Cloudy skies and 10-15 mile an hour wind for most of the afternoon. An early morning rain shower, seemed to add some stickiness to the track and the surface was listed as fast, but times were noticeably slower than on Friday. Outside moves and pressers dominated the day. No cheap speed horses were able to wire any of the dirt races.
The start was good for everyone. Upstart had a slight bobble but not enough to hamper the performance. Bluegrass Singer was able to establish the rail position and with a slower race track set fractions of 24 and 3, 48 and 4, 1:12 and 2. Bluegrass Singer led into the turn fading midway down the stretch. Overall a respectable race, but saw different fractions and had more pace pressure than the last 2 runaway wins at 1 mile. Will probably see him in the Fountain of Youth but think his class level is G2/G3 company and has probably peaked.
Upstart after the bobble at the start was able to settle into 3rd place outside First Down, approaching the 6 furlong mark and into the stretch, established 2nd place and quickly went to the lead drawing even with Bluegrass Singer approaching the stretch and came out of the turn with the lead, switched leads and drew away to the 7 length victory. The Beyer speed figure came back a 105. Upstart is a compact, muscular horse, who has the look of a router, looks very similar to a lot of the better Flatter sons and daughters. Upstart did maybe look a little washy going into the gate, but warmed up nice and was calm even with the unusually long Gulfstream Post Parades. Has a couple of gears and has shown multiple times has enough speed to lay close with Tactical speed and the quick jab to put horses away when taking the lead. Lots of options for next race, most likely FOY, but Gotham and Wood route is possible.
Frosted was on the inside of horses for the first 4 furlongs and was able to secure a tracking trip, while putting no pressure on the 3 leaders. Going into the turn he went outside horses and went after Bluegrass Singer, putting him away mid-stretch and galloping out past the wire with some good energy. Physically Frosted is big, looks like a lot of Tapits and carries some weight to him, he showed a great deal of muscle and wide in the shoulders. Once he established 2nd place he was not pushed very hard down most of the stretch. This was a good comeback race and didn’t Squeeze the Lemon by any means. He does seem to have one gear and will run all day.
Keen Ice is a smaller horse, looked great in the post parade, warmed up well, but just doesn’t have enough speed to stay within 5 or 6 lengths of the leaders. The track today played as fair as Gulfstream is going to play and he closed mildly, while running wide and finished in the middle of the track and galloped out best. He needs a full field, fast fractions and the race to completely fall apart to really have a chance to win.
First Down prompted the pace for 5 furlongs while between horses, but when Upstart engaged Bluegrass singer approaching the 2nd turn, dropped back and was not persevered late.
Positives: Fair Racetrack that was not fair to speed, outside horses did well. Upstart sat 3W trip most of the way. Frosted did not extend himself and easily got 2nd. Not sure they were all out to win this race, Ortiz pretty much rode him into the finish line once securing 2nd.
Negatives: Disappointing efforts from Frammento and First Down faded quickly approaching the 2nd turf. Keen Ice just isn’t fast enough to compete with the top horses. Basically he finished 7 lengths behind Frosted again.
Ranking the Preps in 2015
#1 El Kabeir – Jerome
#2 Calculator – Sham
#3 Upstart – Holy Bull
#4 Bluegrass Singer – MMM
#5 International Star – LeComte
#6 Cross the Line – Calif. Derby
#7 Far Right – Smarty Jones