Leonatus Stakes ($125.000 Purse)
TP- For Three Year Olds
One Mile on the Dirt
January 18, 2025

Last year, the Leonatus Stakes appeared on the schedule for the first time and gave us an exciting four-way finish at the end. This year, there are eleven horses taking part hoping to get the win for the second go around. There were no dead heats in that race, but the La Canada Racehorses-trained Extreme Flyer edged out a three-way photo for second that were noses apart. As for Extreme Flyer, it was the start of a successful year that saw him earn just a hair less than $500.000 on the year, and he is still active and running well today. That’s not a bad act to try and follow, and eleven horses will be lined up to try and do exactly that. Here is a look at them:

1- Kara France (Royalty Stables, ridden by J Talamo)- Nope, this is not a filly running against the boys. What he is, is a horse making just his second career start after winning on debut at TUP just a month ago. It was a good looking come from behind, two length win that earned a 92 SRF, so certainly the trainer will be excited. Kara France came out of that with some good works, too, so if he is only going to get better, then he is a name to watch.

2- Gus Fring (Riggins Racing, ridden by I Moncada)- Both of his races so far were at FP, so he has not seen anything close to what he will see here. He’s also very well rested, as it will be close to four months since that last run, when he broke his maiden, and a horse can grow a ton in that period of time when they are young. The improvement in mile works between October and January really stands out and makes me envious. My only question is, will he need a race at this level first before we see him at this best?

3- Sky Diver (Crocker Ggs, ridden by S Doyle)- Broke his maiden in his fourth start, and never had a bad race in the ones leading up to that. Once a winner, he was sent to the $150.000 Nashua and ran third. So, all was still going well, and it seemed like he would carry that into the Grade 2 Remsen. However, that would not be the case whatsoever, where he finished seven lengths behind the winner. Now, digging deeper into that race, you’ll see that Extreme Jet just made everyone look bad that day. Sky Diver should be a lot more competitive here.

4- Hubble (Mb Stables, ridden by L Contreras)- Picked up a nice win in his second start, coming in July at SAR, but as of now, he has failed to finish in the top three since then. He ran in a couple of Grade 1’s right after that and was overmatched and then was dropped into overnights. In each of those two races, he was fourth and within a length of the win, so he could turn the corner at any time. At this time, I will have to look elsewhere.

5- Thoughts N Prayers (Big Guns Stables, ridden by S Sanjur)- Last month, Thoughts N Prayers broke his maiden on the turf against two other horses at WO in what was his fifth start. The trainer really liked what he saw in that wire to wire win and will see if he can translate that into a strong effort on the main track. His works are a little hit and miss at a mile, but at his best he can be competitive with this field.

6- Domestic Product (D J C Racing Stables, ridden by A Beschizza)- Got to take part in the BC Juvenile a couple of months ago, thanks in part to running third in the Champagne. That was not a good race for him, but certainly we could forgive that. Unfortunately, he was also not a factor in the race that followed, losing by seven lengths in the Grade 2 Remsen. That’s the race where Extreme Jet massacred everyone, but still, Domestic Product was only seventh there. Doesn’t need to win here but must have a good bounce back.

7- Link Wray (South Shore Stables, ridden by G Corrales)- Took a little bit to get that first win, but that eventually would come in his sixth start, a good-looking win against NY-breds at AQU. Once he figured out how to win, he did it again a month later at CD, proving that he can continue to climb the ladder in class level. Last month, he made his stake debut in the $100.000 Gun Runner and had one of those ever frustrating close but not close enough, “fifth by a length” results. I would be curious to see a more recent mile work on him.

8- Checkered (Mb Stables, ridden by D Carroll)- My preference of the two Mb Stables entries in the field, and why not? He’s made just three starts thus far but is already showing his promise after breaking his maiden at AQU and then almost pulling out the win in the Gun Runner right after that. He had to settle for second there, as there was no stepping that great late run that Ref You Def put forward that day. Won’t have to worry about that one here, today.

9- Lazarus Project (Robeth, ridden by F De La Cruz)- Picked by the trainer last month in the auction for $40.880, and will make his first start since the end of October. Lazarus Project had a strong first three races, and ran second in the Graduation Stakes, for CA-Breds, in August. He was gelded soon after that, and that did not pan out at all for Fractious and may have hurt the bidding quite a bit. Robeth will hope to turn him around, and that will start by running him long for the first time.

10- Black Star (La Canada Racehorses, ridden by C Roman)- The trainer will hope to go 2-for-2 in the Leonatus Stakes, and Black Star will get the assignment to try and follow Extreme Flyer’s lead. He has won his last two, breaking his maiden with a wire-to-wire win at PRX, and then going across the country to win an optional claimer at SA. With that, he has certainly earned his chance to make his stake debut and will do so while he is hot. Works are as good as anyone else in here.

11- Save A Horse (Martyparty, ridden by A Jimenez)- Our final horse in the field is another one that came out of the Remsen and had to deal with Extreme Jet. Save A Horse was at least able to finish third in the race, though was still beaten by five lengths. With Extreme Jet not here, we can look closer at how he fared against the rest of the field, and it was really just as good, if not a little better, than his near miss in the $200.000 Sleepy Hollow. More of the same makes him a strong contender here.

Prediction: 8-11-7-1

— NS

Categories: STAKES ARTICLES, Ungraded