There have been some scintillating performances put in by 2-year-olds so far this year and more are likely to come over the course of the 40-day Saratoga meet, which begins Thursday. Damon’s Mound, a 12 1/2-length debut winner at Churchill Downs on July 2, is being pointed to the Grade 2, $200,000 Saratoga Special on Aug. 13 and then potentially the Grade 1 Hopeful on Sept. 5, trainer Michelle Lovell said Sunday. Damon’s Mound has joined Lovell’s stable at Colonial Downs for the summer. Gulfport, impressive winner of the Bashford Manor on July 4, is also targeting the Saratoga Special, trainer Steve Asmussen said. :: Get Saratoga Clocker Reports from Mike Welsch and the Clocker Team. Available every race day.   On the filly side, Munnys Gold, who earned a 101 Beyer Speed Figure in a maiden victory at Monmouth Park, has been hampered by a bruised foot. Trainer Todd Pletcher said he is hoping she gets over that and he can train her toward the Grade 1 Spinaway on Sept. 4. The Spinaway is the next target for Wonder Wheel, winner of the Debutante at Churchill on July 4 for trainer Mark Casse. While 2-year-old races were hard to fill at Belmont this spring and summer they should be part of the regular menu at Saratoga, though only six 2-year-old fillies were entered in a 5 1/2-furlong maiden race on Thursday’s card. While Pletcher, Asmussen, and Chad Brown figure to attract most of the attention with their high-priced, powerful-pedigreed 2-year-olds, there are several other trainers to pay attention in that division this summer. Chief among them are Christophe Clement and Shug McGaughey, both of whom seem to have increased their quantity and quality of 2-year-olds over previous years. Last summer, Clement had his best Saratoga meet with juveniles, winning 7 races from 21 starters. One of those wins came with Pizza Bianca, who won her debut at Saratoga and capped the year with a victory in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. “If you look at maiden special weight races in New York, I don’t get the $500,000, $600,000 horses like some other guys do, and we’ve been able to compete,” Clement said. “I still win.” Among the colts Clement hopes to start this summer at Saratoga are Acoustic Ave (Maclean’s Music), American Hustle (American Pharoah), Thutmose (War Front), and perhaps Chulligan, an $825,000 New York-bred son of Justify who is a half-brother to Grade 3 winner Coinage. Big Wicks (Medaglia d’Oro) is an expensive colt out of the seven-time stakes winner Leigh Court. Among fillies, Clement has high hopes for a half-sister to Gotham winner Morello named Ella Frances (Cairo Prince), Mademoisellejackie (American Pharoah), Silver Skillet (Liam’s Map), Smokie Eyes (Nyquist), and Souffle (Candyride). Shug McGaughey has gone just 11 for 115 with juveniles at Saratoga the past 13 summers. Now, having taken on more clients than just the Phippses and Stuart Janney, McGaughey has some high-priced juveniles that he figures to unveil this summer. :: DRF's Saratoga headquarters – Stakes schedule, previews, recaps, past performances, and more Perform (Good Magic) was a solid second on debut on July 3 at Belmont Park and figures to be better from the experience. McGaughey has colts General Jim, an $850,000 son of Into Mischief; Limits of Power, a $575,000 son of Good Magic who is a half-brother to Grade 1 winner Yaupon; Battle of Normandy, a $500,000 son of City of Light; Game Change, a $500,000 son of Candy Ride; Spinzar, a $400,000 son of Tapit; and Ohana Honor, a $430,000 son of Honor Code. He also has homebreds Capture the Flag (Quality Road) and Full Coverage (Into Mischief). Evergrande, a $1.1 million daughter of Uncle Mo, tops McGaughey’s list of fillies, which includes Candle (City of Light) and Self Confident (Into Mischief). As usual, it will be tough to have more success with 2-year-olds than Todd Pletcher, who has won at least 10 baby races 10 of the last 12 years in Saratoga. Forte (Violence) is headed to Saturday’s Grade 3 Sanford off a dominant maiden score on May 27. Among the colts Pletcher looks to get started at Saratoga are Bat Flip (Good Magic); Mindtap (Tapit), a half to three-time Grade 1 winner Curalina; an unnamed Into Mischief colt out of Grade 1 Test winner Paola Queen who sold for $2.6 million at Saratoga in 2021; an unnamed Violence colt who is a half-brother to Standard Deviation; Miracle Mike (Goldencents), second to Andiamo A Firenze on debut; and an unnamed Flatter colt who is a half-brother to A Mo Reay. Among Pletcher’s fillies to watch for are Bisset (Quality Road), second on debut at Monmouth; Chocolate Gelato (Practical Joke), entered on Thursday’s opening-day card; Invest Wisely (Justify out of Grade 1 winner Emma’s Encore); Julia Shining, a full sister to champion Malathaat; and Wand (Good Magic). Trainer Chad Brown can rival Pletcher with his juvenile pedigrees, but is usually later getting them started. Among his colts to look for are a $1 million son of Into Mischief named Phelpsy, Activist Investing (Kingman), Army Times (Into Mischief), Out of Bounds (Dubawi), an unnamed First Samurai colt out of Destiny Unbound, and an unnamed City of Light colt out of Taglia. Brown’s fillies include Startup Mentality (Kingman), an unnamed Into Mischief filly out of Vertical Vision, Accede (Into Mischief), Disruption (Practical Joke), Free Look (Tapit), and Pink Hue (Mendelssohn). Asmussen won eight juvenile races at two of the last three meets. He won four maiden 2-year-old races at Churchill Downs, with his most impressive winner being Gulfport (Uncle Mo), dominant victor of the Bashford Manor on July 3. Among those who didn’t win that figure to race at the Spa are the colts Disarm (Gun Runner), Easy Big Boy (Cloud Computing), second to the monster that is Damon’s Mound, and Run Poppy (Runhappy), and the fillies Just an Angel (Justify) and Stunningly (Gun Runner). Asmussen plans to run Roman Giant in Saturday’s Sanford. Casse has enjoyed terrific success this year with his 2-year-olds and has three entered in Thursday’s Schuylerville. He said Janis Joplin may scratch and run in a maiden race. Boppy O, a half-brother to Pappacap, is slated to run in Saturday’s Sanford. Among the maidens Casse looks to run at Saratoga are Bring Theband Home (Into Mischief), second on debut at Gulfstream Park, and the New York-bred Conman (Constitution), who has been working well at Belmont. Danny Gargan said his stable has shifted its focus from claimers to young horses and believes he has a talented group of juveniles. Among the colts he’s looking to get started later in the meet are Champions Dream (Justify), Torigo (Munnings), America’s Guest (Candy Ride), Dubyuhnell (Good Magic), and an unnamed Bolt d’Oro out of Keep It a Secret. His fillies include Queenpin (Unified) and Showemyourheels (Munnings). Trainer Bill Mott typically has a strong arsenal of young talent, including well-bred runners from the likes of Juddmonte Farms and Godolphin. Good News Rocket (Runhappy), a $700,000 2-year-old in-training purchase by Frank Fletcher, is a half-brother to Grade 1 winner Tiz Miz Sue. Game Warden (Tapit) and River Raft (Candy Ride) also look like interesting colts. Misintention (Into Mischief), Padma (Tapit), and Senior Prom Queen (Curlin) are among Mott’s fillies. Jorge Abreu has 25 2-year-olds and is high on the fillies Moonage Daydream (Candy Ride), Alluring Angel (Fastnet Rock), Alice Kramden (Accelerate), and Highway Harmony (Mo Town). On July 2 at Belmont, trainer Rudy Rodriguez won with the filly Apple Picker (Connect). He also sent out the third-place finisher Maria From Miami (Candy Ride), who suffered a cut in that race but could still make the Saratoga meet. “I think she’s nice,” Rodriguez said. “She was a mental case in the gate.” Rodriguez has the fillies La Vita Sofia (Cross Traffic); O Shaughesey (Good Samaritan), who finished a troubled second at Laurel Park on July 1 and may move to the turf; an unnamed Frosted filly out of Junoon; and an unnamed Central Banker filly out of Wild and Windblown.