Expert Pick of the Week: 2024 Street Sense Stakes
Oct 23, 2024
Comes a Time (Photo by Coglianese Photos)
A really good cast of 10 juvenile prospects will travel 1 1/16 miles on the Churchill Downs dirt in Sunday’s $200,000 Street Sense S. (G3). The two-turn test features five last-out winners and looks like an especially competitive event on paper.
The Brad Cox-trained Comes a Time debuted at Aqueduct on Sept. 21 in a 6 1/2-furlong dash on the dirt and left a good impression on me while posting a half-length victory. Bred to run long, the colt displayed a nice level of tactical speed and ran down a clear leader with a sustained late run in the tilt, and he will only improve in his initial try going a route of ground on this occasion.
The $200,000 yearling purchase has posted a trio of solid morning drills on the surface in preparation for his local bow, and the March foal figures to take a step forward for a conditioner who enjoyed a fantastic meeting at Keeneland recently. Luis Saez will be in the silks and will likely have the dark bay in the second flight early on as he stretches out in distance.
Sovereignty is still a maiden from a pair of lifetime races to date, but the Godolphin homebred has closed well in each of those one-turn events and seems poised to thrive with the added ground on Sunday. By superb sire Into Mischief, the Bill Mott trainee just missed behind a nice graduate at Aqueduct in his latest showing and has posted a pair of solid morning moves in the interim. The February foal will have regular pilot Junior Alvarado in the silks, which is a big positive.
#2 Sandman graduates in the opener at Saratoga under @davisjockey for trainer Mark Casse! 🤩 @westpointtbred
A top pick winner to start the day for @ntamm1215! pic.twitter.com/9aiU0MVTEY
— TwinSpires Racing 🏇 (@TwinSpires) August 10, 2024
The Mark Casse-trained Sandman finished just fifth in the Iroquois S. (G3) on the oval in his stakes bow but is capable of much better against this cast. Tapit colt was a hefty $1.2 million purchase in the spring and looked like an excellent prospect when graduating at Saratoga in his second career performance on Aug. 10. If the gray breaks well, then he will be left with much less to do in the lane with Brian Hernandez Jr. taking his reins for the first time.
Expert Pick
An exacta with #8 Comes a Time on top of #4 Sandman and #10 Sovereignty in the 2024 Street Sense Stakes is the Best Bet of the Week.
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