Street Sense, 10-length winner of the Bessemer Trust Breeders' Cup Juvenile, received the high weight assignment of 127 pounds on the 2006 Experimental Free Handicap, released today by The Jockey Club. The 127 pounds assigned to Street Sense is 1 pound above the assignment on last year's high weight, Stevie Wonderboy, and is the highest assignment for a colt since Favorite Trick received 128 pounds on the 1997 Experimental Free Handicap. The filly division is headed by undefeated Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies winner Dreaming of Anna at 123 pounds.
The Experimental Free Handicap, published annually by The Jockey Club since 1935, is a weight-based assessment of the previous year's leading two-year-olds, with the weights compiled for a hypothetical race at 1 1/16 miles on dirt. This year's weighting committee of racing secretaries was composed of Ben Huffman of Churchill Downs, P.J. Campo of the New York Racing Association and Thomas S. Robbins of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club..
The committee weighted a total of 92 males and 85 fillies. Eligible for weighting were all two-year-olds of 2006 that finished among the top four in graded or other unrestricted races with an added value of at least $75,000, run in the continental United States.
James B. Tafel's Kentucky-bred Street Sense won two of his five starts last year for earnings of $1,178,200. In addition to his romp in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile, he placed third in both the Breeders' Futurity and the Arlington Washington Breeders' Cup Futurity.
Street Sense is weighted 4 pounds higher than James T. Scatuorchio and Michael B. Tabor's Scat Daddy, a winner of three of his five starts and $507,800 last year. Scat Daddy was victorious in the Champagne Stakes and Sanford Stakes, and placed second in the Hopeful Stakes. Sharing third high weight at 122 pounds are Circular Quay, Great Hunter, and Nobiz Like Shobiz.
In the filly division, the 123 pounds assigned to Dreaming of Anna is the standard impost for top Experimental fillies and is equivalent to the assignment on last year's high weight, Folklore.
Bred in Kentucky by her owner Frank C. Calabrese, Dreaming of Anna went undefeated in four starts at two. In addition to her 1 1/2 length victory in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, Dreaming of Anna also won the Tippett Stakes and the Summer Stakes for earnings of $1,266,240. Dreaming of Anna is weighted 3 pounds higher than Octave, winner of two of her five starts last year with earnings of $610,700. At 119 pounds is J. Paul Reddam's Cash Included, winner of the Oak Leaf Breeders' Cup Stakes.
Among sires of Experimental horses, Johannesburg and Tale of the Cat top the colts and geldings’ list with four representatives each. Include, Lemon Drop Kid, More Than Ready, Smart Strike, Successful Appeal and Yes It’s True head the fillies’ list with three representatives each. Combining the two lists, Johannesburg, Smart Strike, Tale of the Cat and Yes It’s True are the leading sires with five representatives each. Of the 177 juveniles weighted, 104 were bred in Kentucky, 33 in Florida and nine in California.
The other use of the Experimental rankings is in determining which horses are "dual qualifiers" for the Kentucky Derby. Horses ranked within 10 pounds of the male topweight or who are a champion in another country and have a Dosage Index of 4.0 or less and a Center of Distribution of 1.25 or less are considered the dual qualifiers. These horses have statistically shown that they have a better chance at winning the Derby. Dual qualifiers are indicated below in bold.
Colts and Geldings
127 - Street Sense
123 - Scat Daddy
122 - Circular Quay
122 - Great Hunter
122 - Nobiz Like Shobiz
121 - Stormello
120 - Tiz Wonderful
119 - Any Given Saturday
119 - Horse Greeley
119 - Liquidity
119 - Pegasus Wind
119 - Principle Secret
118 - King of the Roxy
117 - Belgravia
117 - Roman Commander
Full list of colts and geldings
Fillies
123 - Dreaming of Anna
120 - Octave
119 - Cash Included
118 - Appealing Zophie
118 - Point Ashley
118 - Romance Is Diane
117 - Bel Air Beauty
117 - Cotton Blossom
116 - Quick Little Miss
115 - Boca Grande
115 - Lady Joanne
115 - Sutra
115 - Untouched Talent
114 - Change Up
114 - Down
114 - Featherbed
114 - Meadow Breeze
