TWO-YEAR-OLD CAUGHT MY EYES WINNING A MAIDEN RACE BY 14 LENGTHS !!!
On Wednesday September 18, 2024, at Churchill Downs, race 9, a flashy two-year-old (colt) named Optical annihilated his 10 2yos foes to win a one-mile maiden special weight race for two-year-old colts by 14 lengths in a spectacular fashion going away at the end while seeming like he was being geared down.
Optical (City of Light - Espressoandacheck, by Medaglia d'Oro)
Owned by Don't Tell My Wife Stables 2023, LLC, and trained by J. Keith Desormeaux.
I didn't have time to research the pedigree profile so I'm unable to say much about this colt's pedigree profile.
As for Optical, this race was his fourth race while his prior three races when he finished 4th, 8th, and 4th.
He began his 2yo career on dirt at Churchill Downs on June 22, 2024, at 5 1/2 furlongs running as a longshot against a 4/5 favorite Bostontonian, the horse that I liked and picked as the winner for my weekly pick.
He didn't do badly against a good group of 2yos and he finished fourth in that race.
He earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 65.
To put that into perspective, the winner of that race Bostontonian earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 80.
The second place earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 77.
The third place of that race earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 69.
His next race was at one mile on turf at Ellis Park on August 19, 2024, in which, he finished eighth as a longshot.
He earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 77 for his (August 19) one-mile turf race.
To put into perspective, the winner of that race Poster earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 89.
The second place earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 86.
The third place of that race earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 85.
His next race was also at one mile on turf at Kentucky Downs on September 5, 2024, in which, he finished much better this time in fourth as an even much longer odd against the best high quality 2yos grass horse in the country.
No Beyer Speed Figure was published for his (September 5) one-mile turf race.
After this last race (September 5), it seemed like this horse is destined to be gearing up for turf races as he proved that he can run on turf with the best of his generation.
But for whatever reason his connections decided to put him on dirt again this time (September 18) at one mile and he even demonstrated that he is a better horse on dirt by destroying a very good field of 2yos by 14 lengths.
In this race (September 18), he was off cleanly in a field of 11 horses and moved up to take to take the lead soon after the break.
He continued to be leading the field by a length and a half for most of the race, doing it all the way to the top of the stretch when he started to quicken a bit to lead the field by 5 lengths at the 8th pole, and from thereon, he increased his lead even more in ever point of call to win in a going away by 14 lengths.
VERY IMPRESSIVE!
He was sent off as the fourth choice at 6-1 behind the 2-1 favorite Do Declare, 9/2 Real Conviction, 5-1 G Erik, and 6-1 Out of the Clouds (trained by Steve Assmussen).
Needless to say, the field was wide open as the rest of the field were higher than 10-1.
Optical led all the way through splits of 23.55, 46.84 and 1:11.70 before blazing his final quarter-mile in 23.95 seconds to dominate by 14 lengths in 1:35.65 seconds.
I don't have access to his Beyer number as of this writing.
The Road to the Kentucky Derby surely beckons.
But first thing first -- it seems logical at this point that his next race will be the Street Sense Stakes (G3) at 1 1/16 miles at Churchill Downs on October 24, 2024.
Stay tuned!
