The ESR Celebration Continues in the $100,000 Seven Furlong Dirt Feature

A field of Six Older horses enter the Big Apple starting gate for the $100,000 ESR 13 Years Celebration Series. The race will be run at Seven Furlongs over the Dirt Course.

PASCAL’S WAR – when you get as close as you did in your last start to adding your first stakes victory to your past performance line, well you just have to come back and give it another try; such is the case for the woette trained 5 Year Old Bay Gelding by Declaration of War who finished a determined second in the ESR I Coulda Been a Contender Stakes LTO; somewhat overmatched in this field, look for this JPN bred, who has never been off the board in six career 7-furlong appearances, and boasts speed figures that put him right in the mix, to be a factor…might surprise

LITTLE ORPHAN BAND – the kingab trained 6 Year Old Bay Gelding by Big Brown out of a Grade 2 winning Dixieland Band mare has made a career at the stakes level finishing ITM in eight of twelve stakes appearances that include four victories;  the NY bred is at his best when traveling the Seven panels, and suffers no regression when facing open bred company…dangerous

MISO QUICK – you have to be very impressed when a NY Bred steps into a Grade 1 Open Bred Stakes and trounces the field while posting an eye-catching 119-speed figure; such was the case of the valesa trained 4-Year-Old Bay Gelding by Laoban out of a Storm Cat mare; always a factor at every level of racing, the NY local favorite punctuated his career in his most recent performance and looks to add another Rez Race victory to an already storied career…one to beat

LUKA ROJO – a victory in the ESR Smartly Jones Derby Prep Stks back in April led the way to a path to the Bluegrass Derby for the 4 Year Old Chestnut Colt by Vino Rosso out of a stakes winning City Zip mare; a solid  5^th place in the G2 Sleepy Fan Stakes supported that premise; but unfortunately, for the ace trained KY bred, the road to the derby was sidetracked and the early form that was so promising went in another direction; returning to the Dirt after a two-month layoff, connections are hoping this once promising Colt returns to top form…your call

DANGERFIELD’S GEMS – when you have six wins and four seconds in eleven starts on an off track you can be sure I was doing a rain dance before the carding of this race; sadly, for me anyway, the forecast is for clear skies and a dry track; that’s not to say that this 5 Year Old Bay Horse by Practical Joke can’t win over a dry track, he has three of them, and if his last race is any indication, an allowance victory over a fast track with a 114-speed figure makes him a major player in this field…fast and fit

HAPPY STRIPPER – the lightly raced jrm trained 4 Year Old Chestnut Colt by Aldebaran out of a Proud Truth mare was very impressive when he scored a victory in the ESR Circle Game Stakes in September earning his way to the Final in the 20,000 Credit Added Series; after an almost two-month layoff the JPN bred returns to the ESR circuit turning  into a 7-furlong sprint race for the first time in his short career, a distance that should suit his late running style…happy with part

HANDICAPPING THE FIELDback

Some of my favorite bets to make are Pick-3’s, and Pick 4’s.  Most handicappers, when playing these type of races look for a single slot in one of the legs of the progression to help cut the cost of the ticket.  Recent examples in real racing would be races that included horses like Jackie’s Warrior, or Flightline or Life is Good, basically horses that can’t lose.  Now I’m not saying MISO QUICK is in that class, but in this field he fits that criteria. If I were to get a little nervous about the wager and feel the need to add another, LITTLE ORPHAN BAND scares me enough to add him to my ticket.

DANGERFIELD’S GEMS moves up on an off-track, but don’t discount his ability over a dry, fast surface, he is more than capable of upsetting this field.

PASCAL’S WAR, LUKA ROJO, and HAPPY STRIPPER would all be happy with a piece of the pie, but I don’t foresee an upset coming from this trio against this field at this stage of their career.

THE PICKS

MISO QUICK hard to bet against

LITTLE ORPHAN BAND best to upset

DANGERFIELD’S GEMS best off last