This column highlights the performances of 2-year-old maidens who have made no more than five starts and who either sold for more than $500,000 at public auction, have siblings that are graded/group winners, or have dams that are graded/group winners. BloodHorse research shows maiden winners, in particular, who meet these criteria are more likely to go on to be graded stakes winners.
The fastest race by a juvenile last week was not turned in by Litmus Test in capturing the Dec. 13 Los Alamitos Futurity (G2), nor by quick New York debut winner Iron Honor on Saturday at Aqueduct Racetrack.
Both were assigned flashy numbers, including a 103 Equibase Speed Figure and 96 Beyer Speed Figure for Litmus Test, but their figures were surpassed by D'code, who posted a 109 Equibase Speed Figure and a 99 Beyer Speed Figure for a first-out romp at Oaklawn Park Dec. 14. His Beyer Speed Figure is the second-highest by a 2-year-old this year, trailing only the debut 101 figure from eventual grade 1 winner Brant when he won on debut at Del Mar over the summer.
D'code is also a Maiden Watch qualifier, having gone through the sales ring for $775,000 during Fasig-Tipton's Midlantic May 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale earlier this year. Arroyo Bloodstock signed the ticket for the colt from the Hartley/DeRenzo Thoroughbreds consignment. D'code still races for his breeder, Tom Durant.
Here's a deeper dive into the winning performance and pedigree of D'code, as well as three other Maiden Watch qualifiers from this past week.
D'Code
D'code's athleticism was on display in his debut, coming in the fourth race at Oaklawn this past Sunday. Breaking on top in a 6-furlong race for maidens, he set a pressured opening quarter in :22, opened up daylight on the turn with a half mile in :45.33, and lengthened his advantage through the lane. A quick final quarter mile in :24.24 left him 8 1/4 lengths in front in the finish with a final time in 1:09.57 under Cristian Torres.
His clocking was nearly on par with the 1:09.54 posted by multiple graded stakes-winning older horse Roll On Big Joe a day earlier in the 6-furlong Ring The Bell Stakes.
A gray or roan son of the late Speightstown trained by Ray Ashford, D'code is out of the Twirling Candy mare Dos Vinos, who won three of six starts for Durant and trainer Bret Calhoun. Her victories all came in sprints.
D'code is his dam's second winner from as many foals to race, the other being Rossiniana, a 3-year-old son Not This Time colt, also with three wins from six starts in Japan.
Based on D'code's running style, his dam's history, and the speed often exhibited from progeny of Speightstown, D'code gives the appearance of a horse whose future is bright in sprints.
Other Expensive Maiden Watch Qualifiers
Proving himself in a route Dec. 13 at Oaklawn was Live Oak Plantation's Our Magical Moon, who graduated from the maiden ranks in his fourth start. Making his first start in a two-turn dirt route in Saturday's seventh race, he settled kindly behind a hot pace and overwhelmed the opposition in the lane. The Mark Casse trainee scored by 5 lengths, covering 1 1/16 miles on a fast track in a moderate time of 1:46.24 beneath Jaime Torres. That was good for an 87 Equibase Speed Figure and a 74 Beyer Speed Figure.
A son of Good Magic out of the unraced Malibu Moon mare Moonlight Serenade, Our Magical Moon is a half brother to Dixie Serenade (Uptowncharlybrown ), winner of the 2018 Victory Ride Stakes (G3). Uptowncharlybrown Stud bred him in Pennsylvania, and owner Live Oak Plantation bought him as a yearling in 2024 for $500,000 from the Taylor Made Sales Agency consignment to Fasig-Tipton's The Saratoga Sale, its select sale in Upstate New York.
Another half-million-dollar The Saratoga Sale purchase, Imperatrice, captured her second career start in breaking her maiden in Saturday's ninth race at Gulfstream Park. The Todd Pletcher-trained daughter of City of Light , owned by Woodland Way, went to the lead and inched away for a 1 1/4-length victory with a mile on a fast track in 1:37.67 under John Velazquez.
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Bred by Don Alberto Corporation, she is out of the stakes-winning Scat Daddy mare Dolce Lili.
Also picking up her maiden diploma last week was the Bob Baffert-trained Toaster, a first-out winner at Los Alamitos Race Course Dec. 12 under Juan Hernandez. A $525,000 buy at Fasig-Tipton's Midlantic May 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale, she races for Sarah Kelly and Bill Strauss and covered 6 1/2 furlongs in her debut in 1:16.62.
The Whisper Hill Farm-bred juvenile is a daughter of McKinzie , also Baffert trainee who won eight of 18 starts and more than $3.6 million. Toaster is one of just two winners from six foals to race produced by her unplaced Quiet American dam Paulownia, but Toaster is from a deep female family.
| BloodHorse Maiden Watch | |||||||
| Notable 2-year-old maiden winners for the week of Dec. 8-14 | |||||||
| Date | Track | Race | Horse | Sire | Dam | Start | Maiden Watch Notes |
| 12/11 | TP | 5 | Best Girl Magic | Uncle Mo | Afleet Maggi | 3 | Full to grade 1 winner Dream Tree |
| 12/12 | LRC | 3 | Toaster | McKinzie | Paulownia | 1 | $525,000 2-year-old |
| 12/13 | GP | 4 | Jackson Hole | Nyquist | Spa Treatment | 1 | $1.3 million yearling |
| 12/13 | GP | 9 | Imperatrice | City of Light | Dolce Lili | 2 | $500,000 yearling |
| 12/13 | 0P | 5 | Honey's to Blame | Blame | Harlee Honey | 4 | Half to group 2 winner Black Forza |
| 12/13 | 0P | 7 | Our Magical Moon | Good Magic | Moonlight Serenade | 4 | $500,000 yearling; half to G3 winner Dixie Serenade |
| 12/13 | 0P | 9 | Fifty Four Yarder | Violence | Reggae Rose | 1 | Half to two graded stakes winners |
| 12/14 | 0P | 4 | D'code | Speightstown | Dos Vinos | 1 | $775,000 2-year-old |
