Avery Island

AVERY ISLAND (c, Street Sense&log=">Street Sense–-Kinda Spicy, by A.P. Indy)
O-Godolphin Racing. B-Godolphin (KY). T-Kiaran McLaughlin. Lifetime Record: GSW, 5-3-1-0, $365,332.
Jan. 22 TDN Top 12 Rank: 12
Last Start: 1st, GIII Withers S., AQU, Feb. 3.
Accomplishments Include: 1st, GII Nashua S., AQU, Nov. 5.
Next Start: Aiming for GII Louisiana Derby, FG, Mar. 24
Equineline PPs.
KY Derby Points: 14

It's appropriate that Avery Island will make his next scheduled start in Louisiana, because the Street Sense colt takes his name from the Gulf Coast salt dome that is the home of the Tabasco brand pepper sauce (it's a play off his dam, Kinda Spicy [A.P. Indy]). He has a deep pedigree, a big frame, a long stride, and a good mental makeup according to trainer Kiaran McLaughlin. In essence, he's a push-button stayer who seems like a good match for the 1,346-foot Fair Grounds stretch. But his cruise control seems to lack a cutthroat dimension right now, and that's an asset he's going to need moving forward in a race like the Kentucky Derby, where the aggressive ability to make one's own breaks in a 20-horse field is often the difference between being a contender and an also-ran. He breezed five furlongs in 1:01.15 (3/9) on Friday at Palm Meadows Training Center. With regard to Avery Island's company lines, the horse who ran second to him in the GIII Withers S., Firenze Fire (Poseidon's Warrior), ran a non-threatening fourth in his next out in Saturday's GIII Gotham S. at Aqueduct, so that represents a very slight downtick.

VIDEO PPS