Tlaq... er, Tlaqer... um, Tlaquepaque · 2.09.10

It’s deja-vu all over again in the juvenile division at Hastings this year.

Lara Racing Stables and trainer Juan Olmos have raced the top local two-year-old in each of the last two racing seasons: El Sinaloense (2008), and Huitzilopochtli (2009). Now Olmos has another impressive juvenile with an almost-impossible-to-pronounce name: Tlaquepaque, winner of the New Westminster Stakes last week.

The tail-male descendant of Seattle Slew gained the lead in deep stretch and won the New Westminster by 2 1/2 lengths, stopping the clock in 1:18.47 for 6 1/2 furlongs. In his only previous start, Tlaquepaque won a maiden special weight over the 3 1/2-furlong “nursery course” on June 18, scoring an easy 7 3/4-length win.

Unfortunately, Olmos has a poor record when it comes to getting his precocious two-year-olds to mature successfully. Both “El Sin” and “Huitzi” went into sharp decline late in their respective juvenile seasons, and were never the same afterwards. So forgive me if I cast a wary eye at Tlaquepaque as the Hastings racing season approaches its climax — while he is more lightly raced than his predecessors were, his connections’ ability to guide him to maturity must be held suspect.

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What do you think?

  1. Maybe he is trying to emulate the style of the “breakdown king” old D. Wayne Lukas.. Maybe he read his book.

    — humphrey · Sep 2, 07:43 AM · #

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