The Remsen (Grade 2) (KYD)- $250.000 Purse
AQU- For Two Year Olds
One Mile and One Eighth on the Dirt
December 7, 2024

Will we see the future KYD winner running on Saturday at AQU in the Remsen? Well, we did last year, as Hippyheart’s Bad Debt finished second in the Remsen, and he carried that momentum into the spring. Now, a field of twelve will hope that they can follow the lead of Bad Debt and also make the big race. The horse that won the Remsen last year, Martyparty’s Im Sorry So Sorry was also able to make the KYD, but did not perform as well as Bad Debt did in the race. In addition, there were four others in that KYD that ran in the Remsen as a two-year-old: Test The Waters, Doc Rivers, Ocean Storm, and Excoriator. Impressively then, half of the field of the 2023 Remsen ran in the KYD, making this the place to be in December. Let’s take a look at the horses that we will see this time around:

1- Rolling Pin (Lemax Farms, ridden by F T Alvarado)- Ran in the BC Juvenile last month, one of three horses in here that did, and came on well in the stretch to be fifth. He ran with the same late running style in the Pharoah (Grade 1) right before that, and barely missed, settling for second. In each, he had to start from the far outside, so things average out with him being on the rail here. Still, those factors were not enough to prevent Lemax from gelding him after the BC. He’s a first-time gelding here.

2- Scattered Memories (Mb Stables, ridden by Mar Garcia)- In five starts, Scattered Memories has shown his potential, but does have just the one win thus far, which was at PID. When we last saw him, he was second of five in an ON-bred allowance at WO, missing the head bob at the wire. He’ll run more than seven furlongs for the first time in his career, and there is an expectation in this barn that he steps up and performs.

3- Beer On Point (Night Rider Stables, ridden by J L Ortiz)- After finishing second in an allowance at LAD in June, Beer On Point was gelded. Night Rider had big hopes for him after that, placing him in the $100.000 Graduation Stakes, for CA-breds, but the horse did not step up. Looked better six weeks ago in a CA-bred allowance at SA, running second, but will we see a repeat of the Graduation Stakes here?

4- Turning Point (TwinTowersRacing, ridden by M Franco)- Picked up a couple of nice wins over the summer, breaking his maiden at CD, and then heading up to SAR and winning an allowance there. He certainly earned the right with those results to run in the $200.000 Sapling Stakes at MTH, but he had a rather flat effort, though perhaps we can give him some credit for at least getting closer to the winner. The trainer was not bothered by that and placed him in the Grade 1 Champagne after that and Turning Point showed a lot more in the stretch that time, getting up for fourth. This is a good one to watch going forward.

5- Save A Horse (Martyparty, ridden by R M Hernandez)- In September, Save A Horse went long for the first time and broke his maiden against fellow NY-Breds right here at AQU. He has continued to stay here, and would run in the $200.000 Sleepy Hollow, also a State bred, in late October. He came up a little bit short there, but it was still a strong second and he will use that to take on unrestricted company here on this track that he knows well. The ninth furlong may be very good for him, too.

6- Western Knight (Our Athletes, ridden by F Geroux)- Struggled in his debut, and would be moved to the turf after that race. That has been where we have seen him for his last three starts, and it was in his last race where he ultimately broke his maiden. That was at CD in mid-November, and now Our Athletes will not only move him back to the main track but puts him up against some excellent competition.

7- Sky Diver (Crocker Ggs, ridden by J Lezcano)- After having a couple close calls, Sky Diver was able to break his maiden at SAR in late August. It was a win that would send him to the $150.000 Nashua, and he found himself way back early in that race, which was not the norm for him previously. He showed some closing kick to finish third but was still beaten by three lengths. I’ll be interested in seeing the tactic that Crocker Ggs uses with this one right out of the starting gate. He’s had some nice works since the Nashua, too.

8- Nonchalant (Mo Mentum Farm, ridden by T Conner)- Speaking of the Nashua, Sky Diver was also there, and like Sky Diver, he was also beaten by three lengths. However, he would do one spot better, and place second. Perhaps, then, we should give a brief shout out to the winner of that race, Consensual. Mo Mentum Farm would opt to geld Nonchalant after the race, so he will be a first-time gelding here. It’ll be interesting to see the impact it has, as Nonchalant has five seconds in his six starts.

9- Inoue (Royalty Stables, ridden by R L Moore)- Here’s the third horse in the field that will be running as a first time gelding. For Inoue, the snip would come before he was even able to fall asleep following the $175.000 Golden State Juvenile, where he was fifth. He also struggled in the race before that, the Grade 1 Breeders Futurity, so it can certainly be understood why the decision to geld was made. As is the case with the other two new geldings, how much of a factor this will be is the big question.

10- Extreme Jet (Mb Stables, ridden by J R Velazquez)- Plenty of potential is present with this one, but hopefully now he has found a stable home. He would make one start with Arkansas Elite, who would sell him to Fractious for $200.000 in June. With Fractious, Extreme Jet won the always very competitive Grade 1 Hopeful at SAR, making him a well-bet choice for the BC Juvenile. And he would run well there, picking up the fourth-place check. However, that would be it for him with Fractious, as that trainer sold him to fellow power barn Mb Stables, for $800.000. Now, with Mb, Extreme Jet is set to take off.

11- Domestic Product (D J C Racing Stables, ridden by P Lopez)- Domestic Product was also able to run in the BC Juvenile, but he would only beat one horse in the race while being defeated by seven lengths. To get there, he would run third in the Grade 1 Champagne, which was enough to punch his ticket. Overall, he has one win in five starts but will need to dig down deep and be like the horse we saw in the Champagne to have a shot here.

12- Cool Coin (Waldo, ridden by E T Baird)- In late October, Cool Coin would break his maiden at SA against CA-breds with a wire-to-wire effort. Waldo would hope for the same a month later at the Grade 3 Hope Stakes, and while Cool Coin started well, and fizzled out in the stretch. It would not be as immediate of a decision as it was with the other first-time geldings in here, but Cool Coin would also be gelded, coming on the first of this month. We’ll see how much that helps him.

Prediction: 8-10-1-5

— NS

Categories: Grade II, STAKES ARTICLES