Blue Devil Racing Stable's homebred debut winner Dune Road is possible to make his next start in the $150,000 Jerome on Jan. 6 at Aqueduct Racetrack. The one-turn mile for sophomores offers 10-5-3-2-1 Kentucky Derby (G1) qualifying points to the top-five finishers.
Trained by Carlos Martin, the Kentucky-bred Speightstown gelding graduated Dec. 8 with a gate-to-wire performance under Kendrick Carmouche in a one-turn mile maiden claimer. The dark bay marked fractions of :22.97, :46.53 and 1:12.39 through six furlongs over the fast main track, then kicked clear at the quarter pole en route to a 2 1/2-length score in a final time of 1:38.10. He garnered a 68 Beyer Speed Figure.
“I was surprised he showed that much speed. In the morning, he had always been steady and didn't show 22 and change speed, but he broke so sharp that Kendrick just left him alone,” Martin said. “I was pretty happy. He was ready to run but the way we usually prepare our horses, you would hope they keep improving moving forward. We don't crank them to the gills first time out, so I'm optimistic that was a pretty good effort all things considered.”
Martin said he is hopeful that Dune Road will continue to improve with racing experience.
“He's still a work in progress. It took his mind a while to come around,” Martin said. “We gelded him three or four months ago and he's a little on the quirky side, but he was very professional in the paddock and in the race. He broke sharp and was on cruise control. I watched the replay and he was a little green not switching leads, so I still believe there's some improvement there.”
Dune Road, a half-brother to stakes winner Kentucky Ghost, is out of the graded stakes-winning After Market mare Closing Range, who is a half-sister to graded stakes winner Stupendous Miss.
“He's a compact horse — more a medium size. He's got a lot of Speightstown in him even though he's not chestnut,” Martin said. “He's a handy, athletic type of horse — well-made and solid.
“The dam has had a couple nice horses like Kentucky Ghost, who has earned over half a million,” Martin added. “He has an interesting pedigree, so he's a horse that hopefully can get better and distance doesn't seem like it will be an issue. He'll run on.”
Martin said he has nominated Dune Road to the Jerome and will keep an eye on how tough the race comes up.
“The 'non-winners of one' is the day before and if the Jerome is coming up light, you have to consider all the options,” Martin said.
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