January 31, 2016 - Aqueduct, Race 5, Msw, USD $60,000, 1 1/16M
1st Dam: Lauren Byrd
2st Dam: Strike The Sky
2st Dam: Sky Darter
Owner: Sheep Pond Partners, Newport Stables LLC & Jay W. Bligh
Breeder: Jay W. Bligh (KY)
Trainer: Chad C. Brown
My Man Sam—an educational fifth at 5-1 after getting bumped soundly at the break in his six-furlong unveiling at the Big A Dec. 19—stamped himself as a sophomore to watch with a visually impressive performance in his two-turn debut in Ozone Park Sunday. Breaking widest of all in post nine, the 5-1 chance was outrun early in seventh through an opening quarter in :23.78. He began to advance with a rail run down the backstretch, but still had plenty to do entering the far turn. Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. angled his charge out at the top of the lane, and the bay responded in spades with a powerful outside stretch run to win going away by an eye-catching eight lengths. Favored Big Gillette (Big Brown) stayed on for second after setting the early pace. It was another 5 1/4 lengths back to Cadeyrn (Malibu Moon) in third. My Man Sam’s dam Lauren Byrd, a homebred for Jay W. Bligh, was a two-time winner on grass and also runner-up in the 2010 JP Morgan Chase Jessamine S. at Keeneland. The half-sister to grassy GII Dixie S. winner Hudson Steele (Johannesburg) has a 2-year-old colt by War Front (RNA’d for $475,000 at last year’s KEESEP sale) and was bred to Trappe Shot in 2015. Lauren Byrd’s first foal Hakam (War Front), a $450,000 KEESEP yearling purchase by Shadwell in 2013, finished second in a pair of attempts in Britain last term. Lifetime Record: 2-1-0-0, $37,800. Click for the Equibase.com chart or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
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