DEL MAR, Calif. – First looks are deceiving, case in point the $150,000 Real Good Deal Stakes on Friday at Del Mar. Even though the field of California-bred 3-year-old sprinters appears evenly matched, a closer look reveals a potential gem.
Speedy Wilson, whose older sibling Lovesick Blues upset the Grade 1 Bing Crosby Stakes last week, returns from a long layoff as the most likely winner of the seven-furlong Real Good Deal. Speedy Wilson does not jump off the page, but he is jumping out of his skin.
“The one that’s locked and loaded is Speedy Wilson,” trainer Phil D’Amato said. It’s about time. Speedy Wilson’s last start was nine months ago. He won the Golden State Juvenile, a California-bred sprint stakes, Nov. 1 at Del Mar.
Speedy Wilson is one of two Nick Alexander-owned and -bred stakes winners D’Amato entered in the Real Good Deal. The other is Shea Brennan, whose best races are at two turns.
The field for the Real Good Deal also includes stakes winner Style Cat, turf-to-dirt Western Freedom, and fast allowance winner Check’s On the Way. Others are Drop Um, Last Call Zondlo, and maiden Keithing Thunder.
Shea Brennan crossed the wire first in both route stakes last winter – the King Glorious at Los Alamitos and California Cup Derby at Santa Anita. Shea Brennan was disqualified and placed second in the California Cup Derby on Jan. 18, which was his last start.
“He’s going great, he likes this distance,” D’Amato said.
Shea Brennan has won sprinting. But the comebacker that D’Amato is high on is Speedy Wilson, whose extended layoff was unplanned.
“He got sick,” D’Amato said. “He never had any [physical] problems, we never turned him out. He just got sick on us. And I started up on him, and he got sick on me again. I backed off, and gave him an extra long time to get over it, and knock on wood, I haven’t had any issues since.”
Speedy Wilson, sired by Tough Sunday, resumed workouts in early May and has worked without interruption since. The handicapping question is, how much will Speedy Wilson improve off the career-high 77 Beyer Speed Figure he earned nine months ago?
Three-year-olds generally improve at least two to three points per month as they mature. Speedy Wilson, if he improves likewise, could earn a low 90s Beyer on Friday. That is fast enough, 90 is the median winning figure for the Real Good Deal since Del Mar reinstalled dirt 10 years ago.
D’Amato considered running Speedy Wilson in July at Los Alamitos, but decided “let’s just stick to the script and run him in the Real Good Deal.”
Armando Ayuso rides Speedy Wilson, who has won two of four and is the 5-2 program favorite by Del Mar linemaker John Lies.
Style Cat enters the Real Good Deal as a contender based on his decisive win in the Echo Eddie for 3-year-old dirt sprinters April 5 at Santa Anita. Next out, racing 1 1/8 miles on turf at Santa Anita, he finished sixth.
“He likes the grass, he doesn’t like the mile and an eighth,” trainer Peter Miller explained. “He’s training very well, likes [Del Mar], he should run well.”
Juan Hernandez rides Style Cat, who won three of 12 and is the 3-1 second choice.
Western Freedom also exits a turf route; he finished seventh. Trainer Brian Koriner chalks it up to surface.
“It must have been [the turf],” Koriner said. “He never picked up his feet, he never showed speed, he never did anything.”
Koriner started over with Western Freedom, and pointed him to the Real Good Deal. Based on his solid allowance and maiden wins in dirt sprints, Western Freedom figures as a contender under Kazushi Kimura. Western Freedom has won two of four.
Check’s On the Way won a fast allowance last out at Santa Anita, earning a career-high 80 Beyer for trainer Simon Callaghan. The figure is short of the 90 par for the Real Good Deal.
The bottom line is if Speedy Wilson has improved in the last nine months, which his works suggest he has, he can produce a comeback victory in a stakes race that might not be as evenly matched as it first appears.
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