In his selections on his Betbestbreeze.com website, Mike Mulligan has pinpointed a great many first-time starters who have blossomed into superior runners in the past couple of seasons. The multiple graded stakes-winning millionaire Mitole is one of the best examples.

    Back on Feb. 16, Mike had Shancelot among his selections when the colt was making his career debut at Gulfstream Park. In Mike's 1-9 rating system, with 1 as the best, the son of Shanghai Bobby was rated as a 1 and he sold for $245,000 at the OBS March sale. All Shancelot did that day was win and pay $27.60. 

    The colt didn't start again until June 23, when he showed up at Monmouth Park and made it two in a row, but this time the price was a little different - $2.60. He raced six furlongs in 1:08.43 and received an E speed figure of 108.

    On Sunday, Shancelot continued to excel, winning the Gr. II Amsterdam at Saratoga by no less than 12 1/2 lengths. That type of winning margin is usually reserved for distance races of some kind, not for 6 1/2 furlongs, as in the Amsterdam. His clocking of 1:14.01 was eye-opening - Quality Road's track record is 1:13.74. That translates into about a length and a quarter.

    To add to the mix, BBB pick Nitrous finished second at 5-1, with the exacta paying $27.20.

    But that wasn't the only BBB success on Sunday. There were 25 horses listed on the website, with one scratch. But Mike couldn't get winners in the remaining 24, because there were five races around the country in which he had two runners, and another two races with three runners. 

    Aside from Shancelot, the big bang was contributed by Saratoga first-time starter Heartstrings, who followed up the Amsterdam by winning the 12th race and paying $81.50, leading to all kinds of monster exotic payoffs. Mike also tabbed Fujairah at Gulfstream for $30.20, Dreams Are Made at Ellis Park for $8.60, and Sunflower Girl at Monmouth Park for $3.40. 

    On Monday, Mike followed the Sunday heroics with just two first-timers listed on the sparse racing program. One of them, Bear Creek, won a $30,000 maiden special at Presque Isle Downs and paid $18.20. The other, Mizzen Beau, finished fourth at Ellis at odds of $6.90-1 after experiencing two bumping incidents and still missing second by just a head and a nose.

    The BBB first-timers from the recent 2-year-old sales have come out running. Knowing who they are can prove to be very lucrative.         

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