The Five Fastest Maidens For the Week of April 14-20

[Wandering Eyes]

This week, we debut a new feature: who were the five fastest maidens to race in North America last week, as measured by the Beyer Speed figures? We count them down.

 

5. SWEET SCORECARD, IND 4/16 – 5 ½ furlongs

Beyer Speed Figure: 84
(f, 3, Vekoma-Sweet Halory, by Hold Me Back)
O-514 Racing LLC, B-Glenn Sorgenstein WC Racing Inc; T-Tim Eggleston, J-J. D. Ramos

Not sure what's the most interesting aspect: that she was 8/1 in the program but hammered down to 1/2 favoritism, that she had been outrun by an average of 12 ¼ lengths in three previous starts yet cruised home here by 15 ½, that she obliterated her previous career-high Beyer by 40 points, or that no one put up $12,500 to claim the Vekoma filly even though she was such a white-hot favorite on the board. She didn't beat much, but did it emphatically.

 

4. VIBE, GP 4/19- 1 mile

Beyer Speed Figure: 85
(c, 3, Into Mischief-Nonna Mia, by Empire Maker)
O-Repole Stable, West Point Thoroughbreds, CJ Stables, Woodford Racing, Lane's End Racing and Patrick K. McGee, B-Repole Stable, T-Todd Pletcher, J-Emisael Jaramillo

At $3 million, Vibe was 2023 Keeneland September's sale topper-and the third-highest-priced yearling of that year. A setback at Saratoga last summer fouled up the Kentucky Derby dream, and he was well-beaten when he finally got to the races in March. But extra distance and a new set of blinkers was the right prescription for his second start, and suddenly the vibes are positive again.

 

3. CLICQUOT, KEE 4/17- about 7 furlongs

Beyer Speed Figure: 86
(f, 3, Quality Road-Royal Obsession, by Tapit)
O-X-Men Racing IV, Madaket Stables and SF Racing, B-Don Alberto, T-Brendan Walsh, J-Irad Ortiz Jr.

A scorching pace didn't help her when 6th at even-money in her debut at Gulfstream, but the Veuve was flowing after this 6-length frontrunning romp. And she didn't seem to appreciate Irad's lefthanded whacks, so she might be smart, too. She's another potentially good one bred by Don Alberto, which is seemingly everywhere nowadays.

 

2. STRATEGIC FOCUS, AQU 4/19 – 1 mile

Beyer Speed Figure: 90
(c, 3, Gun Runner-Curlin's Mistress, by Curlin)
O-Klaravich Stables, B-Alter's Racing Stables, Inc., T-Chad Brown, J-Dylan Davis

Is Seth Klarman ever going to run out of cool investment names? This first-timer was next-last on the backstretch and widest around the turn- never a good recipe for dirt success-but still outkicked a strong field that included entrymate Duration. Here's a nice parlay: breeder Happy Alter bought the 4th dam for $500 at OBS in 1994 and sold Strategic Focus at Keeneland for $500,000.

 

1. NEVADA BEACH, SA 4/19 – 1 mile

Beyer Speed Figure: 90
(c, 3, Omaha Beach-Morrow Cove, by Yes It's True)
O-Mike Pegram, Karl Watson and Paul Weitman, B-Paul Tackett Revocable Trust, Phil Tackett Estate & Christy Tackett, T-Bob Baffert, J-Juan Hernandez

Let's see…a 3-year-old wins sharply on debut and runs a big Beyer, you check the PPs, and yep, it's another Baffert. In fact, this was the 30th maiden graduate sent out by Baffert from his Class of 2022, and more may be in the pipeline. Nevada Beach ran down pacesetter Rank, who probably deserved to win since in his 11 starts he has also come up against Journalism, Citizen Bull, Rodriguez, Baeza, Gaming and Getaway Car, some more than once.

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