Tremont, Astoria could give boost to first-crop sires
With two winners each, Overanalyze and Awesome Patriot rank first and second on the nascent 2017 freshman sire list by earnings. Both have a chance to add to their totals this week at Belmont Park, as the track cards the $150,000 Tremont Stakes and the $150,000 Astoria Stakes for fillies, the first juvenile stakes of the year on the lucrative circuit.
Overanalyze, a multiple graded stakes winner as a juvenile, went on to add the Arkansas Derby as a 3-year-old. The Dixie Union horse, standing at WinStar Farm, got his first winner when Analyze the Odds rolled by 4 1/2 lengths on April 20 at Aqueduct. Analyze Your Luck followed up, leading at every call on a sloppy track to win by 2 1/4 lengths May 5 at Aqueduct. The New York-bred youngsters, both running for their sire’s connections of owner Mike Repole and trainer Todd Pletcher, meet in the Tremont.
Pletcher has four entrants for Friday’s Tremont, also saddling Siena Farm homebred Admiral Jimmy, who rolled by 3 1/2 lengths first out at Gulfstream Park, and Starlight Racing’s Salmanazar, a debut winner at Keeneland. Admiral Jimmy was the first winner for another freshman sire, Spendthrift Farm’s Grade 1 winner Jimmy Creed.
“The effort [the New York Racing Association has] made to get the 2-year-old program started a little earlier has paid off based on what I’ve seen in the entries so far,” Pletcher said. “People are now coming in with their 2-year-olds a little earlier. One of the problems we had for a while was once you broke your maiden, you really didn’t have anywhere to go. Having the Tremont on the calendar and a couple of New York-bred stakes at the end of the meet gives you some options. It’s a good opportunity for some of these more precocious sorts to take advantage of their precocity.”
In the Astoria on Thursday, Waki Patriot represents the stakes winner Awesome Patriot. The Spendthrift Farm stallion is a full brother to Preakness Stakes winner Oxbow and comes from the immediate family of Horse of the Year and prominent sire Tiznow.
Waki Patriot has already had a busy spring, with one win, in a Keeneland maiden race, from three starts. Last out, the filly was fourth in the Kentucky Juvenile at Churchill Downs, beaten just over two lengths by the well-regarded Buy Sell Hold; Amberspatriot, also by Awesome Patriot; and the Royal Ascot-bound McErin.
Di Maria, a debut winner at Gulfstream Park, also looks for black type in the Astoria. The filly was the first winner for Claiborne Farm resident Data Link, a Grade 1 winner on turf.