Anees Tops Experimental Free Handicap
Winter book Derby favorite assigned 126 pounds

Breeder’s Cup Juvenile winner Anees is the highweight at 126 pounds in the colt division of the 1999 Experimental Free Handicap, which was released in mid-January by the Jockey Club. The filly division is headed by Cash Run, Chilukki and Surfside, the first three finishers respectively in the Breeder’s Cup Juvenile Fillies, all at 123 pounds.

The Experimental Free Handicap, published by the jockey club annually since 1933, is complied for a hypothetical race of 1 1/16 miles on dirt. This year’s weighing committee – racing secretaries Howard Battle of Keeneland, Michael Lakow of the New York Racing Association and Thomas S. Robbins of Del Mar – weighed a total of 91 males and 88 fillies. Eligible for weighing were all two-year-olds of 1999 who finished in the first four in graded or other unrestricted races with an added value of $50,000 or higher, run in the continental United States.

The Thoroughbred Corporation’s Anees (Unbridled-Ivory Idol, by Alydar) scored by 2 1/2 lengths in the Breeder’s Cup Juvenile to close out his two-year-old season with two wins from four starts and earnings of $609,200. In his only other stakes effort, Anees finished third in the Norfolk Stakes.

The 126 pounds assigned the highweight is a standard weight for top Experimental colts and is equivalent to the assignment on last year’s highweight, Answer Lively. Anees received one pound more than the assignment on Michael Pegram’s Captain Steve (Fly So Free-Sparkling Delight, by Vice Regent) and Greenwood Lake (Meadowlake-Au Printemps, by Dancing Champ), owned by Dolores Conway, Fred Demarteis and Joseph Cornacchia.

In the filly division, the 123 assignment on Padua Stable’s Cash Run (Seeking the Gold-Shared Interest, by Pleasant Colony), Stonerside Stable LLC’s Chilukki (Cherokee Run-Song of Syria, by Damascus) and Overbrook Farm’s Surfside (Seattle Slew-Flanders, by Seeking the Gold) is a standard weight for top Experimental fillies and is equivalent to the assignment on last year’s highweight, Silverbulletday.

Cash Run won three-of-five races and $608,552 in 1999, culminating in an upset victory in the Breeder’s Cup Juvenile Fillies. She finished third in the Alcibiades Stakes in her only other stakes assignment.

Chilukki won her first six stakes starts before finishing second in the Breeder’s Cup Juvenile Fillies in her final start as a two-year-old. She scored victories in the Oak Leaf Stakes, Vinery Del Mar Debutante, Sorrento Stakes, Debutante Stakes and Kentucky Breeder’s Cup Stakes; she has bankrolled $762,723.

Surfside closed out her two-year-old season with a seven-length victory in the Hollywood Starlet Stakes. She also won the Frizette Stakes and rallied to finish third in the Breeder’s Cup Juvenile Fillies. She has won four-of-six starts and earned $677,350.

Among sire’s of Experimental horses, Dehere leads on the colts’ list with four. Danzig and Valid Appeal each have three. On the fillies’ sires list, Storm Cat leads with five. Meadowlake, Notebook, Seattle Slew and Thunder Gulch each have three representatives.

Data compiled and edited by The Lane Report. Source:The Jockey Club

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