Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Simplification
STRENGTHS: Simplification’s versatility should serve him well in this year’s Preakness. A gate-to-wire winner of the Mucho Macho Man at Gulfstream Park, he rallied from midpack to capture the Fountain of Youth there and was unfazed when in behind 14 others in the early stages of the Kentucky Derby. He has the tactical speed to work out his own trip. He traveled very comfortably for most of the Derby and swung out with a big look turning for home before rallying to finish a solid fourth. He’s obviously in very good form and equaled his career-best Beyer Speed Figure at Churchill Downs. Simplification was the first Preakness entrant on the Pimlico grounds and has been given plenty of time to acclimate to his new surroundings.
WEAKNESSES: All in all, Simplification had a good trip in the Derby. The pace was fast, the holes opened, and he made his run. He just wasn’t good enough to finish with the likes of Epicenter. He must improve off that race, which is certainly not out of the question. Simplification has already raced a demanding five times in 2022. One must wonder if he’s due for a regression after several hard races, especially wheeling back on only two weeks’ rest.
BETTING VALUE: Simplification is certainly a contender in the Preakness. He also might offer a bit of value with horses like Epicenter, Secret Oath, and Early Voting expected to take the lion’s share of the wagering. Odds of 6-1 or higher seem very reasonable for win bettors.
– Dan Illman
SIRE: Not This Time, by Giant’s Causeway, won the 2016 Iroquois Stakes by 8 3/4 lengths and was second by a neck in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile to champion Classic Empire. A soft-tissue injury forced him into early retirement, but he proved equally precocious in his second career. On the 2020 freshman sire list, he finished third by earnings while leading by winners; he led 2021 second-crop sires by earnings. This year, he is already the sire of six stakes winners, led by Louisiana Derby winner and Kentucky Derby runner-up Epicenter and Grade 1 winner Just One Time. He also is the sire of multiple graded stakes-placed In Due Time in this 3-year-old crop.
DAM: The versatile Simply Confection won both sprints and routes, and won on both turf and dirt. This is her first foal. She is a half-sister to Halo’s Verse, dam of Inflexibility, winner of the Wonder Where Stakes at 1 1/4 miles in Canada’s Triple Tiara. This is the immediate family of Eclipse Award winner Ashado, who took the Kentucky Oaks and Breeders’ Cup Distaff; Grade 1-winning turf router Sunriver; and other accomplished runners. This is a similar pedigree pattern to the one that produced Horse of the Year Gun Runner, who is by Candy Ride and out of a Giant’s Causeway mare. Simplification is by a son of Giant’s Causeway and out of a Candy Ride mare.
OUTLOOK: This is a successful pedigree cross, and there is plenty of stamina and class to be found in the female family.
– Nicole Russo