Juvenile Spotlight: State of Play

One of my favorite things to do is find young horses that have the potential to be superstars. It is very entertaining and rewarding to "discover" two-year-olds before they go on to record prestigious victories. Juvenile Spotlights highlight some of the two-year-olds I have "discovered." Some Juvenile Spotlights feature horses right after they have broken their maiden or after they record their first major victory. Either way, I have followed these horses since before they hit the headlines. I don't do a Juvenile Spotlight on every two-year-old I "discover", but I try to feature as many as I can.

The green and red silks of Team Valor International flashed across the finish line in front. The horse’s name was not Animal Kingdom, Daveron, Pluck, or Summer Soiree. It was State of Play, a two-year-old colt by War Front and out of the Procida mare Valeta.

State of Play broke his maiden in his debut, a five and one-half furlong race on the turf at Saratoga. After keeping close to the pace, the dark bay/brown colt swept to the lead in the stretch to win by two and one-half lengths in a hand ride.

In his next start, State of Play took on talented turf juveniles in the With Anticipation Stakes (GII) at Saratoga. He led from start to finish, and though he only won by a half-length, jockey Ramon Dominguez rode him confidently. The final time for a mile and one-sixteenth on the turf was 1:43.97.

State of Play’s sire, War Front, is currently the runner-up on the leading second-crop sires list. This year, he has sired grade one winners Summer Soiree and The Factor, as well as many other stakes horses. Though on the track War Front was a talented sprinter on the dirt, he has sired both talented sprinters and routers on every surface. The Factor is a graded stakes winner on dirt and synthetics and has won at a distance range from six furlongs to a mile and one-sixteenth. Summer Soiree has won on both the dirt and turf, with each of her wins coming at over a mile. Needless to say, War Front is a very versatile sire.

The dam of State of Play, Valeta, also produced Straight Gin, a flat-racer turned talented steeplechaser. After finishing fourth in the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (GI) and a disappointing ninth in the Preakness Stakes (GI), Straight Gin was turned into a steeplechase horse.  In his fourth start over hurdles, Straight Gin got the win. He then went on to finish third in the International Gold Cup Timber Stakes.

In addition to being the dam of State of Play and Straight Gin, Valeta produced Knoxville. As a two-year-old, Knoxville finished second in the Christmas Futurity at Turf Paradise. He later went on to win the Talks Cheap Stakes at Turf Paradise as a three-year-old. Both of these races were at six and one-half furlongs on the dirt.

Clearly, Valeta is capable of producing speed and stamina. It seems she has passed this on to State of Play, as he won his first race at five and one-half furlongs near the lead and then won the mile and one-sixteenth With Anticipation on the lead. With War Front as his sire and Valeta as his dam, State of Play seems to have plenty of versatility.

The Graham Motion trainee definitely has a chance to become a top horse on grass or dirt. Depending on the decisions his connections make, they could defend their title in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf or the Kentucky Derby, or any other prestigious race for that matter. They seem to have a talented enough colt on their hands to do so.

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