Hold On, It’s Going to be a Bumpy Ride

Always looking for the next big thing, of late I have been poring meticulously over as many video replays of juvenile races as humanly possible. News flash … Uncle Mo looks pretty good. The juvenile filly set meanwhile, looks much more contentious. A number of fillies caught my eye as potential budding stars, but to my surprise, a filly on the West Coast may have impressed me more than any other. Ladies and gentleman, her name is Turbulent Descent. Bred in Florida by Ocala Stud, she is a daughter of first-crop A.P. Indy sire, Congrats, and is out of the Forestry mare Roger’s Sue. Turbulent Descent sold this year for $160,000 at the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company Spring Sale of two-year-olds in training. The bay youngster is owned by a partnership which includes Blinkers On Racing Stable and Bill Strauss, and is trained by veteran conditioner Mike Puype. Making her debut on October 3 at Hollywood Park, Turbulent Descent muscled her way through fillies at the top of the lane and was part of a two horse sprint with Canadian Pride to the wire. As the two left the rest of the full field far behind, I was thoroughly impressed with the amount of confidence her rider displayed in riding her to the win. Despite how well the other filly ran, Turbulent Descent appeared to be out for nothing more than a Sunday stroll. Fresh off her impressive maiden win, and a dazzling five furlong work six days earlier, Turbulent Descent would make her second start in stakes company. As pleasing to the eye as her debut race may have been, she was even more impressive November 21 at Hollywood Park. In that race she looked like a cat playing with five mice, as she took home first prize in the $100,000 Moccasin Stakes. Always in close contact with the leaders under rider David Flores, she took over when ready, and proved best with plenty left in reserve. Much like her maiden race, the margin of victory of 1 ½ lengths offered little evidence of how easy the win actually was. Final time for the seven furlongs over Hollywood Park’s cushion track was a solid 1:23.15. We will not need to wait long before finding out more about undefeated Turbulent Descent, as the new apple of my eye is due to run next week in the Hollywood Starlet. Many questions should be answered, as it will be her initial race over a route of ground, and her first test against grade one fillies. In the Starlet, she will also find several fillies who have much more experience than she posesses. Whether she can handle the top horses in her division and excel at two-turns is yet to be determined, but one thing is for sure … you better keep an eye on Turbulent Descent. Photo courtesy of Benoit Photos