The Hutcheson Stakes winner, the Swale Stakes winner, and the fourth-place finisher from the Grade 1 Hopeful race Monday at Keeneland in the Lafayette Stakes, yet the Lafayette spotlight shines on a horse who has atop his résumé a second-start Aqueduct maiden victory.
Colloquial’s 1:16.69 clocking for 6 1/2 furlongs, which looks ordinary, was no standard-issue maiden win and requires context.
Aqueduct’s racing surface on Feb. 7 played extremely slow: The six-furlong race before Colloquial’s went in 1:14.12, the seven-furlong one after him in 1:28.36, seeming as though horses were running underwater. Colloquial, fifth in the early stages, accelerated sweetly into the homestretch, collaring pacesetting One Nine Hundred at the three-sixteenths marker and pushing clear to a seven-length victory. One Nine Hundred? He ran back March 29 and scored his own seven-length Aqueduct maiden win, posting a 92 Beyer Speed Figure. Colloquial got a 106, the highest one-turn figure for a 3-year-old so far in 2025.
Boxcars figure, early February, 3-year-old: The obvious question asked whether Colloquial could be a Kentucky Derby horse. Trainer George Weaver and owners Starlight Racing and Harrell Ventures quickly quashed Derby speculation.
“This is such a nice horse. We put in so much work with him, and it didn’t seem fair to run him back in three weeks or whatever and put him on the Derby trail,” Weaver said. “I have suspicions he might be better around one turn, but I would have gone the other way if the owners had wanted to try it. One of the things that was important to me, whether we stretched him out or not, was he needed plenty of time between races as big as he ran off the bench.”
Colloquial’s first race came June 15, when he ran into a sharp Todd Pletcher-trained debut horse named Mentee, who out-quicked Colloquial over five furlongs, though Colloquial went from five lengths down at the stretch call to lose by a nose.
“He’s not the quickest out of the gate, and I knew he’d be susceptible at that distance, but even then he was impressive to watch down the lane,” Weaver said. “The faster he goes, the better he looks. His body gets low; he’s very efficient.”
By Vekoma, who Weaver also trained, Colloquial soon after his win went to Weaver’s base at Palm Beach Downs, where he’s worked steadily – and strongly, according to Weaver – into the Lafayette, a seven-furlong contest that drew a field of eight. Gunmetal, a speed horse drawn on the rail, is very likely to be scratched in favor of a Tuesday allowance race at Keeneland, but here’s still ample early pace in the $400,000 Lafayette.
Rolando makes his third start in five weeks, a demanding schedule for a horse coming off a game, career-best win in the Hutcheson on March 15 at Gulfstream. Drawn outside under Irad Ortiz Jr., Rolando is one of four potential early-pace players along with Smoken Wicked, Itsmybirthday, and One True Shance.
The more pace the better for Gate to Wire, who rallied into hot fractions and won the seven-furlong Swale by five lengths Feb. 1 at Gulfstream. Gate to Wire ran gamely for fifth March 1 in the Fountain of Youth Stakes, a route race beyond Gate to Wire’s scope.
“He stayed on pretty well last time, but I do think he’s better around one turn. He has the ability to be competitive in a race like this if it unfolds like it looks on paper,” Pletcher said.
Fourth after setting the pace in the Hopeful last summer, Smoken Wicked flopped last out trying two turns in the Rebel Stakes and will run much better in the Lafayette. Touchy also cuts back to a sprint after contesting the Sunland Derby. But nobody’s beating Colloquial if that Aqueduct maiden win in February was a true billing.
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