Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition

Tuscan Gold

STRENGTHS: He scored a convincing maiden win in his two-turn debut at the end of January, then improved right away finishing third in the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby over the Preakness distance. He earned a solid 95 Beyer for that Louisiana Derby effort while making just the third start of his career. He was the morning-line favorite for last weekend’s Peter Pan in New York but was scratched and re-routed here by trainer Chad Brown, who has won the Preakness twice before, both times with horses that had only three prior starts after skipping the Kentucky Derby – notably both of those prior Preakness winners, Cloud Computing and Early Voting, improved to Beyers of 100-plus winning this race, after having identical Beyer tops of 96 on the way in.

WEAKNESSES: Despite the talent that he has shown to this point, he is still giving away a lot in terms of experience with only three starts, and nothing more than a maiden win to his credit. While he earned a competitiv­e figure in his Louisiana Derby third, he had a very good trip in that race and was in position when things were still wide open in midstretch, and he simply could not finish with Catching Freedom. He also seemed to struggle a bit late in that race, which was contested over the Preakness distance.

BETTING VALUE: While he appears to have talent for top connection­s, he is not going to get lost in this field of nine and is likely to be even lower than his Louisiana Derby odds at post time, despite having to improve to contend with the favorites in this race. There are things to like with Tuscan Gold but would require more than 10-1 before getting interested.

SIRE: Like many horses from the Sadler’s Wells-El Prado line, Medaglia d’Oro ran his best at a route of ground and improved with age. He scored Grade 1 wins in the 2002 Travers Stakes and 2003 Whitney Handicap. He has been a versatile and successful sire throughout his career. Although he has sired multiple Grade 1-winning sprinters – including Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint winner Bar of Gold – his accomplish­ments have tended toward two turns, on both dirt and turf. His best-known runner in North America is Rachel Alexandra, who doubled in the Kentucky Oaks and Preakness in her 2009 Horse of the Year campaign.

DAM: Tuscan Gold is one of two winners from as many starters out of Valadorna, a daughter of classic sire Curlin. Valadorna was Grade 1-placed as a juvenile, but improved with age, winning the Grade 3 Doubledogd­are. She also was graded stakes-placed on turf. The mare is a half-sister to Grade 1-winning juvenile Complexity, also a Grade 2 winner at a mile as an older horse.

OUTLOOK: While there’s variety on both sides of the pedigree, overall, the combinatio­n of these two parents suggests that Tuscan Gold will be at his best going two turns on dirt. Judging by the developmen­t of both Medaglia d’Oro and Valadorna, it also stands to reason that this colt could continue developing into his 3-yearold season and beyond.