By Alan Carasso
The 11th-hour withdrawal of the pre-entered dual graded-stakes winner Frostmourne (Speightstown) has left a short, but sweet field of six turf sophomores–three domestically based and three European-trained–for Saturday's GI Secretariat S.
Amerman Racing Stables' Oscar Performance (Kitten's Joy) will try to defend the Secretariat for America and is likely to start a mild post-time favorite. The homebred overcame post 13 of 14–no small feat going a mile at Santa Anita–to best European raider Lancaster Bomber (War Front) in last year's GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf and has bounced back into top form with victories in the GIII Pennine Ridge S., defeating subsequent GII Jim Dandy S. winner Good Samaritan (Harlan's Holiday), and the GI Belmont Derby in his two most recent trips postward. His lone subpar run this year came in the GII American Turf S. where he tailed off badly after setting the early pace. He raced with Lasix for the first time that day, but had not prior to that effort and has been off the medication since.
Permian (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) will challenge Oscar Performance for favoritism off exceptionally strong European form. Convincing winner of a main Epsom Derby prep when supplemented for the May 18 G2 Dante S. at York (video), he tired up the hill in the big race to be 10th. Back on less that three weeks' rest for the G2 King Edward VII S. at Royal Ascot (video), he turned in a strong staying performance en route to victory and was unlucky to lose the bobber when last seen in the G1 Juddmonte Grand Prix de Paris at Saint-Cloud on Bastille Day July 14 (video).
If the two chief market rivals happen to cancel each other out on the front end, the progressive Afandem (Fr) (Zoffany {Ire}) should find himself in a position to capitalize late. Winner of his first three career trips to the post, including the Listed Prix Ridgway at Compiegne in June (video), he stalked the pace from third in the G2 Prix Eugene Adam at Maisons-Laffitte (video), took over a furlong from the wire and was outfinished for the win.
Afandem's form is similar to that of Bayrir (Fr) (Medicean {GB}), who came into the 2012 Secretariat with three wins from four starts, including a win in the Eugene Adam, and stormed home an easy winner.
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