Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency
10th-GP, $63K, Alw/OC, 4yo/up, 7f, 5:14 p.m. ET
'TDN Rising Star' First Captain (Curlin) makes his 4-year-old debut against a relatively accomplished field here. The $1.5-million FTSAUG yearling kicked off his career three-for-three, annexing the one-turn-mile GIII Dwyer S. at Belmont in July. He has been off since finishing third as the favorite in Saratoga's restricted nine-panel Curlin S. later that month, and trainer Shug McGaughey told TDN's Steve Sherack recently that the son of MGSW and MGISP America (A.P. Indy) was given a freshening without a specific issue or injury.
“There really wasn't anything the matter with him, I just wasn't altogether pleased of where I stood with him, so I thought, 'Well, let's just give him some time,'” McGaughey said. “Time helped him a lot. He was at Barry Eisaman's and he did a great job with him. He got out here and had a really good bottom in him and he's been breezing ever since.”
First Captain will take on the likes of GSWs Trophy Chaser (Twirling Candy) and Dennis' Moment (Tiznow) and stakes winners Real Talk (Gemologist) and Hello Hot Rod (Mosler). TJCIS PPs
7th-SA, $72K, Alw/OC, 4yo/up, 7f, 6:47 p.m. ET
The Bob Baffert barn has a pair of talented if lightly raced 4-year-olds signed on here in 'TDN Rising Star' Triple Tap (Tapit) and sale topper Shaaz (Uncle Mo). The former, a Summer Wind Equine homebred, is a half to none other than Triple Crown winner and Horse of the Year American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile) and a full to GISW juvenile Chasing Yesterday. He took his track-and-trip debut almost a year ago, and resurfaced on Breeders' Cup weekend at Del Mar to clear another condition. The chestnut was last seen finishing a distant fourth to fellow Summer Wind-bred Tapit colt and brilliant 'Rising Star' Flightline in the GI Runhappy Malibu S. Dec. 26.
Michael Lund Petersen's Shaaz (Uncle Mo), meanwhile, fetched $1.1 million at the 2020 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic sale off a :10 flat breeze. The half-brother to Grade II-winning grasser Azar (Scat Daddy) from a very deep female family earned a gaudy 105 Beyer Speed Figure when besting another stablemate narrowly in a maiden event on the Malibu undercard. He crossed the line second at 3-10 in a first-level optional claimer Feb. 5, only to be put up by the stewards in a decision that yielded plenty of chatter on twitter. TJCIS PPs
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