Second Chances: Cricket West

In this continuing series, TDN's Senior Editor Steve Sherack catches up with the connections of promising maidens to keep on your radar.

Nothing seemed to go Cricket West (f, 2, Majestic City–Special Charm {Ire}, by Dansili {GB})'s way in her unveiling sprinting versus fellow New York-breds over the Saratoga lawn Aug. 12 (video). And she still came within a neck of getting her picture taken that day.

The Bloom Racing Stable homebred, off at odds of 10-1 for trainer Jorge Abreu, was bumped from both sides at the start and raced in sixth through an opening quarter in :22.45. She began to rev up beneath Manny Franco on the far turn while taking the overland route, and hit the top of the stretch parked out at least five wide. The dark bay kept on rolling down the lane, and, despite losing some momentum when getting bumped nearing the eighth poll as a result of a messy chain reaction in the 10-horse field, continued to fly down the center to just miss. She earned a 60 Beyer Speed Figure for the effort.

“It was like nothing ever went right and she still almost got there,” owner/breeder Jeffrey Bloom said.

“The filly hadn't been the type of horse that sort of sizzles and wows you in her workouts. But at the same time, she continued to progress substantially over the course of her final two-three workouts. I was like, 'Wow, this filly's got some talent.' We had high expectations for her. We expected to see a big run in her debut, but you just never know.”

Bloom raced MGSW & MGISP and young Irish Hill and Dutchess Views stallion Majestic City and acquired the winning mare Special Charm, a daughter of MGSW & GISP Olympic Charmer (Olympio), for $50,000 at the 2017 KEENOV sale. This is also the family of GI Runhappy Santa Anita Derby winner Rock Your World (Candy Ride {Arg}) and graded winners Charm The Giant (Ire) (Giant's Causeway) and Liam The Charmer (Smart Strike).

“She's got that fight and determination of her sire Majestic City, who, of course, we campaigned,” Bloom said. “To make it even that much more special is the fact that we have the stallion. I'm a big fan of Majestic City. He's made the most of what he has [from the mares he's covered]. To know that we still have the mare and to see Majestic City horses here on the New York circuit performing, it's very gratifying.”

As for what's next for Cricket West, Bloom concluded, “She came out of the race in really good shape. She's probably going to breeze this coming weekend. We'll look for that first opportunity at Belmont. We think she wants longer, so we were pretty excited to see her perform so well going that short. Ideally, we get her in the first available spot with a little bit of added distance back on the turf at Belmont.”

Previous standouts featured in 'Second Chances' include: GI Runhappy Santa Anita Derby winner Honor A. P. (Honor Code), GII Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint winner and Royal Ascot G2 Norfolk S. runner-up Golden Pal (Uncle Mo), MGISW and 'TDN Rising Star' Paradise Woods (Union Rags), GIII Las Virgenes S. heroine Moonlight d'Oro (Medaglia d'Oro), GII Los Alamitos Futurity winner and MGISP Spielberg (Union Rags), GSW Backyard Heaven (Tizway), and MSW and 'TDN Rising Star' Gidu (Ire) (Frankel {GB}).