.