It was a debut worthy of Rising Star status and that’s exactly what WAR FRONT’s Annapolis earned from Thoroughbred Daily News on Saturday with a 4 ½ length win in a Saratoga Maiden Special Weight.
The Todd Pletcher trainee had given hints of the talent to come when registering multiple bullets at Saratoga and Belmont Park and proved he was no morning glory with Saturday’s run.
The Bass Racing homebred was close to last early on in the 1 1/16 mile turf race as Irad Ortiz Jr. let him settle into the new experience. Racing along the hedge, the race favorite slowly started working his way closer to the leader as they raced toward the far turn. Annapolis swung three wide around the turn and the clear track was exactly what he needed.
Ortiz didn’t have to ask him for much as the juvenile easily pulled away for an impressive debut victory that gave WAR FRONT an 18th Rising Star.
“He had a great turn of foot, kept going to the wire and galloped out nicely,” Pletcher said on Saratoga Live. “It was pretty much everything you could hope for in a debut.”
Annapolis is out of Grade 2 winner and multiple Grade 1-placed My Miss Sophia, who was purchased by Steve Young for Bass Racing carrying the colt in utero for $4 million. My Miss Sophia is already the dam of WAR FRONT’s stakes-placed Nevisian Sunrise.
My Miss Sophia is one of two graded stakes winners for stakes winner Wildwood Flower alongside Grade 1 winner Materiality. Wildwood Flower is also the granddam of stakes-placed Palladium and is a half-sister to the dam of Grade 1 winners Afleet Express and Embellish The Lace.
The family also includes Grade 1 winner Snow Ridge and the Grade 2 winning, Grade 1-placed duo of Fiftyshadesofhay and Sweetnorthernsaint.
My Miss Sophia foaled another WAR FRONT colt on April 23 and returned to the stallion this year.
Annapolis led a good day for WAR FRONT that also saw his filly Dogtag finish second in the John C. Mabee S. (G2) and juvenile War at Sea finish third on debut at Del Mar.