Fastest U.S. 2-Year-Old May Bypass the BC Juvenile

More often than not, the Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) decides the destiny of the Eclipse Award for champion 2-year-old colt. It's probably going to be that way in 2024, too, given the race is likely to bring together youngsters who on their most recent starts captured the Breeders' Futurity (G1), Champagne Stakes (G1), American Pharoah Stakes (G1), and Del Mar Futurity (G1).

This year, however, there is a chance that the fastest 2-year-old of the crop might be pointing to, not the Breeders' Cup World Championships, but to the FTBOA Florida Sire In Reality Stakes.

The horse in question is Rated By Merit , who ran the fastest Beyer Speed Figure of the season by a juvenile Oct. 19 when taking the FTBOA Florida Sire Affirmed Stakes by 3 3/4 lengths. That appears to be no fluke, as in addition to the 99 Beyer earned on Saturday, Rated By Merit ran a 92 Beyer, a figure surpassed by only three other juvenile colts on dirt in 2024 when scoring by 6 1/4 lengths in the FTBOA Florida Sire Dr. Fager Stakes. His only other start saw the gray/roan colt 9 3/4 lengths clear at the finish of a Gulfstream Park maiden special weight.

Where the top contenders in the upcoming Breeders' Cup Juvenile are by established standout sires Medaglia d'Oro   and Into Mischief  , red-hot freshman McKinzie  , and champion 2-year-old and freshman sire Game Winner  , Rated By Merit is a son of the unheralded Battalion Runner .

A member of the same crop as 2017 Kentucky Derby (G1) victor Always Dreaming  , Battalion Runner represented some of the same connections—both were trained by Todd Pletcher, with Battalion Runner's owners Teresa Viola Racing Stables and St. Elias Stable being part of the Always Dreaming ownership group. There was a point, too, where Battalion Runner was reckoned to be on a par with Always Dreaming. While they may have been blessed with similar degrees of natural talent, the record shows that Always Dreaming went on to classic glory, and Battalion Runner never earned a black-type victory.

That's not to say that Battalion Runner didn't demonstrate some serious ability. On the second of two starts at 2, Battalion Runner flashed the kind of talent one might expect from a classic prospect, streaking home 8 3/4 lengths clear in a seven-furlong Gulfstream Park maiden special weight, earning a 98 Beyer Speed Figure. That was Dec. 31, and on his next start, the following February, Battalion Runner added an 8 1/2-furlong optional/allowance event, also at Gulfstream.

Favored for the Wood Memorial Stakes (G2), Battalion Runner took second behind the subsequent Belmont Stakes (G1) runner-up Irish War Cry  , with subsequent Preakness Stakes (G1) victor Cloud Computing   in third. Returning off a three-month break, Battalion Runner finished third behind Practical Joke   in the Dwyer Stakes (G3). His only other start saw him conclude his career with an unplaced run in the Smarty Jones Stakes (G3).

Retired to Ocala Stud, where he stands for $2,500, Battalion Runner is responsible for just 33 foals and 17 runners from his first three crops, 10 of whom have won, with Rated By Merit being preceded as a black-type winner by Lightnin Runner , successful in the Original Gold Stakes, Its Binn Too Long Stakes, and Rachel's Turn Stakes, all at Charles Town Races.

Rated By Merit's dam, Banner Waving, was purchased by St. Elias Stable for $19,000 at the 2020 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale. A daughter of Speightstown, Banner Waving won once in 11 starts, scoring by 3 1/2 lengths in a 2-year-old maiden special weight at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots. She's dam of three previous foals, the first of which was a winner in Panama.

Banner Waving is out of the Dixie Union mare Freedom Flag, a minor winning half sister to Revolutionary , who won the Louisiana Derby (G2), Withers Stakes (G3), and Pimlico Special Stakes (G3) and was third in the Kentucky Derby. The third dam, Runup the Colors, won the Alabama Stakes (G1) and Delaware Oaks. A daughter of A.P. Indy, Runup the Colors was three-quarter sister to 2003 Horse of the Year and champion older horse Mineshaft  , and two-time grade 1 winner Tomisue's Delight. They were both by A.P. Indy out of Prospectors Delite—a Mr. Prospector half sister to Runup the Colors—whose successes included the Ashland Stakes (G1) and Acorn Stakes (G1). Other half sisters to Runup the Colors include European champion Flagbird (the granddam of A.P. Indy grade 1 winner Little Belle); King's Bishop Stakes (G2) scorer Top Account; and stakes winners Fold the Flag, Allied Flag, and Long View.

This is a branch of La Troienne that descends from Striking via the Adirondack Stakes victress Fashion Verdict. She is ancestress of more than 80 stakes winners, including champion 2-year-old and Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner Corniche  , and other grade 1 winners Mr. Sidney , Kawi, Dickinson , and Obataye .

Rated By Merit is a product of the Unbridled's Song/Speightstown cross that is also responsible for graded winner Deterministic  and stakes winners Princess Kokachin and Shippy. The reverse cross of Speightstown's son Munnings   over a mare by a son of Unbridled's Song resulted in the brilliant sprinter Jack Christopher  , and another exceptionally talented runner, Charlatan  , is by Speightstown out of a mare by Quiet American, who like Unbridled's Song is a Fappiano line horse.