Sunday TimeformUS Highlight Horse: Here U Come Again looks too fast for Adirondack rivals
Saratoga | Race 8 | Post Time 5:10 p.m. (ET)
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I’m not trying to beat the likely favorite in the Grade 3 Adirondack. Here U Come Again (#3) earned a strong 102 TimeformUS Speed Figure in her debut at Ellis Park last month. She was aggressively ridden early, battling and putting away a pace rival before easily holding off the heavy favorite. There were significant gaps between the runners behind her, another indication that it was a race of quality. She appears to have trained very well since coming to Saratoga and just seems to be a step ahead of her rivals at this stage of the game. She’s shown close to the lead on the Pace Projector, yet she also possesses the second highest TimeformUS Late Pace Rating of any horse in the field, making her especially formidable.
Brad Cox runners tend to get bet heavily, but he nevertheless has remarkable statistics with horses like this. According to DRF Formulator, Brad Cox is 19 for 51 (37%, $2.98 ROI) with 2-year-old last-out maiden winners making their second starts over the past three years, and 11 for 28 (39%, $3.04 ROI) in stakes races within that sample.
Some might be tempted to go back to the fillies exiting the Schuylerville earlier in the meet. Becky’s Joker (#10) caused an upset that day, winning her career debut at odds of 21-1. There was nothing fluky about that performance. She didn’t break well, and had to rush up into position on the backstretch before moving between horses to take over in the lane. I’m just a little skeptical she’ll run as well returning in 24 days, being so cranked up for that debut. This is also a much deeper field than the Schuylerville.
There are a couple of other fillies who won their debuts at Ellis Park who merit consideration. Copper Em (#9) caused an upset, rocketing out of the gate to dominate a five-furlong affair from the front end. She earned a strong speed figure and could be dangerous if she can carry that speed an extra furlong and a half. Streaming Now (#8) earned a slower speed figure in her debut at Ellis, but was visually impressive, never asked for her best while always in command of that field. She might be capable of better this time, and should be a square price.