I have to admit as I have been reviewing again the Breeders’ Cup preview DVD that the filly Sweet Catomine is wicked impressive … I dare say more so then even her male counterparts.
A big, big girl who seems to know how to run the races - she isn’t like say last year’s Ruffian-esq Madcap Escape who loved speed from the word go - but rather she stalks then closes like the proverbial freight train.
Now comes this very bold article regarding what she could do:
Sweet Catomine is the early pick for the Derby
Pasadena Star News (CA) 11/30/04
IT’S tough enough to pick who’s going to run in the Kentucky Derby five months before the race, let alone predict who’s going to win the Run for the Roses.
But you can take this to the bank Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies winner Sweet Catomine will be a serious threat to become the first filly to win the Derby since Winning Colors in 1988 if trainer Julio Canani elects to try the daughter of Storm Cat against the boys.
This was the first year Canani has started a juvenile in the Breeders’ Cup. He’s won the Mile twice, but never before did he feel he had a colt or filly worthy of running in the World Thoroughbred Championships.
That says something about Sweet Catomine. So, too, does the filly’s monster 3 3/4-length victory over 11 rivals in the Juvenile Fillies last month at Lone Star Park. And consider this: The Juvenile winner, Wilko, ran the 1 1/16 miles in 1:42 two-fifths of a second slower than Sweet Catomine’s 1:41 3/5.
Sprinkle in the fact that Sweet Catomine had to overcome trouble in the crowded field, and it all adds up to the fact that Canani, jockey Corey Nakatani and owners Martin and Pam Wygod could have one tough decision to make come the first Saturday in May.
Of course, we all thought that about Halfbridled last year. She looked so impressive in winning the Juvenile Fillies at Oak Tree, was a big, strong filly like Sweet Catomine, and had a Hall of Fame trainer in Richard Mandella.
The key is whether Sweet Catomine continues to improve early next year and stays healthy. If she does, and it’s a big if considering how fragile these horses are, then Nakatani could be looking at his first victory in a Triple Crown race.
"I think she’s the best 2-year-old in the country by far colts or fillies,’ Nakatani said. "On Breeders’ Cup day, if she was eligible to run in the Juvenile, she’d have won 500,000 more dollars. She’s better than those colts.’
Why is everybody so high on this filly? Well, the Breeders’ Cup wasn’t the first time she’s out-run the boys. When she won the Oak Leaf Stakes at Santa Anita on Oct. 2, she ran the 1 1/16 miles in 1:42 4/5. The next day, the highly regarded Roman Ruler won the Norfolk Stakes for 2- year-old males in 1:44.
No, fast times don’t always equate into greatness. But in this instance, with Sweet Catomine’s size, royal bloodlines and penchant for winning by large margins, it only figures she’s going to be something special if she continues to improve and avoids that old injury bugaboo.
"We’ll see what happens at the beginning of this next year,’ Nakatani said. "Obviously, she’s going to move forward and go through the steppingstones, and if it happens that we go to the Derby with her … (well) Julio and Mr. Wygod will make the decision.
"We’ll have to weigh the options at that point. Most likely, if I think she’s good enough, we’ll go that way.’
A winner of three of four races lifetime she finished second in her 5 1/2-furlong career debut at Del Mar Sweet Catomine could give us all a thrill in 2005.
"She’s unbelievable,’ Nakatani said.
