Five Fastest Maidens

5. SKELLIG MICHAEL, GP, 10/18, 7 furlongs (VIDEO) Beyer Speed Figure-82 (g, 3, by Battalion Runner--Miss Monk, by Blame) O-Saint Celestine Thoroughbred Management. B-St Elias Stables (Fla). T-Victor Barboza Jr. J-Ernesto Jaramillo. The 4-5 pacesetter looked beaten at the quarter pole, but responded when set down by Jaramillo and kicked away to a five-length victory. The gelding is another bargain from Vinnie Viola's blue-collar stallion Battalion Runner: originally bought for $1,200 as a yearling, then pinhooked for $17k as a June 2-year-old. 4. CONFESSIONAL, KEE, 10/16, 7 furlongs (VIDEO) Beyer...

5. (tie) BLAST FURNACE, KEE, 10/8, 1 mile 1/8th (turf) (VIDEO) Beyer Speed Figure-83 (g, 4, by The Factor--Aliquippa, by Yes It's True) O-Three Diamonds Farm. B-EH Beau Lane (Ky). T-Mike Maker. J-Luis Saez. This should sound familiar: Maker gets new horse in barn, runs him longer distances on grass, and improvement ensues. Blast Furnace was transferred this summer by Three Diamonds to Maker, who ran him 1 5/16 miles and then got this MSW victory at 1 1/8 miles. 5. (tie) CUT TO THE CHASE, KEE, 10/12, 6 furlongs...

5. MIZZOU, KEE, 10/3, about 7 furlongs (VIDEO) Beyer Speed Figure-88 (2nd) (c, 3, by Munnings--Mo'ne Davis, by Bernardini) O-Harrell Ventures and Seaside Racing. B-Brenda and Philip Robertson (Ky). T-George Weaver. J-Jose Ortiz. This Friday maiden sprint kicks off a clean sweep for Keeneland in the Five Fastest Maidens. Mizzou battled with Divine Justice (below) from the start to ultimately lose a head bob despite having been away from the races for more than a year. Curtis Harrell and his nephew Forrest Jr. bought Mizzou for $300,000 at Keeneland September...

5. CRISIS MANAGER, CD, 9/25, 1 1/16 miles (VIDEO) Beyer Speed Figure- 81 (4th) (c, 3, by Liam's Map--Wilburnmoney, by Wilburn) O-Highlander Training Center. B-The Elkstone Group (Md). T-Tom Amoss. J-Irad Ortiz, Jr. You know it's a slow week for fast maidens when one race produces four of the top five, but fourth-place Crisis Manager gave a list-worthy performance when ground loss is considered: from his No. 12 post, he was marooned four-wide on both turns. Using data from Equibase's GPS charts (because it's the only game in town for...

5. DISCLAIMER, BAQ, 9/20, 1 mile (turf) (VIDEO) Beyer Speed Figure- 82 (3rd) (c, 3, by Caracaro--Tara Road, by Quality Road) O-Curragh Stables. B-Joe Jr., John and Karen Mulholland (Ky). T-John Terranova. J-Luis Rivera. As the slight 5/2 favorite after his solid 3rd at Saratoga, he ran his race on numbers but may be better than this. He and runnerup Wicked Improbable (see below) exchanged a bump at the start that appeared minor, yet both wound up farther back than expected. Next-last by 8 lengths down the backstretch, he followed...

5. ATLAL, KD, 9/7, 6 1/2 furlongs (turf) Beyer Speed Figure-83 (VIDEO) (c, 3, Quality Road--Atheer, by Malibu Moon) O/B-Juddmonte (Ky). T-Bill Mott. J-John Velazquez. Stepping forward considerably in numbers in his sixth start, Atlal displayed a strong liking for Kentucky Downs or newfound maturity--or both. Velazquez sat like a statue as he stalked then joined the leaders 3/16ths out, and he kicked clear nicely when given his cue. He's from Juddmonte dirt royalty: unraced dam Atheer is out of $2.7 million earner Close Hatches, making her a half-sister to...

5 (tie). INTREPIDO, DMR, 8/23, 1 mile R1 Beyer Speed Figure- 84 (VIDEO) (r, 2, by Maximus Mischief--Overly Indulgent, by Pleasantly Perfect) O-Dutch Girl Holdings and Irving Ventures. B-Sierra Fria Farm. T-Jeff Mullins. J-Hector Berrios. En route to a 3 1/4-length win in his second start, he jointly set the pace then decisively rebuffed a quarter-pole bid from Spendthrift's odds-on Baffert first timer Provenance (Into Mischief-Monomoy Girl). He may be an overachiever: his three siblings to race have started 42 times with a top Beyer figure of 74. 5 (tie)....

BLACKOUT TIME, ELP, 8/2, 1 mile, 'TDN Rising Star' Beyer Speed Figure- 83 (c, 2, by Not This Time--Beauty Parlor, by Elusive Quality) O-Brookdale Racing and Lance Gasaway. B-Newstead Corp (Ky). T-Kenny McPeek. J-Brian Hernandez Jr. McPeek has another promising juvenile and he's already gone a mile. Blackout Time--out of a Joe Allen owned-and-bred graded turf winner - debuted with a strong 2nd behind Dazzle d'Oro at Churchill and Saturday he sped 9 3/4 lengths ahead of a full field of juveniles that included two Asmussens, two Coxes, two Casses...

NOBLE CONFESSOR, SAR, 7/24, 1 3/16 miles (turf) (VIDEO) Beyer Speed Figure- 83 (c, 3, by Quality Road--Sweeter Than Wine, by Noble Mission {GB}) O/B-St Elias Stable. T-Todd Pletcher. J-Irad Ortiz Jr. Prior to his Wednesday wire-to-wire victory on the stretch-out to 9 1/2 furlongs, the Vinny Viola product was a six-race maiden despite losing to Zulu Kingdom by a neck in last September's Grade II Pilgrim Stakes (and blowing past on the gallop-out) then finishing 6th while beaten 2 1/4 lengths in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (the third-best...

  5. BARB, SAR, 7/16, 7 furlongs (2nd) (VIDEO) Beyer Speed Figure- 87 (3, g, by Candy Ride {Arg}--Classic Point, by Flatter) O-Flying P Stable. B-Marc Keller (Ky). T-Mike Maker. J-Ricardo Santana, Jr. He faded after setting the pace vs ultra-fast BAQ maidens April 19 (the top three made our Five Fastest Maidens), and Mike Maker and owner Jason Provenzano saw enough to claim him next out when dropped to $75,000. His Beyers already have improved 10+ points, and Maker hasn't even run him 1 3/8 miles on turf yet....

5. SOUPER WILLIWAW, 6/20, MTH, 1 1/16 miles (turf), VIDEO Beyer Speed Figure- 83 (tie) (f, 3, by Hard Spun-Souper Striking, by Brilliant Speed) O-Live Oak Plantation. B-Live Oak Stud. T-Michael Trombetta. J-Paco Lopez. Charlotte Weber may have another nice filly: Souper Williwaw set the pace with Lopez sitting against her, then sprinted away through Monmouth's stretch. Souper Striking won Pimlico's Hilltop Stakes a decade ago, but in 22 starts her best Beyer was 83, which this filly has matched in outing number four. Special thanks to Weber for expanding...

5. ASBURY PARK (GB), 6/6, SAR, Race 8, 1 1/16 miles (turf), VIDEO Beyer Speed Figure- 85 (c, 4, by Frankel {GB}--Limonar {Ire} by Street Cry {Ire}) O-Peter Brant and St Elias Stable. B-St Elias Stable (GB). T-Chad Brown. J-Flavien Prat. Not surprisingly, Saratoga produced all five of these maiden graduates - three on Friday. Asbury Park got his race in just before heavy rain and powered away as much the best despite a slow pace, wide trip and an 9 1/2-month layoff due to shin issues. Brant bought the...