Del Mar’s upcoming 7TH race features Futurity nominees

Among the warm-up acts for Arrogate at Del Mar today, the most intriguing may be the 7TH race (8:03 p.m. ET). The five-furlong maiden for two-year-olds has attracted seven Del Mar Futurity (G1) nominees, including two expensive sales juveniles whose attractiveness exceeded their pedigrees.

Although trainer George Papaprodromou wins with only 2 percent of his firsters according to the Brisnet stats, his duo are both well-bred Barretts May purchases, and may fare better than the morning-line odds imply.

He’s Like Violence (12-1), a $90,000 Barretts May juvenile, is by prominent freshman sire Violence. His dam, Parchisi, is a Street Cry half-sister to 1996 Futurity (G1) hero Traitor, $2.2 million-earner Sun King and multiple Grade 3-winning stakes producer Ocean Drive. Second dam is the terrific producer Clever But Costly, whose descendants include Grade 1 victors Beach Patrol and Peeping Tom as well as the “Bertie” tribe (e.g. Hurricane Bertie, Allamerican Bertie, et al.).

Entitled to be better going farther, He’s Like Violence is nevertheless interesting enough to consider including at this shorter trip. He looked pretty smooth in his quarter-mile in :22 at the under tack show.

Makeppcgreatagain (20-1), who went for $100,000 at Barretts in May, is bred for speed as a son of Scat Daddy and Starfish Bay, a multiple stakes-winning turf sprinter who set two course records at Monmouth and another at Gulfstream. The Elusive Quality mare has produced two winners from three starters, all by Tapit. Second dam Touch Love went unbeaten as a juvenile with scores in the 2001 Schuylerville (G2) and Astoria. He finished his under tack drill in :10 1/5.

The obvious choices, both by connections and sales price, are logically the top two on the morning line.

Maryland-bred Bahamian (5-2), a $160,000 OBS April purchase after powering a furlong in :10 at the under tack show, was light years the most expensive ever sold at auction for freshman sire Freedom Child. His first winner, Limited View, was a late scratch from Friday’s Schuylerville (G3). Bahamian’s dam, the Distorted Humor mare Final Humor, has produced four winners from as many starters. Three scored as juveniles, including Hot Fun, runner-up in the Maryland Juvenile Filly Championship, and E Dubai’s Humor, second in the Smart Halo and later placed in another Laurel stakes at four. Second dam So Generous was also stakes-class at two, placing in the Arlington-Washington Lassie (G2) and Pocahontas. This is also the family of multiple Grade 2-winning sprinter Bank Audit.

Gracida (3-1) commanded $400,000 at Fasig-Tipton’s Gulfstream Sale on March 1, vastly more than you’d ever forecast for a Louisiana-bred son of Custom Carlos – and that’s even before full sister Big World surprised the May 1 La Troienne (G1). Big World was already accomplished, however, as the winner of the 2015 Tempted (G3) and a trio of Louisiana-bred stakes. They were produced by the unraced Tensas Wedding Joy, a Broken Vow half-sister to multiple stakes scorer and $436,324-earner Tensas Yucatan. Here’s Gracida working an eighth in :10 1/5 at the under tack show, looking well enough to catch the eye of trainer Doug O’Neill’s brother Dennis:

 

Wild Verse (5-1), who sped a quarter in :21 1/5 at the OBS April under tack show, was snapped up by trainer Peter Miller for $50,000. The Florida-bred figures to be precocious. By Wildcat Heir, he is the first foal produced by stakes-winning juvenile Verso a Verso. That daughter of Circular Quay romped in the 2012 My Dear Girl division of the Florida Stallion S. and finished second in the John Franks Juvenile Fillies Turf. Third dam is multiple Grade 3 heroine Squan Song, by Exceller, ancestress of 2015 Alcibiades (G1) winner Gomo.

Miller also had So Long Sailor in here but scratched. For the record, the $210,000 OBS March purchase is by Quality Road out of Grade 2-winning Phone Trick mare Bella Chiarra. She has only two winners from six runners, the stakes-placed duo of Zimmer and Ididn’tmeantoo, but her daughters are quite productive. Bella Chiarra is herself a half-sister to multiple Grade 3 victor David Copperfield (perhaps remembered more for beating Fusaichi Pegasus on debut). Second dam, multiple stakes victress Bannockburn, placed in the 1982 La Brea.

Fleetwood (20-1), a $125,000 Keeneland September yearling by Munnings, is the second foal from the Thunder Gulch mare Knight of Thunder, who is half to Grade 3-placed Knights Cross. Second dam Golden Gale won the 1996 Beaumont (G2), and she also factors as the granddam of multiple Grade 2-placed Sway Away and Shaken, third in last year’s Rachel Alexandra (G2).

Although not nominated to the Del Mar Futurity, Joejoe’s Kingdom (20-1) has a solid pedigree for this race. The $60,000 Barretts May juvenile is by strong freshman sire Animal Kingdom, who just sired a fantastic Saratoga turf maiden winner (Untamed Domain) on Saturday. He’s out of the Storm Cat mare Catstar, a speedy juvenile when runner-up in Queen Mary (G3) to outstanding champion Attraction, and now the dam of three winners. Second dam is multiple Grade 3 vixen Advancing Star, who beat the boys in the 1997 Hollywood Turf Express (G3) and missed by a head to Cara Rafaela (Bernardini’s dam) in the 1995 Hollywood Starlet (G1).

Joejoe’s Kingdom was encouraged in the opening strides of his under tack show but responded to finish an eighth in :10 2/5.

Raven Creek (4-1), a William Sims homebred, is another missing from the Futurity nominations but with useful bloodlines. The California-bred is by Old Fashioned and out of the More Than Ready mare Trashi Diva. Second dam is Grade 3-placed Slew Peg, also a Turfway Park track record-setter. As her name hints, she’s by Fusaichi Pegasus from a Seattle Slew mare. Slew Peg descends from Gold Digger, the dam of Mr. Prospector, and therefore sports the Rasmussen Factor of inbreeding to a superior female with a 3x3 duplication of Gold Digger. Further black type appears under third dam Slew Princess, who is responsible for Grade 2 victress Igotrhythm and Grade 3-winning sire Slew Gin Fizz, and appears as the granddam of Japanese Grade 2 scorer Sakura Gospel, a close second in the 2015 Sprinters S. (G1).