Saturday TimeformUS Highlight Horse: Gold Sweep needs better trip in Champagne
Belmont at the Big A | Race 8 | Post Time 3:46 p.m. (ET)
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There appears to be a deep well of raw talent in the Champagne, but it remains to be seen which of these promising 2-year-olds will be ready to take that next step forward against stakes company.
Fierceness (#6) has to be considered the horse to beat off his dazzling debut win at Saratoga. The result was hardly a surprise, as this horse had garnered plenty of buzz based on his morning workouts leading into the race. Yet it was the commanding nature of his performance that makes him so formidable here. He displayed excellent gate speed and just opened up on the field with ease once asked for run by Irad Ortiz Jr. He also has proven that he handles a wet track, and there is rain in the forecast for Saturday. I’m not totally convinced that more distance will suit this horse, but we already know he has the ability to win a race of this stature.
That said, General Partner (#4) didn’t run that much slower than the favorite in breaking his maiden at Saratoga late in the meet. This colt had run very well on debut, chasing a fast pace against a strong field, and he seemed to benefit from the experience in his second start. He got to the front and never looked back en route to a 110 TimeformUS Speed Figure performance. He’s another who may not necessarily want route distances in the future, but he obviously has serious talent.
I’m interested in horses coming out of the Grade 1 Hopeful. That stakes didn’t earn as fast a speed figure as some others in here earned against maiden company. Yet I do think it was a better race than the figures indicate, as that field had shown talent on the way in. Timberlake (#3) was the beaten favorite, and might have run the best race of anyone. He didn’t break that sharply, got rank in the early stages while chasing a fast pace, and split horses nicely in the stretch before getting overhauled by the closing winner. Now Brad Cox takes the blinkers off, which might help him to settle better. He’s bred to appreciate this distance.
My top pick is Gold Sweep (#7), who finished a little further back in the Hopeful. He really never had a fair chance that day given his trip. He broke better than Timberlake, but was reined in to drop back out of the chute. He then found himself towards the inside taking kickback, getting awkwardly shuffled back around the far turn. He appeared to have some run in upper stretch, but found more traffic and got steadied late. This horse also had a valid excuse two back in the Sanford when he stumbled badly at the start before closing for second. He had shown talent in the Tremont, and I’m hopeful he can finally get back to that effort with a clean trip.