Sonic Boom tries dirt again in route for juveniles

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The all-juvenile “Stars of Tomorrow” cards at Churchill Downs are the best times at the track to see a 2-year-old with stakes potential – just not the only time. Thursday offers another chance, with Churchill carding a $60,000, entry-level allowance for 2-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles on dirt that goes as the ninth race and drew 11 starters.

A couple of entrants, Sonic Boom and Honor Thy Father, have already shown that they have stakes quality, with Sonic Boom running second in the Zuma Beach Stakes at Santa Anita on Oct. 10 and Honor Thy Father finishing third in the Ellis Park Juvenile before going unplaced in two graded stakes.

Still others possess clear potential, such as first-out maiden winner Totality and Just Move On and Society Beau, who were a troubled second and third in a traffic-filled Keeneland allowance race Oct. 20.

The fastest horse based on Beyer Speed Figures is Sonic Boom, though whether he can replicate those figures is a tricky determination. In winning a maiden race with an 80 Beyer at Kentucky Downs and in repeating that figure in the Zuma Beach, he did so on turf, not on dirt, the surface of Thursday’s race.

He ran seventh in his only dirt race over the summer at Ellis Park, but that was in his debut, when inexperience may have contributed to that defeat.

His pedigree offers mixed clues as to whether he can be as effective on dirt. He’s by More Than Ready, largely regarded as a turf sire, though his dam and most of her foals have fared best on dirt.

Totality, stretching out after winning his debut at six furlongs, has the pedigree to route, being by Tapit and out of the Giant’s Causeway mare Jackpot Joanie, a half-sister to 2005 Kentucky Oaks winner Summerly.

Key Contenders

Totality, by Tapit

Beyer: 65

◗ Defeated J Boys Echo in his maiden win Oct. 2, and that horse returned to win a maiden race at Keeneland on Oct. 27 by 5 1/2 lengths.

Just Move On, by Street Boss

Last 3 Beyers: 69-68-74

◗ Stuck in traffic at Keeneland on Oct. 10, he didn’t get clear until inside the final furlong and closed powerfully to go from fifth to second, with a final sixteenth of a mile that Trakus timed in 5.74 seconds.

Sonic Boom, by More Than Ready

Last 3 Beyers: 80-80-40

◗ Finished second to a quality foe in the Zuma Beach, losing by 3 1/4 lengths to Big Score, who returned to finish fifth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf.