9/2/12 DMR Race 6 - Horse Watch

Goldencents, a two year old colt by Into Mischief out of a Banker's Gold mare, made his debut in Sunday's sixth race at Del Mar, an MSW run at a distance of five and a half furlongs over the it's not really dirt main track.  Goldencents covered the first half mile in a rather unmemorable 46.15; nearly a full second slower than the 45.25 posted just two races earlier, in another five and a half furlong MSW for two year olds over the main track.  But after that uninspiring half, Goldencents turned on the afterburners, running the next furlong in an incredible 10.95 seconds, and the final one hundred ten yards in 5.69; thus making for a final time of 1:02.79, less than a tenth of a second slower than the track record for the distance of 1:02.70 set by Sister Moon in her debut in August 2011.

Goldencents is trained by Doug O'Neill (actually Leandro Mora; but, well, you know) so it's no surprise that he would win at first asking; indeed, he went to Post as the 8-5 favorite.  You can also make the case that the Del Mar surface was playing unusually fast Sunday; after all, the previous race on the card saw Potesta, winner of the Grade 2 Hollywood Oaks in June, set a new track record for eight furlongs in the Torrey Pines Stakes.  But even with those caveats, I think Goldencents' victory should be viewed as a truly special effort, and he should be marked as a horse worthy of strong consideration as he moves up the class ladder.

I'm also going to recommend that three other first time starters from this field be placed on your respective watch lists: 

Place horse Wild Dude, who, while a comfortable seven and a quarter lengths behind Goldencents, bested the rest of the field by over two lengths; 

Storm Power and Uno Dos Adios, the Show horse and fifth place finisher, respectively, who were the only two runners in the field to gain ground on Goldencents in that final half furlong.

Peace and Love,

Jimbo