Society Beau: Eye Catching Maiden

Society Beau: Eye Catching Maiden by Casey Laughter– Not This Time stole the show in the Iroquois Stakes at Churchill Downs, but another colt caught my eye. While the colt is not a stakes winner and likely not a Breeders’ Cup Juvenile participant, he was impressive nonetheless.

Society Beau debuted on June 23 at Churchill Downs, finishing a flat fifth after never being a factor. The Neil Howard trainee shipped out to Ellis Park and finished third after a nine-wide move on the turn. Six furlongs was clearly too short for the colt.

In the colt’s third start, Society Beau met Not This Time, a half-brother to the freaky fast Liam’s Map. Not This Time annihilated the maiden special weight field, finishing 10 lengths in front of the second place horse, which happened to be Society Beau, who was 1-1/4 lengths in front of the third place horse.

On September 17, Not This Time against destroyed his competition in the Iroquois while signing his Breeders’ Cup Juvenile ticket and earning 10 points toward the 2017 Kentucky Derby. However, Society Beau broke his maiden in his fourth start on the undercard. The muddy track possibly helped and can be a contributing factor to the colt’s win. Also, the speed also collapsed in the maiden race, which likely helped the late closing colt.

Society Beau is a two-year-old son of Curlin. Curlin, was a champion in 2007 and 2008, earning two Eclipse Awards in both years. He was Champion 3-Year-Old and Older Male while also earning Horse of the Year. In 2014, the son of Smart Strike was inducted into the Hall of Fame. He also was the top money earner until California Chrome won the 2016 Dubai World Cup, eclipsing Curlin’s record. As a stallion, Curlin has sired horses like Palace Malice, Stellar Wind, and Exaggerator.

Society Beau is one of only two winners from his dam, Seattle Society, who went unraced. The mare’s City Zip gelding, named Marshall Eddy, broke his maiden on the turf in April at Gulfstream.

A.P. Indy, the broodmare sire of Society Beau, was a highly accomplished racehorse and stallion. In 1992, A.P. Indy was named Champion 3-Year-Old and Horse of the Year after winning the Santa Anita Derby, Belmont Stakes, and Breeders’ Cup Classic. When retiring to stud, A.P. Indy fulfilled expectations by siring horses such as Honor Code (in his final crop), Rags to Riches, Bernardini, Mineshaft, and Pulpit. A.P. Indy is the grandsire of the top stallion Tapit.

Society Beau is likely to want more distance as it becomes available and could mature well as time moves on. He has a pedigree that indicates he will be best as he grows into himself and matures mentally. While it is too early to say, Society Beau could easily become a top contender on the Triple Crown trail. His pedigree suggests no limitations when it comes distance.