By Patrycja Szpyra
9th-FG, $50k, Msw, 3yo, 6f, 4:54p.m. ET
Lane's End sire Quality Road has two starters here with a world of hopes riding on their backs as well as eye-catching price tags. Breaking from the third gate, VINCO (Quality Road) will try to become his dam's fourth winner from ten foals. A half to Welcoming (Tapit), who sold for $520,000 as a 2014 KEESEPT yearling before retiring as a stakes-placed runner, he has the distinction of being the most expensive prospect in a long line of expensive auction purchases for his dam; all seven of Stormy Welcome's sale-bound foals sold for over $120,000. Vinco became the most recent success after going the way of West Point Thoroughbreds for $1.5 million after breezing in :10 at the 2021 Fasig-Tipton Timonium sale. To the inside and on the rail is Strong Quality (Quality Road), a $500,000 FTKNOV 2019 purchase by Justin Casse as agent for Gary Barber and Kinsman Stable, who topped the work tab Jan. 9 with a bullet five furlongs in :59.20 and put in a strong four panel move Jan. 15 at the track. The colt is also re-entered for a nearly identical race tomorrow. The Winstar and Siena Farm partnership sends out another well-bred runner in Ferociously (Violence), a half to stakes-winning Bobby Brinkley (Shanghai Bobby) and the second foal for stakes-placed, course-record-setting Brinkley (City Zip), herself a half to G1SP & MGSW, $1,055,857, Bound for Nowhere (The Factor). This is also the family of Champion sprinter turned sire, Midnight Lute (Real Quiet). Starting to the outside of that group will be $1 million KEESEPT purchase Gunoe (Into Mischief), a half to GIIISP Sine Wave (Big Brown) who will be trying to break his maiden in a fourth try after facing the likes of Chasing Time (Not This Time) last out. Trainer Brad Cox hits big numbers for runners with first-time Lasix, a condition this colt fits. TJCIS PPs
8th-SA, $67k, Msw, 3yo, 6f, 7:13p.m. ET
Given his Eclipse Award-winning connections and status as the $2.6 million Fasig Tipton Gulfstream sale topper (:9.4) last year, it's small surprise BLETCHLEY PARK (Nyquist) was established as the morning line favorite for this race. He's the first foal for Spinning Wheel (Smart Strike), a half-sister to SW, $424,652, Space Mountain (Street Cry); GI Preakness S. runner-up, MGISP, $795,175, Ride on Curlin (Curlin); and SP, $125,541, Magic Quest (Nyquist). This is the family of GI Test S. winner Victory Ride (Seeking the Gold). Breaking to that one's inside are a pair of pricey purchases for Kaleem Shah, the owner of both Classic Mark (Classic Empire) and Beautiful Art (Klimt). The former is a $325,000 FTKSEL procurement, and the latter a 2-year-old in training purchase for $310,000 last year at OBS April. The stablemates will break from the fifth and seventh posts, respectively, for trainer Simon Callaghan. TJCIS PPs
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
