Horses to Watch: Full brother to Fierceness sets track record

In this biweekly series, racing analyst J. Keeler Johnson shares promising horses from his handicapping watch list, reviewing runners who have recently caught his eye and previewing horses scheduled to run back in the near future.

New to the watch list

Mentee

A full-brother to 2023 champion 2-year-old male Fierceness, Mentee caught eyes when debuting in a five-furlong maiden special weight on Saturday at Belmont at the Big A. The 2-year-old Todd Pletcher trainee opened up a daylight lead through swift fractions of 22.37 and 44.80 seconds, then held on to beat stretch-running Colloquial by a nose in the track-record time of 56.97 seconds.

Mentee’s winning time broke the previous track record of 57 seconds set all the way back in 1963. His reward was an 88 Beyer Speed Figure from Daily Racing Form, solid for a juvenile this time of year, so Mentee may have a bright future against stakes competition.

Recent watch list winners

Tuscan Sky

I had concerns about Tuscan Sky breaking from the rail in the 1 1/16-mile Pegasus at Monmouth Park, because the 3-year-old son of Vino Rosso doesn’t appear to handle kickback very well, and a slow start like the one he suffered when seventh in the Wood Memorial (G2) could have compromised his chances.

But Tuscan Sky refused to give up his rail path in the Pegasus. Under urging from jockey Javier Castellano, Tuscan Sky stubbornly held his position while engaged in a five-way pace battle through fractions of 23.35, 46.94 and 1:11.38. This allowed Tuscan Sky to stay out of kickback and ultimately pull away down the homestretch to trounce Tampa Bay Derby (G3) winner Domestic Product by 6 3/4 lengths.

Tuscan Sky’s sharp final time of 1:43.31 seconds translated to a 99 Beyer. Now 3-for-4 lifetime, Tuscan Sky is back on track and possible poised for a big summer campaign.

Upcoming entries

Apollo Ten

Apollo Ten has shown flashes of promise on turf for trainer Christophe Clement. In a six-furlong maiden special weight at Belmont at the Big A last fall, he defeated a pair of next-out winners (including the future stakes-placed Irish Gent) in the sharp time of 1:08.08 seconds. And two months ago, Apollo Ten kicked off 2024 by setting fractions of 21.70 and 43.50 seconds on his way to winning a five-furlong $75,000 allowance optional claimer at Gulfstream Park in a blazing 54.62 seconds.

It’s hard to predict whether Apollo Ten will replicate his turf form while trying Tapeta in Monday’s seventh race at Presque Isle Downs, the six-furlong Tom Ridge, post time 3:42 p.m. EDT. But Apollo Ten surely has the raw talent to challenge for trainer Christophe Clement, who has saddled two winners, three runners-up and two third-place finishers from nine sprint starters at Presque Isle since 2019. That’s a 22 percent win rate and a 78 percent in-the-money rate, so dismiss Apollo Ten at your own risk.