Trainer Reade Baker does not make it a practice of sending out 2-year-olds in stakes races for their debuts, but Tu Endie Wei was an exception.
“I
have done it a couple of times, but never had one come out of the 13
hole and win easy,” Baker said of Tu Endie Wei, a half-sister to 2010
Canadian Horse of the Year Biofuel.
Owned
by breeder Brereton Jones, Tu Endie Wei followed her victory in the My
Dear Stakes with a score in the Ontario Debutante and has brought her
perfect record to Keeneland, where she will face 13 rivals in Friday’s
opening-day Darley Alcibiades (G1) at 1 1/16 miles on the main track.
Regular rider James McAleney will be aboard Tu Endie Wei, who will break from post position four.
Tu
Endie Wei, which means point between two waters in the Wyandotte native
language, is named for a state park in West Virginia. The daughter of
Johar arrived at Keeneland from Woodbine on Sunday night and put in her
first exercise over the Keeneland track Tuesday morning.
“The
first few times we breezed her, she was OK,” Baker said. “Then I worked
her out of the gate with a 3-year-old and she started off six lengths
behind. Then she went by him so fast, I thought he had broken down and
he went in 1:01. I never had one like that.”
In
her debut, Tu Endie Wei rated off a wickedly fast pace of :20.70 and
then swept to the lead en route to a 4¾-length victory in :56.93 for
five furlongs, a time that was two-fifths of a second (.52) off the
track record. In the Ontario Debutante she raced closer to the pace in
winning the 6½-furlong test by a half-length.
“She’s
got great temperament. She’s very ratable and you can put her anywhere
you want,” Baker said. “I think she will be the same as Biofuel later
on.”
But
first things first. The Darley Alcibiades is a “Win and You’re In” race
for the Grey Goose Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) to be run
November 4 at Churchill Downs and the race is a stop Baker hopes to make
with the Johar filly.
“She
has never made a mistake and I don’t expect her to this time,” Baker
said of the Darley Alcibiades. “I would hope to move on from here (to
the Breeders’ Cup).”