Could a mid-summer two-year-old race have a bearing on the 2014 Kentucky Derby?
The 111th running of the
Bashford
Manor is the first graded stakes race held for
two- year-olds. Typical of early season juvenile stakes races,
distance challenged sprinters are prevalent in the six furlong event
held at Churchill Downs. What bearing does the Bashford Manor have
on future success? Since the inception of the Breeders' Cup in
1984, only two colts, Boston Harbor (1996) and Favorite Trick (1997)
completed a sweep of the Bashford Manor and Breeders' Cup Juvenile.
The enormously talented colts earned Champion Two Year Old honors.
The back to back winners in 2006 and 2007, Circular Quay and Kodiak
Kowboy, became multiple graded sprinter/milers and both finished in
the money in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile. The last colt to win or
place in the Bashford Manor and have an influence on the following
year’s Classics was Preakness hero Summer Squall (1989).
Let's take a closer look
at this year's Bashford Manor hero.
Debt Ceiling broke
sharply out of the gate, but was eased back behind dueling pace
setters MY
CORINTHIAN and HOLLYWOOD
TALENT. This proved to be a wise move by
jockey Eric Camacho, as the first quarter zipped by in :20.93. By the
¼ pole, the son of Discreet Cat glided three wide past the
struggling front runners, getting the half in 44:57. Debt Ceiling
continued to widen his lead and at one point in the stretch was six
lengths in front. Finding no competition, Camacho geared the colt
down, flashing under the wire a comfortable 2 ¾ lengths in front in
1:10.66 over a very sloppy track. Hollywood Talent passed My
Corinthian to get up for second.
Debt Ceiling's final time
is comparable to 2011 victor Exfactor, 2003 winner Limehouse and 1992
hero Mountain Cat, who hails from the same female family as Debt
Ceiling. The John
Robb trainee is undefeated in three starts, having won his races
by a combined 9 ¾ lengths. He entered the Bashford Manor off of a
victory in the Rollicking Stakes at Pimlico. DEBT
CEILING (Discreet Cat - Top Marks,
by Marquetry) was purchased by Tim
O'Donohue for the bargain price of $27,000
at the 2012 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. He has earned $134,347
in his young career.
Debt Ceiling's sire
Discreet Cat wowed in his late August debut at Saratoga, conquering a
nice group of maidens by 3 ½ lengths and getting six furlongs in
1:09.76. His foes included future G-1 winners Political Force and
Thorn Song. After his maiden victory, the Goodolphin owned colt was
whisked away to Dubai and didn't start again until the following
March. The well-bred colt remained undefeated in two starts there,
including the UAE Derby. Later that year, Discreet Cat traveled back
to Saratoga to claim the Jerome Handicap and then equaled the Belmont
track record for a mile in the Cigar Mile. The undefeated colt
traveled back to Nad Al Sheba in Dubai for a shot at the Dubai World
Cup. After a poor break, Discreet Cat finished seventh. He was
unable to return to his winning ways and finished third in the
Vosburgh Stakes and Breeders' Cup Mile to complete his racing career.
At stud, Discreet Cat was
off to an average start at stud, finishing #15 on the first crop sire
list of 2011. His youngsters improved with age and he hit #5 on the
second crop sire list the following year. Now a third crop sire,
Discreet Cat is currently #3 on the list. He's sired six graded
stakes winners, including Sham Stakes (G-3) winner Out of Bounds and
Fantasy Stakes (G-2) heroine Mamma Kimbo. Discreet Cat's dirt
offspring are best as milers while his turf progeny have won up to 1
3/16 miles. He has few winners over Polytrack.
DISCREET
CAT (Forestry - Pretty Discreet, by Private Account)
Race record: 9-6-0-2
($1,694,180)
Career highlights:
1st – UAE
Derby (UAE-2) 1 1/8 miles
1st - Jerome
Handicap (G-2) 1 mile
1st – Cigar
Mile (G-1) – equaled track record
3rd –
Vosburgh Stakes (G-1) 6F
3rd –
Breeders' Cup Mile
Female Family:
Debt Ceiling's distaff
line enjoys winning. All five of his half siblings to start are
winners, including the stakes placed veteran, Dean's List (by Holy
Bull). Their dam Top
Marks won her debut and was a solid allowance class sprinter
throughout her career. Although she spent most of her carer on the
dirt, she did win the Mill Race Stakes at Philadelphia Park sprinting
over the lawn. Top Marks retired with a 11-5-1-0 ($109,131) race
record.
Debt Ceiling's second dam
Top Princess was undefeated in her first three starts and also spent
most of her career at the allowance class level. Like her daughter,
Top Princess won one stakes race. There are a smattering of blacktype
winners throughout Debt Ceiling's distaff line, including the
aforementioned Bashford Manor winner Mountain Cat.
Damsire:
The adaptable multiple
graded stakes horse Marquetry
lends middle-distance stamina to Debt Ceiling's pedigree. Marquetry
won graded stakes over the dirt and lawn. A 1 1/8 mile specialist, he
did win one of four attempts at 1 ¼ miles in the Hollywood Gold Cup
(G-1). Marquetry's daughters have produced 31 stakes winners,
including the popular graded stakes veteran Presious Passion(by
Royal Anthem), St. Leger (Eng-G1) hero Arctic Cosmos (by North
Light), and the G-2 winning mare Discreet Marq, a daughter of
Discreet Cat.Debt Ceiling's second
damsire Topsider won one stakes at six furlongs. His third damsire,
Champion Juvenile Never Bend, won up to 1 1/8 miles and finished
second in the 1963 Kentucky Derby and behind the incomparable Kelso
in the Woodward Stakes the same year.
The bloodline cross of
Discreet Cat and Marquetry mares has produced only two foals. Both
are graded stakes winners with combined earnings of over $380,000. I
expect we'll see more mares by Marquetry being bred to this stallion
in the future.
Outlook:
Debt Ceiling is the
spitting image of his sire, both in looks, conformation and running
style. The youngster has good leg extension and a clean, smooth
action with no wasted movement. He veered out in the stretch of the
Bashford Manor after being smacked three times, but chalk that up to
young inexperience. Overall, he showed a professional demeanor. His
pedigree and conformation indicate that Debt Ceiling will likely be
best up to 1 1/16 miles in top company, although with experience, he
may place at longer distances. His connections indicated that
they'll be targeting the stakes races at Saratoga this summer with
their promising young charge.
