Although we're still several weeks away from the meat of the Triple Crown prep season, some interesting appetizers have already popped up. Among them is Destin's performance in Saturday's Sam F. Davis Stakes (USA-III) at Tampa Bay Downs. The full brother to Grade I winner and 2012 Preakness Stakes (USA-I) third Creative Cause picked up his first stakes win on his second attempt at black type after running fourth in the Lecomte Stakes (USA-III) on January 16.
At first glance, this doesn't seem much to shout about. Even though Destin defeated four colts who already had stakes wins to their credit in this race, none had won a graded stakes and only one, eventual third-place finisher Morning Fire, had even placed in one. The fact that Gettysburg was the favorite off a win in a maiden special weight doesn't reflect much credit on the form of the rest of the field. Neither does a line drawn through Destin's previous race, though we'll probably have a better idea of how Lecomte winner Mo Tom and the rest of the colts at the Fair Grounds stack up after seeing how 2015 Eclipse finalist Airoforce fares against them in the Veterans Ford Risen Star Stakes (USA-II) next weekend.
Still, there are reasons for Destin's connections to draw encouragement from this effort. A big, husky colt, Destin is still thoroughly green and not quite sure of what he's supposed to do. He also appears to be on a slower track to maturity than Creative Cause, more in line with the dam's side of his heritage---Dream of Summer did her best racing at ages 5 and 6, and her sire Siberian Summer scored his big win in the Charles H. Strub Stakes (USA-I) as a 4-year-old. What he has going for him the raw physical talent that he displayed in the stretch run, when he lengthened out into a strong, fluid stride that carried him home in time just shy of the stakes record. When a horse moves like that, there's reason to think that better days may be ahead.
The question at this point is how far in the future those better days lie. Since the Davis carried no points toward the Kentucky Derby---Presented by Yum! Brands (USA-I), Destin will have to try much tougher competition in his next outing if he's to have a chance to become eligible for the Derby starting gate. The easiest path may be for him to remain at Tampa, but even if he runs in and wins the Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby (USA-II) next out, he will probably have to have one race after that in one of the major Derby preps. That puts Destin on a tight schedule to make the Kentucky Derby, with little or no leeway for even minor illness or injury. Whether he's up to that challenge or not remains to be seen.
At first glance, this doesn't seem much to shout about. Even though Destin defeated four colts who already had stakes wins to their credit in this race, none had won a graded stakes and only one, eventual third-place finisher Morning Fire, had even placed in one. The fact that Gettysburg was the favorite off a win in a maiden special weight doesn't reflect much credit on the form of the rest of the field. Neither does a line drawn through Destin's previous race, though we'll probably have a better idea of how Lecomte winner Mo Tom and the rest of the colts at the Fair Grounds stack up after seeing how 2015 Eclipse finalist Airoforce fares against them in the Veterans Ford Risen Star Stakes (USA-II) next weekend.
Still, there are reasons for Destin's connections to draw encouragement from this effort. A big, husky colt, Destin is still thoroughly green and not quite sure of what he's supposed to do. He also appears to be on a slower track to maturity than Creative Cause, more in line with the dam's side of his heritage---Dream of Summer did her best racing at ages 5 and 6, and her sire Siberian Summer scored his big win in the Charles H. Strub Stakes (USA-I) as a 4-year-old. What he has going for him the raw physical talent that he displayed in the stretch run, when he lengthened out into a strong, fluid stride that carried him home in time just shy of the stakes record. When a horse moves like that, there's reason to think that better days may be ahead.
The question at this point is how far in the future those better days lie. Since the Davis carried no points toward the Kentucky Derby---Presented by Yum! Brands (USA-I), Destin will have to try much tougher competition in his next outing if he's to have a chance to become eligible for the Derby starting gate. The easiest path may be for him to remain at Tampa, but even if he runs in and wins the Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby (USA-II) next out, he will probably have to have one race after that in one of the major Derby preps. That puts Destin on a tight schedule to make the Kentucky Derby, with little or no leeway for even minor illness or injury. Whether he's up to that challenge or not remains to be seen.
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