No Nay Mets looks to continue Weaver's hot streak in Tyro

George Weaver didn’t set out to dominate the 2-year-old turf sprint division in 2023.

“It just so happened that way. With my barn, most years we might not even have run a 2-year-old yet,” Weaver said.

This year has not been like most years. As of July 28, Weaver had sent out nine different 2-year-old turf sprinters. Remarkably, six of them have won, and a seventh turf sprint victory this summer was especially memorable, the filly Crimson Advocate capturing the Group 2 Queen Mary Stakes at Royal Ascot.

The run shows no sign of abating, with two Weaver-trained colts among a full field in the $75,000 Tyro Stakes on Sunday at Monmouth Park. No Nay Mets, leading jockey Paco Lopez named to ride, is a definite starter, provided the Tyro remains on turf. Weaver said he’d decide after Saturday training if his second Tyro entrant, Please Advise, ships from Saratoga.

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No Nay Mets will be favored in the five-furlong Tyro. So precocious was this No Nay Never colt that Weaver and his owner, Bergman Family Racing, debuted No Nay Mets in the $100,000 Royal Palm Juvenile on May 13 at Gulfstream. No Nay Mets showed good speed, opened up at the head of the homestretch, and won by 3 1/2 lengths. That earned him a Royal Ascot start in the Group 2 Norfolk, but after racing prominently in the early stages of that five-furlong contest, No Nay Mets faded to ninth.

Frankie “Dettori came back and said he wasn’t on the best part of the turf. There was a little give to the turf over there, and I’m not sure he liked that. He just didn’t adjust to it like the filly,” Weaver said.

No Nay Mets drew inside and figures to show his speed again in the Tyro; if he’s not on the lead, he’ll be close to it.

Weaver doubted Please Advise would be ready to win his career debut, but win he did, stalking, pouncing, and drawing clear with a solid 11.98-second final furlong to win a five-furlong grass maiden by 1 1/2 lengths over Noted, who won a Saratoga turf maiden July 22.

The Tyro drew an overflow field of 14, a dozen in the main body and two also-eligibles, one of whom, Whatdoyouthinkmark, is the fastest horse in the race. Whatdoyouthinkmark debuted July 13 at Canterbury and won a 4 1/2-furlong maiden race by 15 lengths, earning an 81 Beyer Speed Figure. He subsequently was privately purchased and turned over to trainer Larry Rivelli, but probably doesn’t get a chance to start Sunday.

Ship Cadet will take betting following a debut turf sprint win at Belmont and a distant second-place finish there in the Tremont, a dirt race, Winning first time out, Ship Cadet, trained by Mike Maker, got a favorable setup beating another Weaver horse, Twisted Filigree, by three-quarters of a length. He was no match for Gold Sweep in the Tremont but could appreciate a return to turf.

Frankie’s Empire is drawn in post 12 but merits consideration at a price. At 15-1, he rallied wide and into a slow pace to win a Monmouth dirt maiden going away, and that race’s runner-up, Crazy Mason, won a July 20 Saratoga maiden by more than nine lengths with a 75 Beyer.

Shea D World has worked twice at Monmouth following a game, front-running debut win July 2 in a Gulfstream Park maiden race. The diminutive Shea D World won on dirt but is from the first crop of sire World of Trouble, who already has gone 2-1-2 with five turf-sprint starters.

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