Hightstown, NJ – Charles Taylor did not go to the 2024 Lexington Selected Yearling Sale with the intention of buying Azrael Blue Chip. In fact, he never saw the young pacer until the colt stepped into the auction ring.
But one look was all it took. Taylor, who races under the ownership name CT Stables, purchased the son of Perfect Sting-Bathsheba for $20,000.
“I’ve bought a lot of good horses, but I think he’s the first one I bought just in the ring like that without looking at him before,” said Taylor, who is perhaps best known for owning millionaire pacer Catch The Fire. “When he walked in the ring, it was me and a couple of friends and partners, and I was like, ‘What is that?’ We looked him up in the book and liked the pedigree and liked Perfect Sting.
“When he came in the ring, he owned it,” Taylor continued about Azrael Blue Chip. “He had a presence. He just had that look; good eye, good head. There were some other horses in the arena acting up and nothing bothered him. We looked at a lot of horses that day, but there was nothing that we saw that stood out like he did.”
Azrael Blue Chip, out of the family of Hall of Fame broodmare Grand Lady, has hit the board in 10 of 11 career races, winning seven and earning $90,780. On Saturday (May 23), he will face eight rivals in the $225,000 New Jersey Sire Stakes Platinum series final for sophomore male pacers at the Meadowlands. He will leave from post 9 with Andy McCarthy in the sulky for trainer Besim Odza and is the 4-1 third choice on the morning line.
“We think he’s a really nice horse,” Taylor said. “This is a good test for him. We’ll know what we’ve got when we come out of this race.”
Azrael Blue Chip made his career debut last year in mid-August at Lexington’s Red Mile and four of his first five starts came in conditioned races in Kentucky for trainer/driver Terry Skinner. In November, he headed to the New Jersey Standardbred Development Fund series at the Meadowlands, where he won his two preliminary rounds and the $48,000 final. He finished his rookie campaign with a five-race winning streak and captured six of eight starts overall.
“As a 2-year-old, he was really immature early on, so we took our time with him,” Taylor said. “He’s a pretty good sized horse and we didn’t push him, but he was always good training down. We tried to spot him where we could educate him a little bit.”
Azrael Blue Chip’s only off-the-board finish came last September in the $150,000 New Jersey Classic, where he made a first-over bid from fifth on the final turn but got no closer than second before ending up fourth. The top five finishers were separated by two lengths, with Bookie J winning in 1:51.1.
“He was first-up and just hung a little bit,” Taylor said. “He was really green and didn’t know what he was doing. That’s when we kind of knew that he’s just going to go as fast as he needs to go. I don’t think he’s anywhere near his bottom, to be honest with you. He didn’t ship very well (from Kentucky) and had been sick, but he really showed what he had in that race even though he finished fourth.”
This year, Azrael Blue Chip opened his season with a 1:53 victory over a sloppy track in a $30,000 division of the Home Grown Pace at the Meadowlands and finished second in each of his $25,000 NJSS Platinum prelims. In the first, he came home from fifth in :26.1 to just miss by a nose against Bookie J in 1:50. In the second, he finished behind Sonofanutcracker, who was last year’s NJSS champion.
“He reminds me of Perfect Sting, just by the way he races in the stretch,” Taylor said. “Perfect Sting always seemed to just keep digging at the wire, and he’s the same way. He’s never beat. You saw that a few weeks ago when he tracked down Bookie J and got beat by a nose. He just kept digging coming down the stretch.
“He’s got to show something this week, but if he races good he’s going to the North America Cup and we plan on racing him in the Meadowlands Pace if he stays healthy,” Taylor said. “He’s got that instant Grand Circuit speed that you need – that big brush – and when he does it, it’s effortlessly. He’s a big horse, but very athletic, and has got a lot of heart.”
Bookie J, who is 3-for-3 this year for driver Dexter Dunn and trainer Chris Ryder, is the 2-1 morning-line favorite in the NJSS Platinum final. The son of Perfect Sting-Skyy, who made only one start in the prelims, will leave from post 5 for owner Ken Jacobs.
Sonofanutcracker is the 5-2 second choice on the morning line. His winning start in the second leg of the NJSS Platinum was his seasonal debut. The son of Nutcracker Sweet-Rob Them Blind will leave from post 2 with Tim Tetrick driving for trainer Tom Cancelliere and breeder/owner John Cancelliere.
Saturday’s stakes-laden 15-race program at the Meadowlands also features the $180,000 NJSS Platinum final for 3-year-old female pacers. Be Perfect BG is the 6-5 morning-line favorite for driver Dunn and trainer Tony Beaton. The daughter of Perfect Sting-JK Mardi Says is undefeated in seven career starts and will leave from post 1 on Saturday.
There also will be NJSS Silver finals for 3-year-old male and female pacers plus the first legs of the Platinum and Silver series for 3-year-old male and female trotters on the card.
Racing begins at 6:35 p.m. (EDT) at the Meadowlands. For free TrackMaster past performances, visit the Meadowlands website.