Saturday TimeformUS Highlight Horse: The Big Torpedo can do better getting back on turf
Aqueduct | Race 6 | Post Time 4:02 p.m. (ET)
Carson’s Run (#2) is undoubtedly the class of this field as he makes his 3-year-old debut while returning from a layoff. This horse displayed quality right from the start, beating a strong field to break his maiden at Saratoga before just missing to the precocious filly Gala Brand in the With Anticipation. He seemingly put it all together in that Grade 1 Summer at Woodbine, launching a strong rally from last to first to win going away. He didn’t perform as well in the Breeders’ Cup, but he was breaking from the far outside post position and never had great position. Now he returns in an appropriate spot, and seems to have a good foundation under him, with a steady series of workouts.
Walley World (#6) appears to be one of his main rivals as he returns to the New York circuit after racing once over the winter at Tampa. He lost to a very nice horse in Full Nelson, who came right back to win the Columbia in his next start with a 107 TimeformUS Speed Figure. This colt showed some talent even as a 2-year-old, but will need to take a slight step forward off the short layoff.
Elysian Meadows (#7) has some upside trying the turf for the first time. He wasn’t disgraced in the Grade 2 Wood Memorial, splitting the field in sixth. Yet he probably needs this class relief, and he’s also bred to move forward on turf. He’s by City of Light, who has had success as a turf sire, and is out of a dam who achieved her only victory on grass. The only drawback is that Bill Mott is 0 for 41 over the past 5 years with non-maidens trying turf for the first time, with just 4 horses hitting the board.
My top pick is The Big Torpedo (#5). This colt has also been racing on dirt recently, but he actually made his career debut on the turf back in November of last year. That race was going 6 furlongs, but he ran well to stay on for second behind a filly who was able to set slow fractions up front. He’s clearly improved on dirt since then, and arguably might have won that lucrative stallion series stakes in December without significant trouble in upper stretch. Yet he still strikes me as one that may ultimately be better on the turf, and it’s possible that he’s simply gotten better with added distance. Now he gets to go long on turf for the first time, and he should get a forward trip sitting just of the two speeds drawn inside of him.