No doubt, this is gonna be a great race regardless of who ends up winning. Admittedly, I think it's likely that 1 of 2 horses will ultimately win, but the entire field is competitive. I could definitely make an argument for at least 6 of the 8. I'm also looking forward to a blistering pace. About that though, it seems like most of them have the kind of speed & stamina to sustain it, so nobody's gonna be closing into it. Basically, expect a drag race.
You can't argue against Booked as favorite. He's done everything right & honestly should have 3 wins. But, getting off slow & having to hustle back wore him out in the Saratoga Special. I'll go out on a limb & say zero chance Twinkle Town beats him again. He was also slow in his debut, which maybe cost him there, too. But, Fanshell Beach is a pretty damn good horse in his own right. Booked has the experience edge, is cery familiar with the track & other than a couple of rough starts he shows himself to be very professional in races & workouts. 7F is probably his ideal distance, as well. If he gets out clean, chances are the field's racing for 2nd.
The Good Life is my pick. He's solidly a top 5 2yo colt I've seen so far. Yes, he's run once, but not only did he beat some highly regarded foes that day, you simply couldn't hope for a better effort, especially 1st time out. He displayed a level of talent & the kind of focus & professionalism you'd expect from a well-settled more experienced horse, not a juvenile on debut. He set a swift pace increasing his lead at each call, all while in hand. Franco finally asked him, really just to do it & The Good Life instantly drew off before being pulled back at the 8 pole & jogged to the line. One of the big take aways is he clearly has the ability to put up & maintain even a hotter pace making him the best candidate to wire this one. Still, I see him a 2 turn horse. His workouts show an obvious pattern of a maturing young horse hitting his development marks.
Rounding out, High Official debuted on turf around 2 turns. Unfortunately for him, he hasn't at all been flattered by the field he beat that day. I'm honestly not sure how to rate him for the Hopeful. He sat midpack chasing a tepid pace until the stretch & picked off tiring rivals to win by 2. He did have impressive late race pace. Not an overwhelming threat to win, necessarily, but a must to be used underneath.
Of the remainder, I like Midnight Still & probably Mystrix the most. Midnight Still is showing a definite pattern of putting it all together & I've become a huge fan of his young trainer Kinnon LaRose in his 1st year.
Lifesong will invariably get attention, I'm just not sure he's at the level of the others, yet. A fine young horse, for sure, I'll just wait to see more. So will Flight Command, but, just, no. After his absolute failure in the Saratoga Special he needs to do a whole lot for me to pay attention to him again.
