Battle-Tested Heroic Move, Register Break Maidens

This column highlights the performances of maidens who have made no more than five starts and who either sold for more than $500,000 at public auction, have siblings that are grade/group winners, or have dams that are grade/group winners. BloodHorse research shows maiden winners, in particular, who meet these criteria are more likely to go on to be graded stakes winners. 

Oaklawn Park 

Two finely-bred sophomores broke their maidens in gripping battles to the finish this weekend at Oaklawn Park and Aqueduct Racetrack. The first, in middle America, was Gary and Mary West’s homebred Heroic Move . The bay son of Quality Road  , bet down as the favorite in the one mile $90,000 maiden special weight, outlegged a stubborn rival the length of the stretch to score by half a length in his debut.

Although unraced at 2, Brad Cox unveiled the flashy workhorse off a series of four straight five-panel drills where the colt shaded 1:01 heading into Saturday’s maiden race. He had been breezing on a seven-day work pattern at Oaklawn since the beginning of January. Fitness surely wasn’t a question.

Guided by Joel Rosario, the long-striding Heroic Move raced mainly in the clear down the backstretch, as many as four-wide behind early fractions of :23.18, :47:53 and 1:12.93. Less than two lengths behind the leader around the bend, Heroic Move pounced at the top of the stretch and engaged in a duel to the wire with the Chris Hartman-trained J J's Joker . Heroic Move was timed in 1:38.17 for a mile on a fast main track.

Heroic Move joins a barn inundated with auspicious 3-year-olds on the Kentucky Derby trail, led by Saturday’s Risen Star Stakes (G2) winner Angel of Empire , and including Instant Coffee  and Hit Show . The Kentucky-bred colt is out of the graded stakes winning Smart Strike mare Family Tree . Campaigned by the Wests, Family Tree was a talented race mare, though perhaps a step below that year’s divisional leader, the two-time Eclipse Award champion Songbird . Nonetheless, Family Tree garnered wins in the Indiana Oaks (G2), Iowa Oaks (G3), and Zia Park Oaks, all at 1 1/16 miles, during her 3-year-old season. A half sister to 2019 Kentucky Oaks (G1) runner-up Liora , Family Tree bankrolled $733,387 in her 13-start career.

Quality Road, a consistent player among the top-ranked sires every year, is represented by Gun Runner Stakes and Cox trainee Jace's Road  as well as multiple stakes-placed National Treasure  on the Kentucky Derby trail.

Aqueduct Racetrack 

The runner-up in his first two tries sprinting, Robert Spiegel’s Register  finally got the job done, stretching out to a mile in an $80,000 maiden special weight event at Aqueduct.

Breaking alertly under jockey Katie Davis, Register sped up the fence and quickly engaged Asmodeus  as the two locked horns for the entire loop around the track. Throwing down splits of :23.50, :47.01, and 1:11.61, Register appeared to repel Asmodeus for good in mid-stretch before that colt charged at Register again in the shadow at the wire. Edging his foe by a nose, Register clocked the mile on a fast track in a solid 1:36.69.

Trained by David Donk, Register was awarded a sparkling 103 Equibase Speed Figure for his maiden-breaking effort. The Super Saver   colt, bred in Kentucky by Catherine Parke, is a half sibling to three other winners, including 2021 Saratoga Special (G2) victor High Oak . Unraced since last year’s Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2), where he lost all chance after clipping heels and losing his rider at the quarter pole, High Oak has since returned to training with Bill Mott at Payson Park Training Center in southern Florida. The son of Gormley   posted a five-furlong work in 1:01 2/5 from the gate Feb. 16.

Gulfstream Park

One Maiden Watch winner that resulted in a commanding triumph over the weekend was Grace Darling .

Following two efforts last summer in her native Ireland, the Kingman  filly made a memorable impression in her North American debut, surging home a convincing two-length winner for owner William Werner and trainer Brian Lynch.

Last of seven early in the 7 1/2-furlong turf maiden special weight for 3-year-old fillies at Gulfstream Park, Grace Darling uncorked a swift burst of speed down the lane, drawing away from her rivals at the eighth pole. A daughter of the group 3-winning Dark Angel  mare Stormfly , Grace Darling stopped the timer in 1:30.71 over a firm turf course.