XY Speed showed he’d inherited his sire’s determination on Saturday to become the newest stakes winner for FIRST SAMURAI with a win in the Laurel Dash Stakes.
Racing a few lengths off the leading Francatelli early on, the gelding was ready to pounce in the stretch and pounce he did.
XY Speed slid up the inside of Francatelli as that one started to fade and looked like he was home free running into the final furlong. A late charging pack wasn’t going to make it easy for him, however, and XY Speed had to dig in late to keep his victory. He flashed under the line first with four other horses vying for second.
It was the second straight victory and fourth in his last five starts for XY Speed, who is trained by Gerald Bennett for Winning Stables. The winner of eight races overall in 18 starts, XY Jet was a $125,000 OBS March 2-Year-Old purchase in 2018.
XY Speed is the first foal out of the three-time winning mare Paloma P., a half-sister to stakes-placed Yippety Yip. The family also includes Grade 3 winner Road of War among others.
A value sire year in and year out, FIRST SAMURAI has 34 stakes winners and over 11.21% stakes performers to his name. The stallion also sends 70.63% of his runners to the winner’s circle.