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Racing Analysis by Steve Haskin

Who better to kick off the 2007 Derby trail with than the 2-year-old champion Street Sense? For a horse who destroyed one of the deepest fields ever assembled in the Bessemer Trust Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (gr. I), there are question marks surrounding James Tafel’s homebred son of Street Cry that have nothing to do with pedigree or running style.

When a horse who had never won a stakes comes from 13th in a field of 14 and wins by 10 lengths, leaving two grade I winners in his wake, you have to wonder if the race was a fluke, or if he possibly ran too good a race for this early in his career. And then, of course, there is the dreaded Juvenile curse that has hung over the Kentucky Derby for 22 years.

And you have trainer Carl Nafzger announcing that Street Sense will have only two starts prior to the Derby—a one-turn race, likely the 71⁄2-furlong Hutcheson Stakes (gr. II) and the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (gr. I). Many historians believe that is not enough to get a horse ready for the rigors of the Derby.

But Nafzger feels he has something special on his hands. "I’ve never been quite so high on a horse in my life," Nafzger said. "This horse doesn’t make mistakes. The trainer may make mistakes and the jockey may make mistakes, but I’ve never seen this colt make a mistake except one—slacking off once he got the lead—and he sure got over that in the Breeders’ Cup."

Nafzger’s confidence is boosted by the quality of the field Street Sense annihilated in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.

"I think that was one of the best Breeders’ Cup Juvenile fields ever," Nafzger said. "I watched the replay a number of times to see if the other horses were running out of leg in the stretch. Great Hunter and Circular Quay were hitting the ground good and laying their body down; they weren’t tired. There are about 500 3-year-olds out there that are aiming at him. It’s going to be tough, but I love everything about this horse."

Pedigree Profile by Avalyn Hunter

After Street Sense’s 10-length romp in the Bessemer Trust Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (gr. I), many pundits said his performance was too good to be true. Nonetheless, on paper this was a colt who figured to improve with maturity and distance, and so far that has been the case.

Street Sense is from the first crop of Street Cry (IRE), who received the highest Timeform rating—130 pounds—of 2002 after winning the Dubai World Cup (UAE-I) and the Stephen Foster Handicap (gr. I) as a 4-year-old.

Like his son, Street Cry was a good juvenile who was better later in the year. Although he did not win a stakes at 2, he was beaten a head by Flame Thrower in the seven-furlong Del Mar Futurity (gr. II) and by a neck in the one-mile Norfolk Stakes (gr. II) before running third to Macho Uno and Point Given in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.

Street Cry is by Machiavellian, Mr. Prospector’s most successful son in Europe. The best European juvenile of 1989, Machiavellian, who died in June 2004, sired 64 stakes winners prior to his death. Street Cry, arguably his best son, was produced from 1985 Irish champion 3-year-old filly Helen Street, whose sire Troy won the Epsom Derby (Eng-I) of 1979.

Street Sense was produced from the Dixieland Band mare Bedazzle, who has thus added another jewel to Dixieland Band’s excellent record as a broodmare sire. The leading North American broodmare sire of 2004, Dixieland Band is the maternal grandsire of 96 stakes winners.

A good allowance filly, Bedazzle was produced from Majestic Legend, a stakes-winning daughter of His Majesty and the Reviewer mare Long Legend. Long Legend, in turn, was produced from French champion sprinter Lianga.

Overall, Street Sense’s pedigree shows a good blend of miler speed with staying influences. Whether he will look as good at Churchill Downs on the first Saturday in May as he did on the first Saturday in November last year is anybody’s guess, but good sense says he is not a colt to be overlooked.