The very fast Cross Traffic, who stands at Spendthrift Farm, in Lexington, Kentucky, for $7500 stands and nurses, was represented by his first winner, Dreaming Diamonds. Out of the D’Wildcat mare Xuniel (and representing, therefore, the tried and true Unbridled’s Song/Storm Cat cross), Dreaming Diamonds took a maiden special weight at Churchill Downs by 3 ¼ lengths on Thursday, May 3. Owned by Rob Auerbach and Mark Winston, Dreaming Diamonds is trained by Tom Amoss and was ridden by Corey Lanerie. Cross Traffic himself didn’t start until he was a four-year-old, but excelled by winning the Grade 1 Whitney Invitational Handicap, defeating such foes as Mucho Macho Man and Fort Larned, while running a stunning 116 Beyer, and finished second, by a nose, in the Metropolitan H.-G1.
Scat Daddy’s son No Nay Never had his first winner at Belmont on May 3. Mae Never No, bred in Ireland where No Nay Never stands at Coolmore, won a maiden special weight with Gary Stevens in the irons, and two-year-old specialist Wesley Ward training. Out of the Broken Vow mare Sweet Shirley Mae (making this pedigree the inverse of Dreaming Diamonds’, with Storm Cat on top and Unbridled on the bottom side), Mae Never No is owned by Ice Wine Stable.
No Nay Never was Champion Two-Year-Old in France in 2013, having won the Group 1 Prix Morny at Deauville, so precocious two-year-olds are no surprise given his pedigree and race record. He also closely resembles his late father, being a muscular, masculine, handsome solid bay. His stud fee is 25,000 euros.
Standing at Coolmore America, Verrazano is a big, gorgeous hunk whose first foals sold very well, going for as much as $650,000. He had his first stakes placed two-year-old on May 3 when Myhotrodlincoln finished second in the first juvenile stakes race of the year, the Kentucky Juvenile S. at Churchill Downs. Out of Mylittledeucecoupe by Lion Heart, Lincoln is owned by Fincher Racing et al, and trained by Todd Fincher. He was a $65,000 purchase at Keeneland September in 2017, and recouped $19,600 of that in this race.
Verrazano is currently a bargain at $17,500, considering the high prices his yearlings fetched at auction. Verrazano was a monster on the track at three, winning both the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational S. (by a record 9 ¼ lengths, with a 116 Beyer) and the G1 Wood Memorial S.
— Roberta Smoodin