A finishing speed of 98% might imply that this race developed into a sprint finish over the closing furlongs and to a certain extent, that is true. However, the key to this race came far earlier. Having rushed forward from his wide draw in 7, Juan Hernandez attempted to slow the pace, running furlongs of 12.09s and 12.41s around the turn once he had seen off Privman (3rd) for the early lead. However, Smith reacted to that, making up 0.53s on the favourite to close up over the same distance in the race to sit within half a length of the lead. That left him ideally placed and he had far too much speed for his main rival in the home straight, closing in furlongs of 12.22 and 12.48s, both of which were the fastest in the field and galloping on through the line with a run-out speed of 34.16 mph, also a race best, earning his spot at the Breeders’ Cup in November in the process. Having now won 3 of his 4 starts, it could be argued that Baffert’s 3-year-old son of Omaha Beach is one of the most progressive horses on the West Coast and whilst the stop/start nature of the pace and the expert judgement of that pace by Mike Smith were contributing factors, from the moment the pace lifted and the sprint for home began, Nevada Beach got on top of a former Breeders’ Cup winner and stamped his authority on the race. He received weight from the runner-up and there were some mitigating circumstances involving those in behind given he nature of the early pace, but the data confirms this was an exceptional performance from such an inexperienced horse and there is every reason to thin k that Nevada Beach has more improvement to come, which will make him a danger to all at the Breeders’ Cup in a months time.