The MSW 8th race at Gulfstream yesterday at 7 panels, had a “buzz” horse going in, and perhaps a Derby contender when all was said and done, at the finish. It was the debut of Cal Nation, by Distorted Humor out of She’s A Winner. The colt, under John Velasquez, broke very sharply from the 12 hole and went straight to the front. The half brother to Bluegrass Cat rated kindly behind the early front runner, until he was asked to change gears and when he did, it was quite the move. He won with the greatest of ease in the sharp time of 1.22 and change. It was very professional start with lots of things to like from this good looking colt.
You can watch the replay here.
Owned and bred by Winstar Farm, Cal Nation is nowhere near as accomplished as stable mate Brethren, but it will be interesting to see where this colt goes next. As far as Brethren, he worked this morning at Payson and went 5/8ths in 1:01. He is nominated to the Sam Davis at Tampa this Saturday, February 12. We could be looking at another big year for WinStar. If you are interested in the stable roster for WinStar, complete with up-to-date workouts, check out their website.
Cal Nation looks like a nice one, it will be interesting to see where he goes next. Lightly raced Maiden/Allowance winners have been doing really well going into bigger races during the last few years.
ReplyDeleteI like Brethren better than I liked Super Saver as this same time last year but I haven't been overly impressed yet. What do you think of his chances in the Sam F. Davis?
Hi Brian.
ReplyDeleteWell I wish what I wrote was correct, but Brethren is actually at Palm Meadows ( my bad). I would be more confident if he was training at Payson, because I think it's a lot more like Tampa, which is a deep track. But with that being said, he's had enough works in him to be fit I think, and I do think that the Sam Davis is a good place to start. It's a good place to get some earnings, which he needs. Haven't seen the pp's yet though.