Top 10 Juvenile Colts (Edition #2)

It was less than a week ago that I forged the first edition of what is to become my top 10 series for the juvenile colts of 2012. I listed, in order of greatest to least, the two-year-old horses who have most impressed me thus far in their short careers.

Today, in the wake of yet another thrilling renewal of the Three Chimneys Hopeful Stakes (Grade II), I have refined my list to fit the division's current standings. Read, subscribe, and post your own favorites in the comment section!


(1) Spurious Precision: Due to Bern Identity's third place finish in the Hopeful Stakes, Spurious Precision now heads my list of Classic hopefuls. In this year's Saratoga Special, Spurious Precision hoisted the silks of Klaravich Stables through brutal early fractions of 21.35, 44, and 1:09.62, and drew off in the final yards to win in a time of 1:16.53, by a 5 length margin. There's no denying the precocious brilliance vested in this Rick Violette trainee. He's undefeated in both his races, and is heading toward the Champagne Stakes -- just like last year's 'Special winner, Union Rags. Very much like Union Rags himself, Spurious Precision's pedigree is not entirely solid on whether or not he can withstand the classic distances. Spurious Precision's sire is High Cotton, who never landed in the winner's circle past 1 1/16 miles. His grandsire is Dixie Union, who recently defied his reputation as a sire of sprinters with his son Union Rag's Belmont score. Dixie Union is sired by Dixieland Band, who is the damsire of Kentucky Derby winners Monarchos and Street Sense. High Cotton's dam is Happy Tune, who is sired by the great routing sire / Belmont + BC Classic winner, A.P. Indy. A.P. Indy is sired by Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew. Spurious Precision's dam, Scarlet Combo, is sired by Scarlet Ibis: a little-known sire who mostly produced sprinters such as Wild Wings, her daughter White Ibis, and Ruby Rubles. Scarlet Ibis was sired by Cormorant, who finished fourth in the Preakness and won the one and one-sixteenth mile Jersey Derby and Gotham Stakes. Spurious Precision's granddam is Don't Combo, who was sired by Right Combination, who traces back to Round Table and Princequillo. I believe that Spurious Precision has fairly good odds of stretching out to at least 1 1/8 miles, if not more. If you still believe in dosage indexes, good for you! His dosage of 1.55 is almost ideal.

(2) Brown Almighty: An undefeated colt heading to the Sunday Silence Stakes, Brown Almighty could very well be at the top of my list if it weren't for his lack of 1) running on dirt and 2) running in graded stakes. Nonetheless, he is a hugely promising contender for next year's longer distance races. His sire, Big Brown, won both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes. Brown Almighty's grandsire is Boundary, who raced only 8 times, and was twice a Grade III winner at the distance of 6 furlongs. Boundary was sired by Danzig, who won all three of his races before retiring due to knee issues. He is best known as the sire of the prolific GI winners Pine Bluff, Langfuhr, and Hard Spun. In addition, Danzig is the grandsire of Canadian Triple Crown winner Wando, and the damsire of Fusaichi Pegasus. Through Northern Dancer, both Danzig and Big Brown's dam lead us back to the great distance influence of Nearctic. Brown Almighty's damsire, Gone for Real, tends to produce shorter-distanced runners. Gone for Real is sired by Gone West, whose sons include Belmont winner Commendable, BC Mile champion Da Hoss, and 2000 Guineas victor Zafonic. He is the damsire of Belmont winner Union Rags, and the grandsire of Smarty Jones. All in all, Brown Almighty's pedigree -- while not the flashiest out there -- contains more than its share of distance ancestry. Don't be surprised if this chestnut colt goes on to perform great feats.

(3) Know More: In his only career start, J. Paul Reddam's Know More became the only first-time starter in Del Mar's history to nab a graded stakes event. For obvious reasons, this landed the handsome, bay colt near the top of my juvenile watch list. While the field for the Best Pal Stakes wasn't stellar, Know More was visually impressive in his thrilling dash down the stretch en route to a clear triumph. This colt's pedigree suggests that he should gobble up the added ground with a smile on his face. Know More is sired by Lion Heart, a stallion best known for finishing second to Smarty Jones in the 2004 Kentucky Derby. His grandsire is Tale of the Cat, the sire of Gio Ponti, Take of Ekati, Spellbinder, and Catboat. Tale of the Cat is sired by Storm Cat, whom is widely known for producing distance champions such as Bluegrass Cat, Courageous Cat, and Tabasco Cat. Lion Heart's dam, Satin Sunrise, raced 78 times in the claiming ranks, winning at distances of up to 1 1/8 miles. Know More's damsire is the great Seattle Slew. In addition to winning the Triple Crown, Seattle Slew is known for siring Grade 1 winners such as A.P. Indy, Landaluce and Slew O' Gold. He is the grandsire of Rags to Riches, Bernardini, and Lava Man, and the broodmare sire of Cigar. One of Seattle Slew's sons, Slewacide, served as broodmare sire to dual classic champ Funny Cide. Know More's granddam is Qui Bid, who was sired by Derby and Preakness winner Spectacular Bid. If Know More continues to run with the style and professionalism that we saw in his debut, I have little doubt that Doug O'Neill has found himself a serious BC Juvenile contender.
(To read more about Know More, read my article about him)

(4) Uncaptured: Three times Uncaptured has gone to post -- three times he was greeted by a wave of grins in his winner's circle reception. While he has never raced outside of Woodbine, Uncaptured is one of the untried sorts who sparkle with potential in each step they take. In his second race -- the Clarendon Stakes -- Uncaptured defeated future winner and near-track-record setter Jocosity (who I like quite a bit) by over 5 lengths; which is but a pale telling of the dominance that may be yet to come from this son of Lion Heart. His grandsire is Tale of the Cat, who was sired by Storm Cat. Lion Heart's dam, Satin Sunrise, raced an astounding 78 times. Uncaptured's broodmare sire is Arch, winner of the 10 furlong Super Derby and sire of Blame, Arravale, and Hymn Book; he is the broodmare sire of I'll Have Another and Uncle Mo. Uncaptured's granddam is Andrea Ruckus, whose sire, Bold Ruckus, is sired by Boldnesian, Seattle Slew's grandsire. While there's a lot of sprinting power in Uncaptured's pedigree, there's stamina, too: he should be able to stretch his limbs for a good many more furlongs.

(5) Maybe So: In both of his two races -- a maiden special weight and the Mountaineer Juvenile Stakes -- this brown has emerged with a perfect record still intact. Whether it was in his pace-setting first performance, or his mad rally down the Mountaineer stretch, Maybe So has consistently impressed upon me his potential for greatness. His sire, More Than Ready, won the Sanford Stakes, placed fourth in the Kentucky Derby, and won the GI King's Bishop. He has sired three BC winners: Pluck (Juvenile Turf), Regally Ready (Turf Sprint), and More Than Real (Juvenile Fillies' Turf). Maybe So's grandsire is Southern Halo, the most successful sire in Argentine history: among his 167 stakes winners is Edenwold, who won the Queen's Plate. More Than Ready's dam is Woodman's Girl, who was sired by Woodman; the sire of Belmont + Preakness winner Hansel, BC Juvenile + Preakness winner Timber Country, One Thousand Guineas winner Bosra Sham, and Queen's Plate winner Woodcarver. Woodman traces back to the Nearco line on both his paternal and maternal sides. Maybe So's damsire, Grand Slam, won the 1 1/8 mile Peter Pan Stakes, and sired graded stakes victor Limehouse and BC Sprint winner Cajun. He is sired by Gone West. Maybe So's granddam is stakes placed Pine for Me, who is sired by Preakness winner Pine Bluff. Maybe So's pedigree suggests that stretching out in distance should be little of a problem -- I look forward to watching him run, and hopefully bump up in my personal rankings.

(6) Jocosity: While victorious in only one of his three starts, I believe that Jocosity has as much of a right to this list as any of the undefeated, one-race wonders. Not only in his seven length, five and one-half furlong score -- nearly track-record breaking in a zippy time of 1:02.85 -- has Jocosity displayed his brilliance; this colt's bloodline is festooned with stamina. His sire, Sharp Humor, finished second to Barbaro in the Florida Derby prior to fading to 18th in the Kentucky Derby. Sharp Humor is sired by Distorted Humor, who has made his name known internationally as the sire of champions Funny Cide, Commentator, and Drosselmeyer; recently, Distorted Humor served as the grandsire to Triple Crown star I'll Have Another. Sharp Humor's dam is Bellona, whose sire, Hansel, won both the Preakness and the Belmont. Hansel's sire, Woodman, is also the sire of Timber Country, Bosra Sham, and Woodcarver. Jocosity's broodmare sire, Stormy Atlantic, is sired by the ever-popular Storm Cat. His dam, Hail Atlantis, was sired by Seattle Slew. Jocosity's damsire is Carson City Sham, whose sire - Carson City - served as the broodmare sire for the late, great Barbaro and recently retired Havre de Grace. Carson City Sham's dam, Sham Say, was a Grade I winning mare who traces back to Secretariat's greatest rival (and one of my favorite racehorses), Sham. Although it's unlikely that Jocosity will add his name to the elite list of those found in his ancestry, a future among the classic-distance races is very real possibility.

(7) Fredericksburg: A horse who should be receiving much more attention than he is; following a green first performance in which he finished fourth, Fredericksburg easily conquered a 1 1/16 mile MSW over the Saratoga turf course. Trained by Michael Matz, who is known for conditioning slow developers, Fredericksburg shows promise not only in having covered distance this early in his career, but in his pedigree as well. His sire, Speightstown, was a 6-7 furlong horse who won the BC Sprint; while he is mostly known as a sire of sprinters, Jockey Club Gold Cup winner Haynesfield stands among his most accomplished offspring. Speightstown's sire is Gone West: the sire of Belmont winner Commendable, grandsire of Smarty Jones, and damsire of Union Rags. Speightstown's dam is Silken Cat, who won at 1 1/16 miles in one of her four starts. Silken Cat is sired by Storm Cat, who sired dozen of Grade 1 winners throughout his stud career, among which are routers Courageous Cat, Tabasco Cat, and Bluegrass Cat. Fredericksburg's dam is Choreograph, who also won at 1 1/16 miles on the turf. His broodmare sire is the late Dynaformer; a sire considered by many to be one of the most reliable branches of stamina in the business. Among others Dynaformer sired Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro, Melbourne Cup winner Americain, St. Leger winner Lucarno, and Breeders' Cup Grand National winner McDynamo. Dynaformer himself is sired by Epsom Derby winner Roberto. Fredericksburg's broodmare sire is Dance for Vanny. With a pedigree like this - teeming with stamina - Fredericksburg has only to prove that he's speedy enough (and dirt-efficient) to keep up with the rest of this crop. If so, I have great faith in his abilities to fly down the stretch and topple the favorites.

(8) Micromanage: Yet another Repole/Pletcher colt to hit it big-time onto the juvenile scene, Micromanage won brilliantly in his only race -- a 7 furlong MSW that he nabbed by five-lengths. While undeniably speedy, Micromanage's bloodlines (Medaglia d'Oro x Catnip) harbor several good reasons that he might hit the spotlights in next year's classic races.

(9) Arch Warrior: Even before he broke his maiden by a romping three-lengths, Arch Warrior was surrounded by a hype worth of a horse who'd already won the 2-Year-Old Championships. Scores of race fans have Arch Warrior labeled as either their Derby horse or their top two-year-old -- and only after a 6 furlong triumph clocked in a time of 1:10. While I refuse to buy in to the extent of the gossip until this colt has proven himself against more seasoned competition, I can't deny him a spot on the lower tiers of my Top 10 list. However over-fantasized this Pletcher trainee may have become, he is still a talented colt with a promising heritage. I won't go into depth about Archwarrior's pedigree, but in brief: his dosage profile of 6-3-18-3-0 is only a foretelling of the multiple distance strains nested in the branches of his Arch - Winner's Edge family tree.

(10) Onetwentyeight: Although Onetwentyeight failed to triumph in his most recent outing - the Sanford Stakes - I still harbor firm beliefs in this colt's ability to survive the long distances, and ultimately, shine. In the Sanford, he rallied valiantly into the stretch, and while it was only enough to secure himself third, Onetwentyeight proceeded to gallop out in front of his rivals. His sire is Discreet Cat, who suffered a throat abscess in his only distance attempt. Discreet Cat is sired by Forestry, who sired the 2011 Preakness winner, Shackleford. Discreet Cat's dam, Pretty Discreet, found victory in the 10 furlong Alabama Stakes; her sire, Private Account, won the Jim Dandy Stakes. Onetwentyeight's dam is Box of Joy, an unraced mare sired by the great Concerto, who triumphed at distances of up to 10 furlongs. Concerto's sire is Chief's Crown, who won the Travers Stakes and finished in the money in all three of the Triple Crown races. Make no mistake about it -- Onetwentyeight is bred for distance. As the ground increases, expect his abilities to follow suit.


Honorable Mentions

Shanghai Bobby: Undefeated and having just emerged from a fantastic triumph in the Hopeful Stakes, Shanghai Bobby has landed himself on the top of all handicappers' radar. Headed toward the Champagne Stakes, and possibly the Breeders' Cup Juvenile, there is much to look forward to from this powerful son of Harlan's Holiday. Although certainly wowed by all three of his performances, I do not place Shanghai Bobby on my Top 10 list because of the distance limitations in his pedigree.

Bern Identity: Last week residing on the top of my list, Bern Identity has been bumped into the honorable mentions following a dull, third-place effort in the Hopeful Stakes. Although I believe there may be more distance than speed in his pedigree, there is no excusing how Bern Identity lacked response when called upon into the stretch of the 7 furlong affair. I have not given up on this colt, however, and highly anticipate his next start.

Archer Hill: A horse whose pedigree I discussed in detail in my last Top 10, Archer Hill was brilliant in his only race -- a mile and a sixteenth win on the turf.