A Little Excitement

My 2% owned horse, Quick Tempo, will be entered in a $500,000 race at Kentucky Downs on September 12th.

The problem winning early with a 2-year old is there no logical next race. You could wait two months for a N1x allowance race to fill. If your horse is doing well, some type of small stakes race is really the only option.

When Quick Tempo won last week I looked at the stakes schedule for 2 year olds. I had never really done that before. Those were races for overly precocious horses that I never really cared about.

The first race that jumped off the page was a 6.5 furlong $500,000 turf sprint race that was about 21 days away. I quickly dismissed this race as something only Wesley Ward could win. Add to that the fact that the finish is straight uphill, and that Tapizar by a Dixie Union mare is not really a turf pedigree. I thought it would be silly to even write this idea down, so I focused on some small stakes races at Indiana Downs and Canterbury as the logical place for Quick Tempo.

The Faber brothers that run Dare to Dream did not agree. They chose the big race. I give them credit for creativity and courage. It is an easy choice to criticize, but the more I think about it the less crazy it is.

The positives:

1. Dare to Dream ran two very successful turf sprinters, Jockamo’s Song, and Nicole’s Dream, that did not really have turf pedigrees.
2. Quick Tempo has liked the poly at Ocala and Arlington so turf is not that much of a stretch
3. This mis-timing of QT’s race makes it difficult to evaluate. If you believe the hand timing the Beyer should be at least 70, which could be mildly competitive in a stakes race with normal improvement.
4. QT might be quick enough to get the lead, and anything could happen.
5. COVID has messed up the progression of many 2-year olds, so results could be unpredictable.
6. I guess everyone is a shipper to Kentucky Downs. There is no local horse stabled at the track
7. Even if this nothing more than a public work, the date of the race is correct.

The only thing I do not like is the uphill stretch run which might confuse young horses, but good trainers have been running at KD for many years.

When I bought my 2% of Quick Tempo in late May, I did not expect to be in a $500,000 race in three months.