Racing Dudes Three Stars of the Week: Disco Partner Boogies Home

As I was putting together the Three Stars of the Week, I realized that I was put in a strange spot. Songbird, the nation’s most popular filly, was the winner of the Grade 1 Delaware Handicap by over a length. However, the race was not impressive to me in the least bit. Could I really leave Songbird out of the Three Stars of the Week? Find out if I did as we look at this week’s list:

1. Disco Partner

How do you follow up a world-record performance sprinting on the turf? Evidently, you stretch out in distance to a mile and dominate your competition while running a 105 Beyer speed figure! That’s exactly what Disco Partner did in the Forbidden Apple Stakes at Belmont Park on Saturday, answering the big question of wherever or not he can stretch out in distance. After his win, trainer Christophe Clement now has many options, and it sounds like the Grade 1 Fourstardave at Saratoga could be next.

2. West Coast

The Grade 3 Los Alamitos Derby was run at a mile and 1/8, but West Coast might have run 2 miles in this race! Parked very wide on both turns and throughout the race, it looked as though he was in for a long day at the track. However, he came flying late in the stretch and cruised by his competition with relative ease. Trainer Bob Baffert was quick to say after the race that he’ll now be pointed towards the Grade 1 Travers Stakes, so long as he comes out of this race in good order.

3. Irap

He was once an 0-for-7 maiden, but Irap has now won three out of his last four races, each in a graded stakes. After upsetting Girvin in the Grade 3 Ohio Derby, he came into the Grade 3 Indiana Derby as the favorite and dominated his competition by multiple lengths. Trainer Doug O’Neill said before the Kentucky Derby that his horse was really coming on in a big way, and now it looks as though he was right. There are several races on the table for him next, but the heavy speculation is that he will target the Grade 1 Travers Stakes at Saratoga.