Promising 2YOs Close Year's Maiden Watch Curtain

This column highlights the performances of maidens who have made no more than five starts and who either sold for more than $500,000 at public auction, have siblings that are graded/group winners, or have dams that are graded/group winners. BloodHorse research shows maiden winners, in particular, who meet these criteria are more likely to go on to be graded stakes winners.

Gulfstream Park

Two explosive juvenile performances at sunny Gulfstream Park closed the curtain on Maiden Watch for 2024. The graduates were Tappan Street and Burnham Square, who each stirred the South Florida winds of promise as red Derby roses loom into the new year.

First up was Tappan Street in a seven-furlong maiden contest on Gulfstream's post-Christmas weekend holiday card. Flaunting nothing but professionalism in his race debut, the son of Into Mischief  drew away convincingly from a solid field of 2-year-olds that included five fellow Maiden Watchers.

The second son of the graded stakes-placed Distorted Humor mare Virginia Key, the athletic-looking bright bay caught the attention of the powerhouse partnership of WinStar Farm, China Horse Club (CHC), and Siena Farm at the 2023 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga New York Select Yearling Sale. Tappan Street's young dam, although lightly raced herself, was a half sibling to four winners, including grade 1-winning juvenile Grace Adler (Curlin ) as well as to this year's Pimlico Special Stakes (G3) hero Pyrenees (Into Mischief). A knockout presence in the sales ring, Tappan Street commanded $1 million before finding his new home.

Heeding his early racetrack lessons from leading trainer Brad Cox, Tappan Street rattled off three straight bullet works over the deep surface at Payson Park Training Center ahead of his Gulfstream debut. Sitting a stalking trip along the inside, it was like clockwork for Tappan Street, who angled out four-wide turning for home under Luis Saez and ground down his competition for a 1 3/4-length score.

Stopping the clock in 1:23.46, Tappan Street was awarded a 91 Equibase Speed Figure for his first-time effort.

Two races later, Whitham Thoroughbreds' homebred Burnham Square dominated his rivals by nine lengths in a 1 1/16-mile maiden special weight. A fast-closing stretch runner in his first two outings, trainer Ian Wilkes outfitted the gelding with blinkers in his third go-around, which resulted in a refreshing change of race-day tactics. Exhibiting a fresh burst of early speed down the backstretch, the son of Liam's Map  seized the advantage and never looked back.  

Burnham Square, given a 92 Equibase Speed figure, coasted clear to the wire in 1:44.31.

The gelding became the fourth winner produced by his dam, the Whitham Thoroughbreds-raced Linda. A daughter of the late Scat Daddy, Linda banked $407,310 in a career racing primarily on the turf. Also trained by Wilkes, Linda landed graded glory when capturing the 2016 Mrs. Revere Stakes (G2T) at Churchill Downs.