FILLY & MARE TURF DIARY
APRIL 11, 2006
by Kellie Reilly
Since our last installment, we’ve been amazed by the blossoming
of HONEY RYDER (Lasting Approval) in Florida and pleased by the rounding
into form of SHINING ENERGY (Rahy) in California.
Before the April 1 Orchid H. (G3) at Gulfstream Park, defending
champion Honey Ryder appeared poised to deliver another good performance. In the
race itself, she far exceeded those sedate expectations. Honey Ryder’s effort
in the 1 1/2-mile contest was nothing short of scintillating. The Todd
Pletcher-trained gray rated comfortably behind a fast pace for a marathon, and
with John Velazquez apparently motionless in the saddle, she swept to the front
leaving the far turn. The best was yet to come. As the talented Grade 2 winner
OLAYA (Theatrical [Ire]) followed her into the stretch, about a length or
so behind, and for a nanosecond looked as though she might just make a race of
it, Honey Ryder kicked into overdrive. Watching the powerful gray draw off by
four lengths, leaving the classy Olaya for dead, was a thing of beauty. Her final time
was 2:23, reportedly a new course record, which was more than a second faster
than the males posted in the Pan American H. (G3) two races later on the card
(2:24 1/5).
All of which begs the question: how would Honey Ryder have
fared in the Pan American? Honey Ryder earned a 111 BRIS Speed figure for
the Orchid, while Pan American winner SILVER WHISTLE (Alphabet Soup) was given a
107, but the two races shaped up differently. In the Orchid, the female
pacesetters kept up their taxing march, getting the six furlongs in 1:11 3/5 and
the mile in 1:35 4/5 before fading in the drive. In contrast, the males in the
Pan American slowed down the tempo in the middle stages, posting splits of 1:13
1/5, 1:38 2/5 and 2:01 2/5. After that breather, Silver Whistle sprinted home in a sub-:23 final quarter.
In comparison, Honey Ryder drew to within a length of the leader through 1 1/4 miles
in 1:59 3/5, yet she still came home in a shade less than :23 2/5. Moreover,
it’s worth noting that Silver Whistle was all out to get to get the nod in the
photo, while Honey Ryder was all alone with no dangers anywhere nearby. Indeed,
she
was traveling so well throughout that searching end-to-end gallop, that I’m tempted to
think that she could well have won the Pan American.
Honey Ryder was no slouch last year, having narrowly defeated
Grade 1 queen FILM MAKER (Dynaformer) in the Glens Falls H. (G3) at
Saratoga and crowning her season with a victory in the E. P. Taylor S. (Can-G1)
on a yielding course at Woodbine last October, but she looks much improved this
year as a five-year-old. With Film Maker back working steadily for trainer
Graham Motion after her winter break, a rematch between these two would be
fascinating.
Although it wasn’t a graded event, the one-mile American Beauty
S. at Santa Anita last Saturday featured two Grade 2 winners who promptly ran
one-two. Shining Energy got the jump on MOSCOW BURNING (Moscow
Ballet) and safely held her at bay for a 1 1/4-length score. It was good to see
the four-year-old Julio Canani trainee get back on track after a troubled trip
in the Buena Vista H. (G2), in which she was beaten only 1 1/2 lengths in fifth.
The winner of the San Clemente H. (G2) at Del Mar last summer, Shining Energy
has an impressive late kick when she’s on her game. Thus far, she’s been most
successful at a mile, with two unplaced efforts at 1 1/8 miles, but her dam,
Miss Universal (Ire) (Lycius), was a Grade 3 winner at 1 3/8 miles. So we’ll
keep an eye on Shining Energy just in case she steps up in trip again.