Friday, November 12, 2004
Updated: February 18, 2:53 PM ET
Eddie Mac's Saturday picks
By Ed McNamara
Special to ESPN.com
No attribute in the thoroughbred is more prized than early speed, and nothing is more dangerous to its legs. The faster they go, the more likely their career will be interrupted by injuries.
Last winter at Gulfstream Park, no horse created more buzz than the 3-year-old filly Madcap Escapade, a rocket who blasted from the gate and couldn't be caught. She went 3-for-3 by a total margin of 26? lengths at Gulfstream, winning stakes in her second and third starts, before hanging on to take the Grade I, 1 1/16-mile Ashland Stakes at Keeneland. The glory faded in the 1 1/8-mile Kentucky Oaks, where her need-to-lead style and distance limitations did her in on a muddy track.
Madcap Escapade took off immediately in the Fillies' Derby and set wicked fractions, going the half-mile in 46 seconds and 6 furlongs in an exhausting 1:09 4/5. She didn't have much left entering the stretch, where she backed up to third behind eventual divisional champion Ashado. Somewhere during her 9-furlong sprint before a howling Oaks Day crowd, she suffered a season-ending injury, a hairline hip fracture.
"The injury wasn't nearly as bad as it sounds," trainer Frank Brothers said recently. "A fracture sounds terrible to a novice, but the main thing she needed [to recover] was time. She got two months in the barn and two months turned out. Once we had her re-scanned, she's progressed as well as we hoped."
The daughter of Hennessy has been training impressively at Gulfstream, where she'll make her 4-year-old debut Saturday in the Grade II Shirley Jones Handicap. Not surprisingly, on paper Madcap Escapade has a major pace edge, and rider Jerry Bailey probably will try to lead throughout. That would be fine with Brothers, but he hopes his flashy filly will be much more willing to rate than she was last year.
"She's obviously a very fast filly," Brothers said, "but I think we need to find a way to control her speed. But she also won a Grade I around two turns, so that's got to say something. I feel she's got the talent to be a good middle-distance filly."
Madcap Escapade will be no price, so the Shirley Jones will be a race to watch rather than wager on. If you can't do that, I recommend a $20 cold exacta with Madcap Escapade on top of Society Selection, a strong closer who should get up for second. It won't pay much, but it is the likeliest and most logical result.
To get the betting juices flowing, I'll see if I can be right in three turf races, an allowance at Gulfstream, a maiden at the Fair Grounds and the Grade III Bayou Breeders' Cup Handicap at the old New Orleans track. It's nice to watch high-class sprinters, but it's more fun to cash.
Bayou Breeders' Cup (1 1/8 miles, turf)
Look for Sister Swank to get even with Shadow Cast for her upset Dec. 18 in the Pago Hop Handicap at the Fair Grounds. Sister Swank gets the rail and should be able to work out a ground-saving trip behind pacesetter Ide Be A Lady. I'll go with an improving closer, Cape Town Lass, to take second from Shadow Cast, and box both in exactas with Sister Swank.
1. Sister Swank. 2. Cape Town Lass. 3. Shadow Cast.
10th race, Fair Grounds (mile, turf)
Finn Maccunailli, a 3-year-old son of the great Giant's Causeway, ran a solid, even race in his grass debut over the course last month. He came in fifth, but only four lengths behind the winner, and I think he has major upside potential. He'll be a solid price, too. In the trifecta I'll go with two horses that ran second and third that day, Pressed and Fielding. Pressed was third, 1? lengths behind the winner, Fire It Up, who won next time out. Fielding, who ran second, may be overbet, and with no wins and three seconds in 10 starts, he has the look of a professional maiden with a serious case of seconditis.
1. Finn Maccunailli. 2. Pressed. 3. Fielding.
11th race, Gulfstream, (1 1/8 miles, turf)
Mountain Mambo has turned in the field's best closing numbers, and I'll wager that trainer Phil Serpe has him ready to run big off a layoff of almost four months. He's been working well at Palm Meadows and should be a decent price. My concern is that Gentle Breeze projects as the lone speed, and Mountain Mambo will have to come from far back. I'll box those two with Grat, who had a nice tightener Jan. 23 over the course when he rallied for fifth, only 2? lengths back, in his season debut.
1. Mountain Mambo. 2. Gentle Breeze. 3. Grat.
