Strong group of juvenile statebreds for Sleepy Hollow Stakes
ELMONT, N.Y. – This year’s New York-bred 2-year-old male class makes for a strong field in Saturday’s $250,000 Sleepy Hollow Stakes on Empire Showcase Day at Belmont Park.
However, Syndergaard, the narrowly beaten runner-up in the Grade 1 Champagne Stakes who is among the top horses in the class, is not entered. Syndergaard instead is pointing to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, where he is a legitimate contender.
Still, the Sleepy Hollow, race 7 on the card, came up a solid event. Among those entered is Runaway Lute, who crushed statebreds in his first two starts, including the Rockville Centre Stakes, by 12 and 8 3/4 lengths before an unsuccessful attempt at the Grade 1 Hopeful Stakes.
The first three finishers in the recent New York Breeders’ Futurity – Gold for the King, Macho Miah, and Eddie’s Gift – meet again Saturday. Gold for the King was good in winning that Finger Lakes event, scoring going away after a five-wide move on the far turn, although it should be noted that his late kick was perfectly set up by a very hot and contested early pace.
Haul Anchor and Pat On the Back, who finished in a dead heat for second in the Bertram F. Bongard Stakes on Oct. 2, also meet again here. Both were game to be beaten just two lengths by Mirai, who was 2-5 in the Bongard off an impressive debut score at Saratoga.
The Sleepy Hollow has four last-out maiden winners, two of whom – Tellmeafookystory and Mission Command – look like real win threats. Tellmeafookystory got his maiden victory going the Sleepy Hollow distance of one mile over the track Oct. 10 in his first start for trainer Todd Pletcher, earning a 77 Beyer Speed Figure that puts him right in the mix with this group.
Mission Command is especially intriguing, however. He won at 2-5 last time for a Rudy Rodriguez barn that has won at a 31 percent clip at the meet, and he now adds blinkers. Mission Command was so heavily bet because two starts back, he turned in perhaps the best race anyone in this field has run when second to Syndergaard in that one’s Saratoga debut.
The female counterpart to the Sleepy Hollow is race 5, the Maid of the Mist Stakes, also at one mile with a purse of $250,000.
The Maid of the Mist does not have as compelling a field. Iron Mizz is the lone stakes winner of nine entered, having taken the Seeking the Ante Stakes two starts back before a third-place finish in the Joseph A. Gimma most recently. But Iron Mizz earned Beyers of only 55 and 56 in those outings, which certainly leaves the door open for others.
Bonita Bianca’s recent debut victory in an off-the-pace, going-away style looks good on paper, the 58 Beyer she earned makes her competitive, and she has every right to move forward the second time out.
However, Bonita Bianca’s successful late run was perfectly set up by a fast pace that collapsed, and she wasn’t bet at all, going off at almost 11-1. You have to decide whether it’s wise to take a much shorter price Saturday on a filly coming off a perfect-trip win and facing winners for the first time, and whether projected improvement compensates for all of that.
Bree’s Got Heart, another last-out maiden winner, has appeal. In her debut two starts back, she came from far back to miss by a nose in the Saratoga slop. But on closing day at Saratoga, Bree’s Got Heart showed much-improved early foot and drew off as much the best.
Now, some might attribute Bree’s Got Heart’s improved speed last time to slow early fractions. It is true that the fractions in her seven-furlong race were slower than sprints run at other distances that day.
But – and this is important – there was one other seven-furlong race on that card. It was the Hopeful, and the fractions were nearly identical to the fractions Bree’s Got Heart posted. This makes me think that there might have been something about the seven-furlong races that day, and that the improved speed Bree’s Got Heart showed was more legitimate than the fractions in her race alone might suggest.