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While most second-season colts with classic hopes are just taking their first steps on the Triple Crown Trail, one possible candidate is already a Derby winner. That horse is the remarkable Tomcito. A $7,500 Keeneland September yearling purchase, Tomcito was shipped to Peru where, despite being up to six months younger than his Southern Hemisphere rivals, he was an immediate hit.

Tomcito took his first two races, one at 5 1/2 furlongs and the other at 6 1/2 , by a total of 26 lengths. Second in his stakes debut, he then captured the Clasico Ricardo Ortiz de Zevallos (Per-I) at 1 1/4 miles, and Derby Nacional (Per-I) at 1 1/2 miles, despite not yet being a 3-year-old by Northern Hemisphere terms.

Now Tomcito is in Florida at Palm Meadows training center, with the Florida Derby or UAE Derby (both gr. I) as his potential targets. By Street Cry (IRE) (TrueNicks, SRO) - who, after Street Sense's (TrueNicks, SRO) victory in 2007 would be on a Derby double if Tomcito makes it to Churchill Downs - Tomcito is out of a mare by Eastern Echo. This sees him earn a TrueNicks A++ rating, on the basis of the Street Cry/Damascus cross. A quick look at the pedigree also shows that Tomcito's dam is inbred 3 x 4 to Northern Dancer, where Street Cry is free of Northern Dancer, but has the great stallion's half sister Natalma in his fourth generation.

Filed under: Recent Winners, Just for Fun