The Week in Review: Gulfstream 3YO Winners Prove Their Mettle

It's only the first week in February and the top two 2-year-olds of 2017, Good Magic (Curlin) and Bolt d'Oro (Medaglia D'oro), have yet to make their seasonal debuts. That means it's important to keep the hype to at least a dull roar when judging the winners of these early preps for the GI Kentucky Derby. It doesn't mean that an exciting prospect or two can't emerge.

There were four races run Saturday that had Kentucky Derby implications and as is so often the case, Gulfstream was the place that produced the races that most caught your attention. How good are Strike Power (Speightstown) and Audible (Into Mischief)? The answer is, it's too early to tell. But it's not out of the question that these are two very good horses that will be heard from again.

It's an era where it's all about the figures, whether you're talking Beyer, Ragozin or Thoro-Graph, so when the Mark Hennig-trained Strike Power won his debut at Gulfstream by eight lengths, what really got people's attention is that he earned a 102 Beyer figure. Never mind that it was a 5 1/2-furlong race and a maiden at that. It was a 102, reason enough to get to work on his Hall of Fame plaque. He ran back Saturday in the GIII Swale S. at seven furlongs and while he was more professional than brilliant, he had no problem beating a pretty strong field that included the well-regarded Tampa stakes winner Tricks to Doo (Into Mischief).

He may be just a good seven-furlong horse, but that's better than being just a good five-and-a-half furlong horse. But he passed an important test and we'll find out a lot more about him when Hennig sends him out again, which will surely be in a two-turn race somewhere.

The irony is that what made his reputation, his Beyer figure, may now serve to undermine it. He was given only an 87 for the Swale, and that's not the type of number that wins races like the GII Fountain of Youth S. or the GI Florida Derby, let alone the Kentucky Derby.

Though he hasn't started many horses, Hennig is having an outstanding meet at Gulfstream. After Saturday, he was 5-for-13 (38%) and his winners at the meet include another “could be any kind” type in Cache (Distorted Humor), a 3-year-old filly who impressed breaking her maiden in her first career start Jan. 27.

Eight races later, a solid field of nine assembled for the GIII Holy Bull S. and the wagering public declared it to be a four-horse race among Enticed (Medaglia d'Oro), Tiz Mischief (Into Mischief), Free Drop Billy (Union Rags) and Audible. In the end, only one horse mattered–Audible.

As recently as December, he had been back in Ozone Park, Queens, where he won an allowance race at Aqueduct. He did win that day by 9 3/4-lengths, but four-horse races in the winter at Aqueduct aren't exactly where you go to find the next Derby winner. Turns out the horse is for real. His Beyer figure, by the way, was a 99.

Trained by Todd Pletcher and owned by the powerful triumvirate of Win Star Farm, China Horse Club and SF Racing, he crushed his Holy Bull foes to win by 5 1/2 lengths. As far as the Florida-based group of top 3-year-old colts goes, he goes to number two, behind only Good Magic. The two could meet in the Fountain of Youth, but Pletcher has not committed to that race.

Audible was ridden by Javier Castellano, who recently picked up the riding assignment on Bolt d'Oro for owner-trainer Mick Ruis, Sr. If both stay healthy and both keep running well, Castellano could face a tough choice. His allegiance to Pletcher could be the deciding factor.

Back in Ozone Park, the GIII Withers S. was won by Avery Island (Street Sense), who was one half of a good day-bad day for Kiaran McLaughlin and Godolphin Racing. Their top 3-year-old Enticed was a well-beaten fourth in the Holy Bull. But Avery Island stepped up and may be the one to carry the royal blue and white colors to Churchill Downs. Again, the winter in New York is not necessarily fertile ground for finding Derby prospects, but Avery Island did step up and beat a Grade I winner in Firenze Fire (Poseidon's Warrior). Winner of the GI Champagne S., Firenze Fire had kicked off his 3-year-old campaign with a win in the Jerome. The next stop on the New York road to the Triple Crown is the one-mile GIII Gotham S., but don't expect Avery Island to show up there as McLaughlin said he doesn't want his horse turning back in distance after winning the nine-furlong Withers.

Avery Island's win bodes well for Catholic Boy (More Than Ready), who is scheduled to make his 3-year-old debut next Saturday in the GIII Sam Davis at Tampa. When last in action, he beat Avery Island by 4 3/4 lengths in the GII Remsen S. Dec. 2.

The Southern California circuit is loaded with top 3-years, in particular Bolt d'Oro, McKinzie (Street Sense), Solomini (Curlin) and Instilled Regard (Arch), but none of them showed up for Saturday's GIII Robert B. Lewis S. (which should be changed to the Robert and Beverly Lewis S.). That left a field of nine without even one horse who had done anything more than break his maiden. Under clever handling by Flavien Prat, Lombo (Graydar) scored a front-running victory to win by two. It was his first start beyond 6 1/2 furlongs and he showed that he's probably better going the mile-and-a-sixteenth. But when taking into account the quality of the field assembled for the Lewis and the fact that there are some very good 3-year-olds based at Santa Anita, Lombo has to do more before being considered a major player in the division.

The other story line from the Lewis is that second choice Peace (Violence) ran fifth. After breaking his maiden in his third lifetime start, Peace looked like a horse who could have an impact on the road to the Derby. If so, he would have given Hall of Famer Richard Mandella a shot at his first Derby win. Mandella does a lot of things well, but has struggled when it comes to the Derby. He's only run six horses in the race, hasn't had a starter since 2004 and has never had a horse finish better than sixth.

Chad Brown Loses the Sweetest Chant. Maybe Pigs Can Fly…

Chad Brown had the favorite in Gulfstream's GIII Sweetest Chant S. in Data Dependent (More Than Ready) and also ran Salsa Bella (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}), but he couldn't get the job done. Salsa Bella was second and Data Dependent was seventh. And thus ended one of the more remarkable streaks in racing history. Brown had won the race six straight years. I'm going to guess that was a record for most consecutive wins in a graded stakes by a trainer. One can only guess because the sport's record keeping is abysmal.

Who Doesn't Sol Kumin Own?

Trying to keep up with which horses Sol Kumin owns gives me a headache. But you can't deny this guy wins a boatload of races. Kumin is involved with the one-two finishers in the Sweetest Chant as Thewayiam (Fr) (Thewayyouare) beat Salsa Bella.

In my Daily Racing Form past performances, Thewayiam is owned by “Great Point Stables LLC, Dubb, The Elks.” I don't know if that's the Elks Club of Peoria, Schenectady or Altoona, but I do know from Twitter that Great Point Stables is a Kumin entity. The DRF lists Salsa Bella's owners as “Michael Dubb, Madaket Stables LLC and.” And who? And what? Anyway, Madaket is one of 137 names of stables in which Kumin races under. Yes, he is as successful as any owner in the sport and should not have been left out of the Eclipse conversation as he was, but it's perfectly understandable why voters have a hard time piecing together the enormity of Kumin's accomplishments.