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.
Keeneland
Opening weekend of the Keeneland fall meet played host to two of the most explosive maiden wins seen so far this autumn with promising youngsters Royal Slipper and Booth graduating in back-to-back days.
Michael Tabor’s Royal Slipper was up first on opening day. While trainer Wesley Ward always knew the daughter of Uncle Mo was fast, he admitted it took a little time for her mental maturity to catch up to her conspicuous talent on the racetrack.
“It’s taken a lot of effort to get her here. She came from David Scanlon’s down in Ocala and they did a good job with her but mentally she just took a long time to come around. We’ve always seen the talent in her though and it came out today,” Ward said.
When Royal Slipper drew the dreaded one hole in her six-furlong debut, Ward considered scratching her for fear of a troubled trip but ultimately let the bay go to the post Oct. 6 in the capable hands of Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez.
Royal Slipper quickly eased her trainer’s concerns, hightailing it from the gate and seizing control of the race in a matter of strides. A clear 2 1/2 lengths in front at the quarter pole, the race was over from there, as the filly clocked :46.04 for the half-mile and kept on blazing to the wire.
And just like that Wesley Ward gets his first 2yo winner of the @keeneland Fall Meet!
#1 ROYAL SLIPPER ($8.86) broke like a shot under @ljlmvel and powered clear for a commanding debut win.
The daughter of @coolmoreamerica‘s Uncle Mo is a full-sister to GI victress Bast. pic.twitter.com/LtParuO7GS
— TVG (@TVG) October 6, 2023
Stopping the timer in 1:10.58 on a fast main track, Royal Slipper floored her rivals by a widening 4 3/4 lengths.
“She’s a very nice filly,” Ward said. “I called Michael Tabor earlier on this summer and told him how highly I thought of her so I’m glad I didn’t have to eat my words.”
Royal Slipper, out of the Arch mare Laffina , is a full sister to grade 1 winner Bast . The 2-year-old queen of Southern California in 2019, Bast netted grade 1 victories in the Del Mar Debutante Stakes (G1), Chandelier Stakes (G1), and Starlet Stakes (G1). Only a third-place finish to British Idiom in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) kept her from being crowned that year’s champion 2-year-old filly. Bast later sold to Spendthrift Farm in foal to Justify for $4.2 million at the Fasig-Tipton’s The November Sale in 2020.
A day after Royal Slipper’s glittering debut, the Steve Asmussen-trained Booth turned in the highest Equibase Speed Figure of the week for a 2-year-old debut winner in a six-furlong maiden special weight.
#7 BOOTH ($12.20) looked a lot like his sire, @spendthriftfarm‘s Mitole, when winning his debut in wire-to-wire fashion in the finale at Keeneland.
The colt is trained by Steve Asmussen for co-owners William & Corinne Heiligbrodt, @jackpotfarm, & Whispering Oaks Farm. pic.twitter.com/U4BTyaf30C
— TVG (@TVG) October 7, 2023
Squaring off against several well-bred maidens, Booth scampered to the front and hardly took a breath in his stellar 5 1/4-length romp in the Saturday nightcap. Controlling the pace through fractions of :22.45 and :45.08, the Mitole colt rebroke turning for home and hit the wire in 1:10.23 in a hand ride. He earned a 101 Equibase Speed Figure for his performance.
Booth is owned in partnership by William and Corinne Heiligbrodt, Jackpot Farm, and Whispering Oaks Farm. The chestnut was acquired by the Heiligbrodts and Jackpot Farm for $225,000 earlier this year at the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Company March Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training after breezing a :10 eighth of a mile during the under tack show.
The colt’s stock took a boost last month when his older 4-year-old half brother Bright Future (Curlin ) outlasted grade 1 winner Proxy by a nose to win in the $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course.
First-crop stallion Mitole is responsible for 15 winners so far this year and currently ranks second on the national freshman sire’s list.
| BloodHorse Maiden Watch | |||||||
| Notable 2YO maiden winners for week of Oct. 2-Oct. 8 | |||||||
| Date | Track | Race | Horse | Sire | Dam | Start | Maiden Watch eligibility criteria |
| 10/6 | KEE | 2 | Royal Slipper | Uncle Mo | Laffina | 1 | Full Sibling to G1SW Bast |
| 10/6 | SA | 9 | She Is Romantic | Blame | Romantic Frolic | 3 | $550K 2-Year-Old |
| 10/7 | KEE | 2 | Bergen | Liam’s Map | Toni’s Hollyday | 1 | Half Sibling to G1SW Chi Town Lady |
| 10/7 | KEE | 11 | Booth | Mitole | Sophia’s Song | 1 | Half Sibling to G1SW Bright Future |
| 10/7 | SA | 6 | Stay Hot | Summer Front | Etsu | 3 | Half Sibling to G2SW Prerequisite |
| 10/7 | WO | 6 | Simply in Front | Summer Front | Complicated | 3 | Half Sibling to G3SW Honor D Lady |
| 10/8 | BAQ | 1 | Billal | Street Sense | Bambalina | 2 | $725K Yearling |
| 10/8 | SA | 1 | Invincible | Uncle Mo | Magical Mood | 3 | Half Sibling to G2SW Magical Feeling |
| 10/8 | WO | 5 | Twirling Point | Twirling Candy | Kitten’s Point | 2 | Dam is a G3SW |
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