Saratoga Special 2021 Entries: Double Thunder leads field of 12

The $200,000 Grade II Saratoga Special is potentially an early look at some of the two-year-olds who could be part of the Road to the 2021 Kentucky Derby. Neil Monnery has a brief overview of some of the 12 horses entered for this one which is carded as Race 9 on Saturday at the Spa before our full handicapping later in the week...

Whilst the Road to the Kentucky Derby is still a month away from starting, Saturday’s Grade II Saratoga Special could be our first real look at some two-year-olds who we’ll be talking about in the early months of 2021.

12 have been entered for the race and the one I’m most interested in watching will be the Todd Pletcher trained Double Thunder. He’s a son of 2010 Derby winner Super Saver who has certainly put up the most impressive win so far in his career. He rallied from dead last in the Grade III Bashford Manor at Churchill Downs to win a six-furlong race after a terrible break from the gate. He looks like a horse who wants more distance so six-and-a-half furlongs might be a bit short but if he looks good, this will be a horse I’ll circle to keep an eye on.

Plenty of attention will be focused on the Norm Casse trained Glacial as well. This son of multiple Grade I winner Frosted finished third in the aforementioned Bashford Manor but looked good doing it. His early speed already screams out so it’ll be fun to watch him as he slowly stretches out.

Steve Asmussen sends out two for this one with Gunite the one who's likely to attract the most attention. He took three races to break his Maiden but last time out he beat what looked a stacked race down at Churchill Downs. His late speed is impressive and distance doesn’t look like an issue for him.

Bill Mott, Wesley Ward, Mike Maker and Tom Amoss all send out two-year-olds who have recently broken their Maiden’s as well as plenty of top-class trainers start tip-toeing towards potential runs at the Triple Crown races in 2021.

Our man J.N. Campbell will be covering the action at Saratoga on Saturday, so check back from late on Friday afternoon for his handicapping of this race...