Baltusrol to build on great debut

A 'battle of the sexes' looms in Saturday's Grade Three feature for two-year-olds, the six-furlong Cash Pot Trophy, in which Anthony Nunes' BALTUSROL faces a flashy filly, Gary Subratie's CASUAL DRINK.

BALTUSROL and CASUAL DRINK both won on debut, beating the same horse, PRINCESS ANNIE, at five furlongs round and five-and-a-half, respectively.

BALTUSROL, however, has the benefit of a second run under his girth, against a good horse to boot, Wayne DaCosta's speedy foreigner, AMERICAN INVADER, who beat him into third place on September 1.

AMERICAN INVADER's class was no secret when she debuted as the 1-2 favourite at five furlongs round in the Terremoto Trophy, accompanied by exercise reports of 1:00.3 for the distance, blowing away Governor's Cup-winning stablemate DRUMMER BOY.

Therefore, it was rather surprising when jockey Dick Cardenas purposely had BALTUSROL pressing the appropriately named United States-bred filly in splits of 22.4, 34.1 and 46.1, almost suicidal, resulting in a fresher MOM'S TREASURE relegating him to third inside the last half-furlong.

It appears, however, that was all part of BALTUSROL's training for the Supreme Ventures Limited Two-Year-Old Series, starting with the Cash Pot Trophy, a six-furlong sprint for which he will have to be alert, especially against CASUAL DRINK, who clocked 1:06.4 on debut.

TOP SHELF and TREVOR'S CHOICE, the other two winners in the 10-horse field, both appear to be leaders, which should help BALTUSROL's cause against CASUAL DRINK, who is bred Casual Trick out of Zacapa, who had placed second, at odds of 99-1, in the 2013 Jamaica Oaks behind another longshot, 20-1 outsider, Lady Abhijita.

Being Zacapa's first registered foal, there is nothing by way of other offsprings to use as a measure of what to expect from CASUAL DRINK, whether her forte is sprinting or she is just a classy animal, who posted a fast time on sheer ability.

Apart from him being a gelding taking on a filly, BALTUSROL's form at exercise makes him appealing heading into the Cash Pot Trophy. He reports with a solid five-and-a-half furlong gallop at exercise, 1:07.4, working with stablemate SOTOMAYOR, with whom he also breezed a half-mile in 48.2 a week prior.

BALTUSROL is also nicely bred, sired by speed stallion Blue Pepsi Lodge out of Star Flyer, who, in 2012 narrowly lost the 1000 Guineas to 99-1 outsider She's Traditional and returned to finish third in the Jamaica Oaks and Governor's Cup in what was a rigorous campaign for the filly.

With speed in his sire line and stamina coming from his dam, coupled with his smooth running style, plus a second run under his belt and taken to task at exercise since, BALTUSROL gets the nod over CASUAL DRINK.