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Triple Crown Weekend Prep Report Card: A Rapid River In The Smarty Jones

Oaklawn opened its 2021 meeting last Friday, Jan. 22, with Caddo River taking the day's feature race, the $150,000 Smarty Jones Stakes for 3-year-olds, the only Kentucky Derby qualifying points race of the last week.

Caddo River serves notice with a 10 1/4-length victory in the Smarty Jones

The Smarty Jones, worth 17 points to the top four finishers (10-4-2-1) is the first of four Derby points races at the Hot Sports, Ark., track. Next up will be the Grade 3 Southwest Stakes (17 points) on Feb. 15, followed by the G2 Rebel (85 points) on March 13 and the G1 Arkansas Derby (170 points) on April 10 – three weeks before the May 1 Kentucky Derby.

Inaugurated in 2008, the Smarty Jones has yet to produce a classic winner, though Will Take Charge kicked off his Eclipse Award-winning 3-year-old season with a victory in the 2013 Smarty Jones for Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas. Though he was unsuccessful while running in all three Triple Crown races, Will Take Charge won the G2 Rebel, G1 Travers, G2 Pennsylvania Derby, G1 Clark and was beaten a nose by Mucho Macho Man in the G1 Breeders' Cup Classic at Santa Anita.

While the Smarty Jones was the only points race, there were two very impressive maiden performances worth chronicling on Saturday, Jan. 23.

The first may have gotten lost on the Pegasus World Cup card from Gulfstream Park. Prevalence, a Godolphin homebred by Medaglia d'Oro trained by Brendan Walsh, absolutely destroyed a 12-horse maiden field going seven furlongs. Breaking half a step slow from the six post under Tyler Gaffalione at 7.80-1 odds, Prevalence worked his way toward the front along the rail after an opening quarter mile in :22.66. He was in front after a half in :46.09 and then left his rivals in the dust, pulling away under mild encouragement to win by 8 ½ lengths while completely geared down in the final yards. Six-furlong split was 1:10.45 with the seven furlongs timed in 1:23.00. He was given a Beyer Speed Figure of 89.

Prevalence was an impressive winner in his debut at Gulfstream Park on Pegasus World Cup day

Prevalence was one of eight first-time starters in the race, so it's hard to gauge the quality of the field he was beating. I have a sneaking suspicion several of those who chased Prevalence will graduate soon as the field included a John Gunther homebred trained by Chad Brown (runner-up Stage Raider), a $1,050,000 Curlin yearling trained by Todd Pletcher (Ghazaaly, who finished third), and horses carrying silks of high-end stables like W.S. Farish, WinStar Farm/CHC Inc., and Lothenbach Stables, among others.

Walsh told Daily Racing Form's Mike Welsch he might look for an allowance race or consider the G2 Fountain of Youth (an 85-point Derby points test) on Feb. 27 for Prevalence's next start.

Pedigree note: Prevalence was produced from the Ghostzapper mare Enrichment, whose Arch colt Estihdaaf won the G3 UAE Two Thousand Guineas at a mile in 2019. Enrichment was produced from the Seeking the Gold mare Sahara Gold, a daughter of the Storm Cat mare Desert Stormer, who beat males in the 1995 Breeders' Cup Sprint.

The other impressive maiden winner on Saturday was The Great One, a Nyquist colt who romped to a 14-length win at Santa Anita in a mile maiden race that ran with only four starters, including 11-10 favorite debut runner Fenway (a $650,000 yearling purchase by Into Mischief) from the Bob Baffert barn. The Great One is trained by two-time Kentucky Derby-winning trainer Doug O'Neill and is owned in part by Erik Johnson, a defenseman for the Colorado Avalanche of the NHL (thus the name The Great One, a reflection of hockey legend Wayne Gretzky's nickname, fitting for a son of a horse named for another hockey star Gustav Nyquist).

The Great One, by Nyquist, drawing off by 14 lengths under Abel Cedillo

The Great One was coming off a nose defeat to Baffert-trained Spielberg in the G2 Los Alamitos Futurity on Dec. 19 – his fourth start. Two starts earlier in a mile main track maiden race at Del Mar, The Great One finished fourth, beaten 13 lengths by Spielberg. So I think we can establish that The Great One is improving.

Unlike the Los Al Futurity, where The Great One raced on the lead throughout and was nailed in a head-bobber, he rated just off Fenway's right flank through fractions of :22.91 and :45.76, then took command after three-quarters in 1:10.67. He went seven furlongs in 1:23.69 and under energetic handling by Abel Cedillo for most of the stretch run stopped the clock for a mile in 1:37.28 – a final quarter mile in 26.61 seconds after fast early fractions.

The Great One received a 92 Beyer Speed Figure, compared to an 81 for his Los Al Futurity.

O'Neill said the G2 San Felipe (85 qualifying points) on March 6 is the logical next step for The Great One.

If I had to pick between these two maiden winners, I'd go with Prevalence, simply because I see more upside.

Now a look at the Smarty Jones Stakes. My grading system (A to F) is entirely subjective and based on my personal “eyeball test,” Beyer Speed Figures from Daily Racing Form, historical significance of the race and perceived quality of fields.

Jan. 22: Smarty Jones Stakes, one mile, Oaklawn

Much was expected of Brad Cox-trained Caddo River, the 3-5 Smarty Jones favorite based on the Hard Spun colt's 9 ½-length maiden win when stretched out to a one-turn mile for his third start at Churchill Downs last Nov. 15. He finished second in two previous seven-furlong sprints at Saratoga in September and Belmont in October.

He did not disappoint, winning by 10 1/4 lengths.

With Florent Geroux in the saddle, Caddo River went straight to the front and basically tow-roped the seven-horse field once around the Oaklawn oval to the finish line at the sixteenth pole in the “short stretch” configuration for one-mile races at Oaklawn. Each of his quarter miles went progressively slower than the previous one: :23.12, :24.04, :25.26 and :25.77. That's about the only flaw (if you could call in that) I could see in the performance, which was very professional and rated a 92 Beyer Speed Figure.

There were three multiple winners in the lineup, plus the Steve Asmussen-trained Cowan, a two-time stakes runner-up, including the G2 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint. I don't see a big upward arc for any of those who came in Caddo River's wake, so the level of competition knocks down his grade a bit.

Hard Spun (like Prevalence's sire Medaglia d'Oro and The Great One's sire Nyquist) stands at Darley at Jonabell Farm. While his lone G1 victory came sprinting seven furlongs in the King's Bishop (now the H. Allen Jerkens), the son of Danzig finished second to Street Sense in the Kentucky Derby and second to Curlin in the Breeders' Cup Classic at four in 2007. His offspring have proven to be solid around two turns as well.

Caddo River, bred by and racing for John Ed Anthony's Shortleaf Stable, is the firest foal from the Congrats mare Pangburn, a stakes winner for Shortleaf purchased for $130,000 at the 2013 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky July Yearling Sale.

Anthony is no stranger to the Triple Crown trail, having won the 1980 Belmont Stakes with Temperence Hill and back-to-back Preakness Stakes in 1992-'93 with Pine Bluff and Prairie Bayou, respectively. He's won Oaklawn's Rebel Stakes four times and the Arkansas Derby on three occasions. Like so many of his previous runners, Caddo River is named after a landmark in Anthony's home state of Arkansas. We're going to hear a lot more about this horse.

Grade: B

This Saturday we'll have two Kentucky Derby points races, the G3 Holy Bull from Gulfstream Park and the G3 Robert B. Lewis Stakes from Santa Anita

Previously: Jan. 18 Triple Crown Weekend Prep Report Card

Jan. 3 Triple Crown Weekend Prep Report Card

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Gretzky Namesake The Great One Being Pointed Toward March 6 San Felipe

Wow!

The exclamations were still relevant at Santa Anita on Sunday morning, less than 24 hours after The Great One demolished a field of maidens with a 14-length triumph in Saturday's second race, a one-mile event at the Arcadia, Calif., track that likely will lead to the Grade 2, $300,000 San Felipe Stakes at 1 1/16 miles on March 6.

Doug O'Neill plans to “monitor the colt and then huddle up with the boys (owners)” before making a decision

“That's probably the logical spot right now,” said O'Neill, who trains the Louisiana-bred son of his 2016 Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist for an ownership group that includes the Colorado Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson's ERJ Racing, LLC, thus the colt's name.

“Erik named him for Wayne Gretzky, one of Eric's idols growing up,” O'Neill said, clarifying that the $185,000 Ocala Breeders' Sales purchase was not named after the late Jackie Gleason, a multi-talented actor, comedian, writer, composer and conductor deservingly known affectionately as “The Great One.”

“Erik and Wayne are friends,” O'Neill added, “so it's pretty cool.”

Gretzky, lest we forget, holds a host of hockey records that would fill a goalie's net, and is not only considered by many the greatest hockey player of all-time, but in some quarters, the greatest athlete of all time, justifying his nickname, “The Great One.”

Gretzky, who turns 60 on Monday, Jan. 25, spent the majority of his NHL career with the Edmonton Oilers and Los Angeles Kings. His next shot on goal was always a high priority as he adhered to the credo, “You miss 100 percent of the shots you never take.”

Even O'Neill was surprised by the ease with which The Great One broke his maiden.

“Oh, yeah,” he said. “You never figure on winning like that. Your main focus is just trying to get him to the wire first. You never figure they're going to win by 14, although he had been training really, really well. Each race had been better than the previous one.

“Since we added blinkers (last Nov. 29), he's really focused. It's very exciting and hopefully we'll have more fun down the road.”

Triple Crown temptation continues for Team O'Neill this Saturday when two other precocious 3-year-olds run in the Grade 3 Robert B. Lewis Stakes, Breeders' Cup Juvenile runner-up Hot Rod Charlie and impressive maiden winner Wipe the Slate.

Stay tuned.

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‘This Horse Has Gears’: The Great One Makes Statement With 14-Length Maiden Triumph

Still a maiden following a nose defeat in a Grade 2 stakes on Dec. 19, trainer Doug O'Neill's The Great One exploded off the turn for home en route to a 14-length score in Saturday's second race at Santa Anita, a $61,000 maiden special weight, and thus further enhanced his stature as a serious Derby hopeful. Ridden by Abel Cedillo, the bay son of 2016 Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist got a mile in 1:37.28.

With Bob Baffert's first-time starter Fenway, who dominated the wagering as the even money favorite, gunning for the early lead from his rail post, The Great One pressed him every step of the way and was three quarters of a length back at the three furlong pole. Well within himself, The Great One quickly opened up at two length advantage at the quarter pole and widened from there in a tremendous effort.

“When we made the lead at the top of the stretch, that was pretty amazing,” said Cedillo, who although he showed The Great One the stick several times to maintain focus, never hit him. “This horse has gears. Anytime you want one, you got it. The way he won today, he's a top horse, no doubt about it.”

Second, beaten a nose at 33-1 in the G2 Los Alamitos Futurity in his most recent start, The Great One, in his fifth career start, was off at 8-5 in a field of four sophomores and paid $5.20 and $2.60 with no show wagering.

“I always loved Nyquist and this colt caught my eye when he first came in,” said O'Neill assistant Leandro Mora. “He was very, very green, but we told the owners, please let us take our time with him and we have. We knew the ability was there. We have two horses for the Robert Lewis (G3, 1 1/16 miles) next Saturday, but I know Doug wants to try and keep these horses separated as long as we can. This colt is Louisiana-bred, so we have some options. We'll just see how he comes out of this race and then plan ahead.”

Owned by Colorado Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson's ERJ Racing, LLC, Train Wreck Al Racing Stables, Niall J. Brennan, Tom Fritz and William Strauss, The Great One is out of the El Corredor mare Little Ms Protocol. A $185,000 Ocala Breeders' Sales July 2-Year-Olds and Horses of Racing Age Sale purchase, The Great One picked up $36,600 for the win, increasing his earnings to $83,940.

Although trainer Mark Glatt's Affable loomed a contender a quarter mile out, he never got on terms with the winner and finished second, some 11 ½ lengths in front of longshot There Goes Harvard. Off at 2-1 with Juan Hernandez up, Affable returned $2.80 to place.

Fenway, who was ridden by Victor Espinoza, checked in last, beaten 29 ½ lengths.

Fractions on the race were 22.91, 45.76, 1:10.67 and 1:23.69.

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The 2020 Freshman Sire Yearbook: Sons Of Uncle Mo Carry On Fast-Starting Tradition

Every freshman sire class has its own story.

In 2019, the narrative centered around how an extremely deep class would stack up against the imposing first book of the first Triple Crown winner in decades, American Pharoah. The year before that, it was a battle of philosophies between Spendthrift Farm sires, with eventual victor Cross Traffic and his champion Jaywalk duking it out against Goldencents' broad army of runners.

The story of the 2020 freshman sire class will be remembered for a horse that debuted at stud nearly a decade ago: Uncle Mo.

After Uncle Mo's own initial crop of runners set records for freshman-sired earnings, his first sons from that crop have carried the momentum into the next generation with aplomb, and in different ways.

Nyquist, who brought home a classic, a Breeders' Cup win and an Eclipse Award for his sire, did it the conventional way, getting runners at the highest level, as he was expected to do. Laoban did it the unconventional way, getting enough graded stakes winners to merit being moved from New York to Kentucky. Outwork, Uncle Mo's very first starter and winner, did it with numbers, piling horses into starting gates and winner's circles.

Of course, sons of Uncle Mo weren't the only ones that had big debuts in 2020. Here is a look back at all the stallions who made a mark last year, and hopefully set themselves up for long careers at stud.

Highest Progeny Earnings, Most Grade 1 Winners, Highest-Earning Individual Runner: Nyquist
Uncle Mo x Seeking Gabrielle, by Forestry
Standing at Darley America
2021 Fee: $75,000
Progeny Earnings: $2,424,083
Leading Earner: Vequist – $1,235,500

Much like Uncle Mo, champion Nyquist got the job done in a big way with his debut crop of juveniles.

The Darley America resident hit just about every quality benchmark one would like to see with his first runners, chief among them being a Breeders' Cup score by Vequist in the Juvenile Fillies. That win gave Nyquist an insurmountable lead in the earnings race among freshman sires, and secured Vequist's spot as the highest-earning freshman-sired runner for 2020.

While Vequist's Breeders' Cup victory held the wheel for much her sire's cumulative success last year, it was anything but a fluke for the filly. She kicked off a giant September for Nyquist, who had the winner and third-place finisher in the G1 Spinaway Stakes at Saratoga, in Vequist and Lady Lilly, respectively. The month ended with Nyquist notching his class-leading second Grade 1 winner when Gretzky the Great took the G1 Summer Stakes at Woodbine, giving the sire wins at the highest level over both dirt and turf.

Nyquist's success at the top of these lists was more than enough to establish Uncle Mo's credentials as a current and future sire of sires, but that notion is driven home by the stallions that fill out the podium. In all three categories that Nyquist led by himself, fellow Uncle Mo stallion Laoban finished third or better. They are joined by Outwork, who had the second-highest-earning freshman-sired runner of 2020 in Grade 1-placed stakes winner Outadore.

Honorable Mentions (Progeny Earnings)
– Laoban (Sequel New York to WinStar Farm):
– Not This Time (Taylor Made Stallions):

Honorable Mentions (Grade 1 Winners)
– Laoban (Sequel New York to WinStar Farm): One G1 Winner
– Not This Time (Taylor Made Stallions): One G1 Winner

Honorable Mention (Highest-Earning Individual Runners)
– Outwork (WinStar Farm): Outadore – $430,100
– Laoban (Sequel New York to WinStar Farm): Simply Ravishing – $414,200

Most Winners, Most Progeny Wins: Not This Time
Giant's Causeway x Miss Macy Sue, by Trippi
Standing at Taylor Made Stallions
2021 Fee: $40,000
2020 Winners: 28
2020 Wins: 34

Not This Time made a big splash in the freshman sire pool when Princess Noor brought $1.35 million at last year's reconfigured Ocala Breeders' Sales Co. June 2-Year-Olds In Training Sale, and the filly's Grade 1-winning campaign helped propel her sire to the upper echelon of his class. However, it was the rank-and-file that truly gave the sire his foundation.

Despite being tied for the fourth-most starters among North America's freshman sires (he had 54, while leader Exaggerator had 69), Not This Time's 28 winners was nine more than next-closest Outwork and Upstart, each with 19. Similarly, the 34 wins his runners racked up last year was comfortably ahead of the tie for second between Nyquist and Upstart with 21.

Filling out the ranks below Princess Noor were stakes winners Dirty Dangle and Vacay, as well as Grade 3-placed Hopeful Princess and Time Goes On.

Honorable Mentions – Winners
– Outwork (WinStar Farm): 19 winners
– Upstart (Airdrie Stud): 19 winners

Honorable Mentions – Progeny Wins
– Nyquist (Darley America): 21 wins
– Upstart (Airdrie Stud): 21 wins

Most Graded Stakes Winners: Nyquist and Laoban

Nyquist
Uncle Mo x Seeking Gabrielle, by Forestry
Standing at Darley America
2021 Fee: $75,000
Graded Winners: Vequist and Gretzky the Great

Laoban
Uncle Mo x Chattertown, by Speightstown
Standing at WinStar Farm (formerly at Sequel New York)
2021 Fee: $25,000
Graded Winners: Simply Ravishing and Keepmeinmind

Again, Uncle Mo's hoofprints can be found all over the top of the freshman sire ranks.

We've already touched off on Nyquist's high-end achievements, spearheaded by Grade 1 winners Vequist and Gretzky the Great. Both horses could realistically end the year as champions in their respective divisions: Vequist with the Eclipse Award as champion 2-year-old female, and Gretzky the Great with the Sovereign Award as Canada's champion 2-year-old male.

Laoban earned his spot on the podium with Simply Ravishing, winner of the Grade 1 Alcibiades Stakes, and with Keepmeinmind in the G2 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes.

Honorable Mentions (All With One Graded Stakes Winner):
– Not This Time (Taylor Made Stallions)
– Frosted (Darley America)
– Brody's Cause (Spendthrift Farm)
– Hit It a Bomb (Spendthrift Farm)

Value Play: Upstart
Flatter x Party Silks, by Touch Fold
Standing at Airdrie Stud
2021 Stud Fee: $10,000

Airdrie Stud traditionally hasn't let the allure of a first-crop stallion cloud its judgment when it comes to setting the stud fee for their inaugural season. That philosophy rewarded a lot of breeders with Upstart, who entered stud in 2017 with an advertised fee of $10,000.

That started in the sale ring, where Upstart's first yearlings averaged $61,898 in 2019. That's a healthy return on investment, but for those who like to swing for the fences, Upstart had 14 yearlings bring $100,000, led by a colt who brought $510,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale.

Upstart's 2-year-olds performed respectably as well. Even through the uncertainty of the 2020 juvenile auction calendar, his first juveniles averaged $104,400 from 25 sold, headed up by a $600,000 colt at the OBS March sale.

Upstart continued to reward his investors once his first foals hit the racetrack, tying for the second-most winners and wins in his class. Many young sires pick up bulk numbers like that by scattering maiden winners around the map, but Upstart made a splash on the highest level with multiple Grade 1-placed Reinvestment Risk, who competed in last year's Breeders' Cup Juvenile.

Elsewhere, the stallion was represented by Upstriker, who just missed Grade 1 black type when he finished fourth in the G1 Breeders' Futurity at Keeneland after a five-length first-out score at Ellis Park. Also in that race was fifth-place Founder, who won on debut in Saratoga.

From a relatively low entry price, Upstart has proven he can get a horse into the winner's circle just about anywhere. The stallion himself only got better as he got older, so that bodes well for his runners as they enter deeper water.

Regional Standout: Laoban
Uncle Mo x Chattertown, by Speightstown
Standing at WinStar Farm (formerly at Sequel New York)
2021 Fee: $25,000

There was only going to be one answer here. Laoban's rapid ascent to one of the top freshman sires in his class earned him a ticket south from Sequel New York to WinStar Farm for the upcoming breeding season.

The son of Uncle Mo's ability to move up his mares was apparent as early as last year's Saratoga meet, when Simply Ravishing won the P. G. Johnson Stakes and Ava's Grace finished third in the G2 Adirondack Stakes.

Laoban's unforgettable fall season was highlighted by a showcase weekend at Keeneland, in which Simply Ravishing took the G1 Alcibiades Stakes and Keepmeinmind finished second in the G1 Breeders' Futurity. The latter went on to win the G2 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes at Churchill Downs a month later.

He tied for the most graded stakes winners in his freshman class, and he finished third or better by progeny earnings, Grade 1 winners, and highest-earning individual runner. He'll have three more New York-sired crops before we see runners on the track that were conceived by breeders who knew what they've really got with Laoban, but a start like his offers nothing but blue sky for his future at stud, regardless of where he's standing.

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