Racing Roundtable: Thanksgiving weekend recap

The Roundtable this week looks back on an action-packed Thanksgiving holiday weekend, with emphasis on the two-year-old action at Churchill Downs and elsewhere.

What are your takeaways from the Kentucky Jockey Club (G2) and Golden Rod (G2)?

James Scully: First Resort proved to be a convincing winner of the Kentucky Jockey Club (G2), scoring by more than two lengths, but he took advantage of a perfect trip on a soft pace against a suspect group of rivals, netting only a 92 Brisnet Speed rating in his third stakes attempt. 

A convincing debut winner and runner-up in the Saratoga Special (G2), First Resort finished fourth when switching to turf for the Sept. 14 Summer (G1) at Woodbine in his previous outing. The Godolphin homebred son of Uncle Mo easily handled his first dirt route attempt Saturday and possesses good tactical speed, and First Resort remains a candidate to keep progressing for Eoin Harty. 

Good Cheer was more impressive. She didn’t break smoothly and settled behind rivals on a slow early tempo in the Golden Rod (G2), but the odds-on favorite quickly put herself into the race on the far turn and drew away stylishly in the stretch, recording her second consecutive stakes victory with a 2 1/2-length decision. A decisive winner of all four career starts, the Godolphin homebred daughter of Medaglia d’Oro is one of several promising fillies for Brad Cox entering 2025.

Vance Hanson: Trainer Brad Cox has an embarrassment of riches when it comes to juvenile fillies, and Good Cheer cemented her status among the division's elite with her authoritative win in the Golden Rod. While stablemate Immersive will be named champion of the division, Good Cheer seems arguably as fast and the two of them appear poised to scoop up the leading Kentucky Oaks preps in Louisiana, Arkansas, and Kentucky next spring.

The result of the Kentucky Jockey Club was no shock, but it was certainly affected by the slow pace that allowed First Resort to get an early jump on odds-on favorite Jonathan's Way, who was bottled up in traffic much of the way. That said, First Resort seemed like the type who was going to improve around two turns, while Jonathan's Way's lackluster performance in the Breeders' Cup perhaps hinted he is ultimately going to be a more effective one-turn specialist. Overall, I don't believe it will be one of the more consequential Derby preps we've seen this fall.

Ashley Anderson: First Resort successfully stretched out to two turns and displayed a dangerous closing kick, with a 104 Brisnet Late Pace rating. The Godolphin color bearer was guided by Luis Saez, who picked up the mount in the Kentucky Jockey Club, and Churchill Downs' leading rider of the fall meet scored a Kentucky Derby/Kentucky Oaks prep race double on Saturday, achieving another win with Good Cheer earlier on the card.

The Brad Cox-trained filly is one to watch on the Kentucky Oaks trail, and with three of her victories coming beneath the Twin Spires I slightly prefer her chances in the Kentucky Oaks over stablemate Immersive, who just won the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) but has yet to race at Churchill. Good Cheer finished 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.26, the second-fastest time in the Golden Rod (G2) behind Rachel Alexandra. The Godolphin homebred has now bankrolled $457,630 from a 4-for-4 record, and she's second in Oaks points with, 20, behind Immersive, who has tallied 40 points to date.

What other two-year-olds stood out over the holiday week?

JS: Winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) with Immersive, Brad Cox lacked a starter in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1), but the two-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer sent out a serious Kentucky Derby (G1) prospect Saturday in Patch Adams, who rolled to a sensational 10+ length maiden win in his second career outing. By Into Mischief and bred regally for longer distances, Patch Adams netted a 102 Brisnet Speed rating and missed the Churchill Downs track record for seven furlongs by .33 seconds.

Keep It Easy looked like a serious type winning the 6 1/2-furlong Ed Brown S. going away by 5 1/4 lengths on Saturday, rebounding from a last-place effort in the Saratoga Special (G2) where he stumbled badly out of the gate. The Hard Spun colt easily handled odds-on Tough Catch, who wound up six lengths clear in third, and Keep It Easy showed versatility winning from just off the for the first time, earning a 96 Speed figure. Both wins have come at sprints, but the Dale Romans-trained colt is bred to appreciate longer distances.

Disco Time improved to 2-for-2 for Juddmonte and Cox, recording his second consecutive frontrunning triumph taking an entry-level allowance over a one-turn mile. By Not This Time, Disco Time will get the opportunity to try two turns next time, but his female family is geared toward shorter distances.

VH: Rated by Merit is undoubtedly a colt that will need to be given attention in Florida this winter after becoming the 11th horse to sweep the Florida Sire Series on Saturday at Gulfstream. He strolled to a six-length win in the In Reality division, which followed similarly comfortable wins in the Affirmed and Dr. Fager legs. The St. Elias Stable homebred is now 4-for-4 and has earned consecutive Brisnet Speed ratings of 101, 106, and 109.

There's a big difference between beating up on Florida-bred/sired company and showing the same against open rivals, and this series no longer yields really big names like it did in the 1980s and 1990s with Smile, Holy Bull, and the like. However, until proven otherwise, the aptly named Rated by Merit will be worth considering in preps like the Holy Bull (G3), Fountain of Youth (G2), or the ones at Tampa Bay Downs, one of which he likely targets after a deserved rest.

AA: Tiz the Law filly Book'em extended her win streak to three on Saturday with an 11-length romp in the third race at Churchill, an allowance optional claimer for two-year-old fillies. The Bret Calhoun trainee has raced exclusively at Churchill Downs and was trying a mile on the dirt for a second straight start. Book'em finished second on debut in a 4 1/2-furlong sprint, where she was checked back into the turn, then swung out to the six path entering the lane before rallying to place 1 1/2 lengths second behind longshot Spankerboom, who became stakes-placed in her following start. Book'em then broke her maiden at second asking in a six-furlong maiden special weight at Churchill and earned an 86 Brisnet Speed figure while beating 10 rivals by 4 1/2 lengths. Two back, she was a 2 3/4-length winner of a one-mile allowance, and she stepped forward once again on Saturday with a career-best 95 BRIS figure in her 11-length triumph. Book'em's dam is a granddaughter of Uncle Mo and a half-sister to Grade 1 winner Discreet Lover and two other winners out of Discreet Chat. Book'em's sire Tiz the Law is the leader among first-crop sires by stakes winners, graded stakes winners, and graded stakes performers.

What else caught your eye?

JS: Kehoe Beach left a favorable impression humbling a nice group of three-year-old filly rivals in her stakes debut, Friday’s Mrs. Revere (G2) at Churchill, comfortably leading throughout the 1 1/16-mile turf test to win by 1 1/4 lengths, and Wesley Ward has big plans for the up-and-coming daughter of Omaha Beach in the female turf ranks next year.

Ward had been bullish leading up to the Mrs. Revere, explaining how he’s given Kehoe Beach plenty of time to develop since breaking her maiden in April, and the bay stretched her win streak to three, recording sharp conditioned allowance wins at Kentucky Downs and Keeneland. Ward said Kehoe Beach will target the Jenny Wiley (G1) at Keeneland next spring, and jockey Frankie Dettori is excited about the speedster’s future.

“She’s a super filly,” Dettori said. “She’s strong but has pace and is very sensible. She uses her breathing right. She knows exactly how to race, which makes it a push-button ride for me. When I pushed that button, she showed a great turn of foot like she did last time. Wesley was full of confidence going into the (Mrs. Revere). He even made me stay here in the cold to ride her, and I wasn’t going to say no.”

VH: The final odds on Pool 2 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager were rather interesting, with the Bob Baffert-trained Barnes closing as the individual favorite at 13-1 following a maiden win last Wednesday at Churchill going 5 1/2 furlongs. That meant bettors rate him a higher prospect than either of Baffert's two leaders this year, the Breeders' Cup Juvenile one-two Citizen Bull and Gaming.

There are a lot of expectations and pressure riding on Barnes, who sold for $3.2 million last year. Judging from his performance last week, where he displayed a bit of greenness through the lane, he has plenty of natural talent but also plenty of catching up to do.

AA: Kenny McPeek and Brian Hernandez Jr. built upon their dream season in 2024 with a win in the Clark (G2) on Friday, as Rattle N Roll turned in a three-quarter-length victory in the 1 1/8-mile test. The Connect four-year-old secured his eighth career stakes win and his first graded stakes score since the Blame (G3) last June. He hit the bench following his fourth in the Lukas Classic (G2) last September while dealing with bone bruising and did not return to the races until this September in the 2024 renewal of the Lukas Classic. Rattle N Roll came home third in his first start of the season over a sloppy Churchill track, and connections thought enough of his performance to enter him in the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1). He shipped to Del Mar as an also-eligible, but he failed to draw in. McPeek then turned his attention to Friday's Clark and with the win, he and Hernandez swept all three signature stakes races at Churchill — the Kentucky Derby, Oaks, and Clark, in the 150th running of each. McPeek is the first trainer to accomplish the sweep in one year, and Hernandez is the second jockey to do so, behind Isaac Murphy, who claimed the Derby and Clark with Buchanan and the Oaks with Modesty in 1884.

Rattle N Roll may next show up in the Pegasus World Cup (G1) and could also make a trip to the Middle East to chase after the lucrative purses in the winter and spring.