Five Fastest Maidens, Presented by Taylor Made – Sept. 2-8

[Wandering Eyes]

5. ATLAL, KD, 9/7, 6 1/2 furlongs (turf)
Beyer Speed Figure-83 (VIDEO)
(c, 3, Quality Road–Atheer, by Malibu Moon)
O/B-Juddmonte (Ky). T-Bill Mott. J-John Velazquez.

Stepping forward considerably in numbers in his sixth start, Atlal displayed a strong liking for Kentucky Downs or newfound maturity–or both. Velazquez sat like a statue as he stalked then joined the leaders 3/16ths out, and he kicked clear nicely when given his cue. He's from Juddmonte dirt royalty: unraced dam Atheer is out of $2.7 million earner Close Hatches, making her a half-sister to graded winners Tacitus, Scylla and Batten Down, all by Tapit.

4. CHEEVER, DMR, 9/7, 6 1/2 furlongs
Beyer Speed Figure- 87 (3rd) (VIDEO)
(g, 3, Into Mischief–Electric Forest, by Curlin)
O-Muir Hut Stables. B-Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings (Ky). T-Mark Glatt. J-Antonio Fresu.

Cheever has made this list before in defeat, and caught another tough group Sunday. Newly gelded and wearing new blinkers, he bounced back from a disappointing performance to be a solid third, but he's due better luck. The winners of his four lifetime starts have earned Beyers of 98, 95, 88 and now 99.

3. LATITUDE, DMR, 9/7, 6 1/2 furlongs
Beyer Speed Figure- 92 (2nd) (VIDEO)
(c, 3, Candy Ride–Coco's Wildcat, by Wildcat Heir)
O-Hronis Racing. B-WinStar Farm (Ky). T-John Sadler. J-Mike Smith.

Latitude nearly made it to the races as a 2-year-old last summer and again in late fall before encountering setbacks, and this was an overdue and very encouraging debut. He couldn't match strides with Modus Bestia (see below) down the lane, but finishing as a solid runnerup behind a 99 Beyer is something to be excited about.

2. BOYD, DMR, 9/7, 5 1/2 furlongs
Beyer Speed Figure- 92 (VIDEO)
(c, 2, Violence–A Taste of Red, by Street Boss)
O-Zedan Racing Stable. B-Nasser Omihira (Ky). T-Bob Baffert. J-Tyler Gaffalione.

Boyd | Benoit

On the Del Mar Futurity undercard, firster Boyd actually got a one-point better number than fellow Zedan/Baffert star Brant with a similar frontrunning trip (although at 5 1/2 furlongs rather than seven furlongs). And the $1,050,000 2-year-old buy didn't back into anything, going his opening half in :43.91. It'll be interesting to see what path Baffert chooses from a distance perspective. Zedan named this one for Fasig-Tipton's Boyd Browning.

1. MODUS BESTIA, DMR. 9/7, 6 1/2 furlongs
Beyer Speed Figure-99 (VIDEO)
(c, 3, Maclean's Music–Make Amends, by Malibu Moon)
O-Calvin Nguyen & Joey Tran. B-Country Life Farm and Make Amends (Md). T-Richard Baltas. J-Flavien Prat.

Improving his career-best Beyer by a full 20 points, Modus Bestia again went to the front and this time streaked to the week's fastest maiden performance in his sixth lifetime start. Given the numbers also turned in by Brant and Boyd with frontrunning trips, one might suspect a speed/rail bias–but that was hardly the case. They can't always be easily explained, but sometimes a superfast race just needs to be accepted at face value.

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