Not This Time Colt Continues Sire's Hot Streak at Ellis

This column highlights the performances of 2-year-old 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 graded/group winners, or have dams that are graded/group winners. BloodHorse research shows maiden winners, in particular, who meet these criteria are more likely to go on to be graded stakes winners.

Ellis Park

Not This Time  's hot streak of juvenile winners continued over the weekend when his son Blackout Time  romped home a convincing winner of a Ellis Park maiden special weight Aug. 2. The Taylor Made Stallions sire currently sits second in the nation on the leading 2-year-old sires list with eight winners, as of Aug. 5. One of the most versatile stallions standing at stud, the son of Giant's Causeway has beget winners over the dirt and turf surfaces from New York to Kentucky. 

Blackout Time, owned by Brookdale Racing and Lance Gasaway, of Mystik Dan  fame, looked to be a horse of any kind after his second-out score at the Pea Patch. A $210,000 yearling purchase by trainer Kenny McPeek at the 2024 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Yearling Sale, the colt is out of the grade 3-winning turf mare Beauty Parlor . Despite the fact that his dam nor any of his half siblings have won on the dirt, Blackout Time took a shine to the main track in his first two starts.

The precocious colt backed up a steady and progressive series of morning works at Churchill Downs with a hard-luck second-place effort to the ill-fated Dazzle d'Oro in his June 29 debut. Stretched out from six furlongs to a mile in his next outing, Blackout Time, like his route-specialist dam, relished the extra ground. 

Unlike in his debut, where he brushed against the side of the gate, Blackout Time leapt out smoothly this time from the barrier. Without racing into one-turn type fractions, the dark bay/brown colt found himself on the front this time around. He vied with a rival through early splits of :24.01 and :47.89 before poking a head in front heading into the far turn. Under little urging from Brian Hernandez Jr., the colt switched leads with the wave of the stick and burst clear of his competition. 

Crossing the wire in a final time of 1:37.12, Blackout Time had won by nearly double digits, finishing 9 3/4 lengths ahead of his nearest rival.