The 3yo's are finally starting to look less horrible

[The Indomitable DrugS]

Sidney's Candy is the fastest 2-year-old in the history of Del Mar Synthetics by an incredibly wide margin.

The 99 Beyer he earned in his maiden win is 8 full points higher than any other 2yo race ever run at Del Mar since the switch to synthetics.

Only two 2yo's had run 91's at Del Mar before .. they are eventual 2yo champion Midshipman and Details R Sketchy - both ran 91's in their debut win. Details R Sketchy only had a 4 race career .. he won his first two starts - and was beaten a neck by Dancing In Silks in his 4th and final start. Dancing In Silks followed that narrow win up with 3 straight stakes wins including a Breeders Cup Sprint upset.

I thought Sidney's Candy looked great today crushing a moderate field in the San Vincente. A 4+ length margin of victory - and gaps of more than a length between each horse in the field from first to last place are things very rarely seen in synthetic races - so that's a great sign as well.

The obvious question now is how far will he go and how well will he run on dirt?

I think he projects pretty well for both. His sire Candy Ride put on a spectacular display when mopping the floor with a razor sharp Medaglia D' Oro at 10fs in the Pacific Classic. His 2nd dam Exchange won a Grade 1 at 10fs and a Grade 2 at 12fs - and ran very good 2nd's to top mares like Paseanna and Hollywood Wildcat on dirt.

At Tampa, Rule made the best of a soft trip and finished strongly to win the Sam Davis with a 98 Beyer. He's the 3rd Pletcher trained winner of the race in the last five years. Any Given Dog Biscuit won the '07 running with a 95 Beyer. Bluegrass Dog won the '06 running with a 96 Beyer. Both of them would eventually win the Haskell later on.

Finally - Caracortado is now a perfect 5-for-5 after another clear cut win in the Bob Lewis. The 97 Beyer is exactly one point less than the 98 earned by Pioneer of the Nile in last year's Bob Lewis... and that was the race where Papa Clem ran 2nd and I Want Revenge ran 3rd and some tried to make it out to be the key race of the century.

Bred for durability and soundness .. Caracortado's sire ran exactly once and his dam was unraced - he has already answered the dirt and distance question with a compelling win in a 4f maiden claiming race on real dirt at Fairplex.

Dave In Dixie was a nice - but non-threatening 2nd in his first try since the Norfolk.

Oh yeah - and Conveyance did nothing wrong either.