Some horses give early glimpses of their talent and it carries them to early success. Others work through their development and tease that tantalizing ability that has yet to fully manifest itself.
That was the case for Straight No Chaser , who put it all together May 20 in a dominating win in the six-furlong $100,000 Maryland Sprint Stakes (G3) at Pimlico Race Course.
“He’s just getting better,” said trainer Dan Blacker. “That’s the crazy thing. Just goes to show that sometimes with these horses you just got to be a little patient and luckily we have great owners that were allowing me to be patient with him and give him time to kind of mature.”
Straight No Chaser went gate to wire in 1:08.27 while posting fractional times of :22.44, :44.66, and 56.20. He won by 7 1/2 lengths, thanks to a strong break from the gate and then pulling away down the stretch.
There were a lot of similarities to his last time out, winning an allowance optional claiming race at Oaklawn Park by nearly the same margin (7 1/4 lengths). Except this time the caliber of competition was elevated.
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“The break was awesome. I got told by the trainer, if one goes fast, you have to go a little but faster. I just let him do what he wants to do. Pretty easy. That’s exactly how it feels,” said jockey John Velazquez.
The win was the first stakes victory for the 4-year-old by the late Speightster and out of the Johannesburg mare Margarita Friday. He had previously finished third in the Palos Verdes Stakes (G3) and seventh in the Malibu Stakes (G1).
“He’s always been a very talented horse, superior workhorse right from when we first got him in the barn,” Blacker said. “He was always impressive, so it’s really a relief to see him carry that into the afternoon.”
As the second choice, Straight No Chaser paid $5.20 for the win. He was followed under the wire by Prevalence , who edged Nakatomi by a nose.
Owned by MyRacehorse and bred by John Eaton and Steve Laymon, Straight No Chaser now boasts a record of 4-0-1 in seven starts with $245,800 in earnings. He is one of nine foals and seven starters from his mare. Of those seven starters, there are five winners.
MyRacehorse purchased Straight No Chaser at the 2021 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale from the Paul Sharp consignment for $110,000.
As for what’s next for the precocious colt, Blacker said, “I’m going to do the old trainer adage and say we’re going to enjoy this win. We’ll see how he comes out.
“I’m a big supporter of California. I want to support that program as much as possible. So I’m looking forward to running there at some point in the future.”
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