Speightstown primed to have impactful 3-year-old sprinters

Within the last week, I've seen two 3-year-old Speightstowns run bang-up races. Town Prize captured the open Woodstock at Woodbine by 5 1/4 in 1:08.22, and Sum of the Parts was a 7 3/4 length winner of a 6f allowance at Keeneland. Judging from the past performances, neithre horse had given strong indication before of being the kind of horse he looked in these victories, which ordinarily would leave one skeptical. It is interesting, however, that both broke out, and both are by the same sire.

Town Prize could mostly only be faulted on his previous Beyers; as a horse who won his first and third starts, and ran 3rd in his second and fourth, he gets a bit of an allowance. The door always had to be left ajar for him. His 85 Beyer when 3rd in the Spectacular Bid was also in all likelihood held down on the theory that the modest field couldn't have gone as fast as they seemed to.

People will jump on how well these Speightstowns ran on the synthetic, but Town Prize's Spectacular Bid was much faster (at least Beyer wise) than he was running at Woodbine last year. Sum of the Parts' Keeneland score was his first time on the synthetic.

I try not to force points on this blog, and I don't know if Town Prize and Sum of teh Parts are absolutely top class. But it seems to me there is more of an opening for a star 3-year-old male sprinter than a start 3-year-old filly sprinter. There is Trinniberg on the male side, but there seems more known quality and more depth with the fillies.

Both divisions are confusing, because it is not clear who exactly is a sprinter, and who exactly is a router. Routes have first priority with owners of 3-year-olds, particularly 3-year-old males, but I think there are few routers who can be top class sprinting, anyway, meaning that if connections follow results, horses end up where they should. Town Prize and Sum of the Parts seem like two who were signed up to be sprinters on the first day of school, anyway. Neither is a Triple Crown nominee, although that might spur questions about how highly their connections regard them in general.