Breakout Beyers
Control
July 25, 4th race Ellis Park, MdSpWt51k
Beyer: 83
5.5f 1:04.17 – 1st by 2 1/2 lengths
ch. f. 2, Creative Cause – Circumstance, by Vindication
Noteworthy siblings: Absolutely Stylish (Uncle Mo) – stakes winner; Hoffenheim (Midnight Lute) – stakes-places, $263K earnings
Auctions: Fasig-Tipton select yearling 2020 – $38,000 (RNA); Fasig-Tipton November yearling 2020 – $4,000
Owner: Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners
Trainer: Michael McCarthy
Breeder: Olin B. Gentry
Talk about falling through the cracks. Note the $38,000 reserve that wasn’t attained in the first yearling sale she went through, and even more so the $5,000 for which she sold later in 2020 – next to a giveaway. Was withdrawn from a 2-year-old sale earlier this year, and don’t know how she wound up with Eclipse, but this filly can run. This was far from the standard “show speed and finish it off” 2-year-old debut performance that often wins these short sprints. Control lacked gate speed, and after a furlong she was last in this group. The rider sat chilly and his mount raced accordingly, moving up bit by bit past the half-mile pole and into the turn to get into decent striking position. Swung wide before the quarter pole, the filly readily joined the fray, dueled with odds-on Brad Cox-trained first-time-starting favorite Juju’s Map past the furlong grounds, but put that filly away while still going well within herself. It was eight lengths from second to third in a very sharp performance from Control, who very much looks like a horse who will at least handle longer one-turn tests.