Adam Coglianese Photo

Cyclone State earns career-best 84 Beyer Speed Figure for $150K Jerome win

by NYRA Press Office

• Cyclone State earns career-best 84 Beyer Speed Figure for $150K Jerome win
• Sand Devil could try G3 Withers next
• Dual stakes-winner Scorching targeting G3 Gotham
• Valtellina takes on salty state-bred optional-claimer on Thursday

Gold Square, George Messina and Michael Lee’s Cyclone State won his third consecutive local one-turn mile in Saturday’s $150,000 Jerome, a 10-5-3-2-1 Kentucky Derby qualifying points event for sophomores, at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Trained by Chad Summers, the McKinzie bay, similar to his prior two wins, led at each point of call under Luis Rivera, Jr., en route to a 3 1/2-length score over the closing Omaha Omaha in a final time of 1:40.82. The performance earned a career-best 84 Beyer Speed Figure, and was more comfortable than the margin of victory shows, as Cyclone State led by eight lengths in the stretch and was a tad green when all alone.

Summers said Cyclone State exited the race in good order.

“He’s doing good. He stepped on my foot but otherwise he’s doing good,” Summers said, with a laugh. “He came out of it good.”

Summers said Cyclone State has progressed well, sequentially winning a November maiden special weight, December optional claimer, then the Jerome.

“He just kind of continued the trajectory he’s been on over the last several starts. I think there is no doubt that he has some ability and speed,” said Summers. “How far he’ll go, and everything else like that, we are going to find out. We certainly will not complain about yesterday.”

Summers said Cyclone State may next contest the one-mile Group 3, $1.5 million Saudi Derby on February 22 at King Abdulaziz Racecourse, while also considering the local one-mile Grade 3, $300,000 Gotham on March 1 – a 50-25-15-10-5 points race for the Kentucky Derby. The Big A also offers the nine-furlong Grade 3, $250,000 Withers on February 1, offering 20-10-6-4-2 points.

“I would think the Saudi Derby is a possibility. He’s got 10 points towards the Kentucky Derby, and it is always everybody’s dream to head that way, so he will go down to Florida and we’ll nominate to everything and see what’s what,” Summers said. “We know he likes Aqueduct and one mile, and it is 50 points to the winner of the Gotham. We have that in the back of our mind as well.

“He’s run seven times already so I’d think he’d be doubtful to run in the Withers, just off this performance and having to go from a mile and an eighth back to one mile,” Summers added.

Per feedback of Rivera, Jr., Summers believes Cyclone State can take another step forward with increased focus in the lane.

“The first time we ever breezed him out of the gate, he opened up 10 lengths on a horse. Then when the horse came up to him and he heard another horse, he took off again,” Summers said. “It is him, it is a learning thing. The fact that he wants to re-engage once he hears the footsteps, it is OK. We don’t feel like he’s tired, with added distance, we think he’ll stretch out and be OK.”

Bred in Iowa by H. Allen Poindexter, Cyclone State, out of the Grade 3-placed Dominus mare Chanel’s Legacy, was a $70,000 purchase at the 2023 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

***

Sand Devil could try G3 Withers next

Chester Broman's New York-homebred Sand Devil remained undefeated with an impressive 12 1/2-length romp over state-bred optional-claiming company traveling a one-turn mile on January 2 at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Trained by Linda Rice, the Violence sophomore colt stalked and pounced to a four-length score on debut sprinting six furlongs versus fellow state-breds on December 8 at the Big A. The talented chestnut earned an 82 Beyer Speed Figure for his debut effort.

Although nominated to the open-company Jerome, won by Cyclone State here Saturday, Rice opted to keep Sand Devil against New York-breds and was a much-the-best winner under regular pilot Jose Lezcano, taking command into the turn and scoring handily in a final time of 1:36.91. The powerful performance, which included a strong gallop out, earned a 90 Beyer.

"It was a good race. I wanted to stretch him out," Rice said. "I thought I'd take the easier race to get him stretched out and I'm very pleased with the way it worked out rather than going to the Jerome and stretching out against very tough company. I decided to take an easier path and it was good for the horse and good for the connections."

Rice indicated Sand Devil will be considered for the nine-furlong Grade 3, $250,000 Withers, a 20-10-6-4-2 Kentucky Derby qualifier on February 1; as well as the state-bred seven-furlong $125,000 Damon Runyon on February 8.

"We'll point to one of those two," Rice said. "I'll take a look at the Withers and see how it's coming up. Frankly, it would be good to know if he can run a mile and an eighth, so we're definitely keeping that on the table."

Sand Devil, out of the multiple stakes-winning Mineshaft mare Mineralogist, comes from a terrific Broman-bred family that includes graded stakes-winning second dam Seeking the Ante - a half-sister to Grade 1-winner Friends Lake. The Bromans purchased his third dam, Antespend, a multiple Grade 1-winner for the late Jack Kent Cooke, for $900,000 in 1997 at Keeneland.

"I'm thrilled to have what appears to be a very good horse for Mr. Broman. I've trained for them for quite a while and it's very exciting for him," Rice said.

***

Dual stakes-winner Scorching targeting G3 Gotham

Paul Braverman and Timothy Pinch’s Scorching will hope to try his luck on the Road to the Kentucky Derby as he targets the Grade 3, $300,000 Gotham on March 1 at Aqueduct Racetrack. The one-turn mile for sophomores awards 50-25-15-10-5 Kentucky Derby qualifying points to the top-five finishers.

Trained by John Charalambous, the son of Mo Town was last seen winning the restricted Cup and Saucer on October 6 over the Woodbine Racetrack turf. He scored the victory by disqualification after Ashley’s Archer got his nose down first on the wire but was ruled to have interfered with a rival in the stretch of the 1 1/16-mile route.

The Cup and Saucer came on the heels of a stylish graduation with a pacesetting five-length score in the 6 1/2-furlong restricted Simcoe in August over the Tapeta, with both wins receiving a career-best 80 Beyer Speed Figure.

“I think he ran a winning race,” Charalambous said of the Cup and Saucer. “We just got beat the last jump and I’m still not sold that he’s any better on turf. I was really happy with that race and I was happy with the way he was coming into his next race, but he developed a virus and it took him longer to get through it, so we gave him the rest of the year off. The owners made the decision to try a different route, so here we are.”

Scorching arrived at Belmont Park in late December and has yet to breeze over the training track. Charalambous said he brought the colt to the Empire State to give him plenty of time prepare for his first start over dirt.

“Our plan is to race in the Gotham. We’re just starting him back up at Belmont, and he trains on dirt in Canada and has breezed on it a bunch of times, so hopefully he can make the transition in the afternoon,” Charalambous said. “We’re just trying to get him fit and ready, and hopefully everything goes well.”

Scorching debuted in July at Woodbine with a runner-up effort sprinting 5 1/2 furlongs over Tapeta ahead of his Simcoe score. Charalambous said he believes the dark bay can be effective at a one-turn mile.

“I didn’t really think he was a sprinter,” Charalambous said. “I didn’t know if he could go a Classic distance, but he never really trained like he was a sprinter – he always worked well, but wasn’t excessively quick. The way the races came up, the timing was perfect on both his stakes wins.”

As for the nearly five-month layoff Scorching will enter from, Charalambous said the colt continues to trend in the right direction towards a successful return.

“The layoff certainly did him well mentally, and he put on some weight,” Charalambous said. “He’s just got to get used to the track – it’s deeper here than back home. It’s something we have to work through, but he’s in great shape and we’ll take it from there.”

Charalambous, who started his first runner in 1982, will look to win his first Kentucky Derby prep race and said he was pleasantly surprised when the colt’s owners approached him about trying the Derby trail.

“It’s exciting. I’ve been doing this a long time, and it caught me off guard what the plans were,” Charalambous said, with a laugh. “These owners have been extremely generous with me and have rewarded me with good horses to train, so it would be nice if we had a bit of racing luck. I think this is a very good horse. He acts the part, too. If he stays healthy, I think he’s going to show us a little bit more.”

Bred in Ontario by Huntington Stud Farm Corp., Scorching was purchased for $88,551 at the Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society’s 2023 Canadian-bred Yearling Sale and is out of the stakes-placed Consolidator mare Samsal, who also produced Grade 3-placed Keep Grinding.

***

Valtellina takes on salty state-bred optional-claimer on Thursday

Pavilion Racing’s Valtellina won her August debut at Saratoga Race Course, ahead of a second to still-unbeaten With the Angels in the New York-bred Joseph A. Gimma and off-the-board efforts to that same rival in the state-bred Maid of the Mist and Key Cents at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Trained by Ray Handal, the sophomore Complexity chestnut will dodge With the Angels when taking on Thursday’s eighth race, a 6 1/2-furlong state-bred allowance optional claimer, which 12 fillies have signed on for.

“She’s doing great,” Handal said. “We wanted to freshen her up. She broke her maiden and she ran big first time out. We threw her in the deep end, and second time out she ran a bang-up second. Then, she’s kind of just lost her form.”

Handal said Valtellina’s break since her distant sixth in the six-furlong Key Cents on November 17 could be what she needed.

“With fillies like that, you don’t want to just keep hammering away at them,” said Handal. “You’d rather just freshen them up. She is a young horse, so I gave her a little break, we’ll get her on Lasix when dropping into the allowance company and hopefully can get her back into the winner’s circle. She’s been training great.”

Handal said while not a stakes race, Valtellina still takes on a tough field.

“I don’t think the ‘1-X’ is going to be any slouches. A lot of the horses coming out of stakes are coming in here,” Handal said. “Running against that filly [With the Angels], she is a special horse, probably one for open company, graded stakes, so to get away from her will help a lot.”

The $67,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Preferred New York-bred Yearling Sale purchase, bred by Thorostock, is out of the winning Take Charge Indy mare Take Charge Sue. Her second dam, the stakes-placed Quiet American mare W W American, is a half-sister to Grade 1-winner Sean Avery.

Handal also said that maiden My Sherrona is possible for the $125,000 Busanda on January 18 here. The nine-furlong test for sophomore fillies awards 20-10-6-4-2 Kentucky Oaks qualifying points.

The Not This Time chestnut finished second defeated a half-length under Romero Maragh twice here, in November and December. The Busanda would be an ambitious step up in class, but Handal said the stretch out beyond one-mile should be appreciated.

“She’s doing great. She wants two turns, the more distance the better,” Handal said. “There is a maiden special weight the following week, but if she looks competitive in the Busanda, we will probably run her in there for the reasons I said.”

My Sherrona, out of graded stakes-winning Include mare Class Included, was a $275,000 purchase at the 2023 Fasig-Tipton New York Saratoga Select Yearling Sale. She is campaigned by West Paces Racing, Cypresshead Racing, Twin Sports Racing, Brown Road Racing and Douglas Arnold.