Straight Fire earns start in Del Mar Futurity

DEL MAR, Calif. – Straight Fire crushed maidens on Saturday, underscoring the quality of the fastest 2-year-old race of the year in the country, which came when he finished second to Chasing Aces here on July 17. Chasing Aces is sitting out the Best Pal Stakes on Saturday to await the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity on Sept. 5, and that’s where Straight Fire is headed, too.

Straight Fire set fractions of 21.78 seconds and 44.38 in the 6 1/2-furlong race on Saturday and won by 10 1/2 lengths. He earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 98.

“My concern coming into this race was that he’d gone so fast in his first race that it would cause him to go too fast in this race and he wouldn’t finish, so it was nice to see him set that kind of pace and finish,” Keith Desormeaux, who trains Straight Fire, said Monday. “He’s fast, fast, fast. I’ve never had one that fast. Raw talent. Hopefully, we can get him to carry that beautiful speed. That’s my job.”

Straight Fire is by the Smart Strike stallion Dominus and is out of an A.P. Indy mare, so his pedigree is encouraging for added distance.