TDN RISING STARS

July 26, 2014 - Saratoga, Race 3, Msw, USD $83,000, 6f

Competitive Edge, c, 2, 2012 by Super Saver

1st Dam: Magdalena's Chase (MSP, $205,338), by Cape Town
2nd Dam: Illuminance, by Dehere
3rd Dam: Synformer, by Sovereign Dancer

Owner: Nancy Favreau & Kathy Psoinos
Breeder: WinStar Farm LLC (KY)
Trainer: Todd Pletcher

The scratch of Da Jenius (Malibu Moon--Madcap Escapade) opened the door for Competitive Edge to draw into the field for Saturday's third race at Saratoga, and the striking bay colt made light work of a quality bunch to score by 10 1/4 lengths en route to a TDN Rising Star. Bred by WinStar Farm, Competitive Edge was consigned to this year's Fasig-Tipton Florida Sale by Niall Brennan Stables as agent and was hammered down to the Solis/Litt team for $750,000 after breezing his eighth of a mile in a smooth :10 flat. He was put into training at the Spa in early June, was firing bulllets soon after and was pounded late into 4-5 favoritism. Away in good order from his outside stall, Competitive Edge dueled outside a hard-ridden King Rontos (Unbridled's Song) through an opening quarter mile in a smart :21.87. He soon had that one off the bridle, turned for home after four furlongs in :45.23 and stormed away to leave his rivals in the dust. Today's Agenda (Monba), a $180,000 OBS March graduate, closed well for second. King Rontos finished fifth and Aldrin (Malibu Moon), a 3/4-brother to GISW and top sire Tapit (Pulpit), only beat one home in this eight-horse affair. Competitive Edge is the second winner for his GI Kentucky Derby-winning freshman sire (by Maria's Mon), who was the second leading North American-based sire of 2-year-olds in training in 2014. Some 49 of his first-crop juveniles sold for an average of $148,031 according to TDN Insta-Tistics. "He has never disappointed us in anything that he has done, literally, from the first time we breezed him," winning trainer Todd Pletcher commented. "He continually showed us he's a very talented colt, and every time we did something with him it was impressive. So we had high hopes coming into today. You never know when you run one for the first time. We were impressed, but not surprised." Pletcher said Competitive Edge's next target will be the GI Hopeful S. on the Spa's closing day Sept. 1. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $49,800.