The Dying Breath
There will be three Group races on this weekend’s card in Japan. The first of the Group races to be run on Saturday will be The Dying Breath (G3), to be held at a mile and three quarters on the dirt. The race is open to three-year-olds and up and is offering up a total purse of $150,000. The weather has been perfect leading up this weekend, and it looks like that trend should continue right up through post of at 2:40 EST. This year, the race has drawn just five contenders to go to the starting gate. Let’s look through the field.
- S.S. Identifier (IRE) – lasthope – B. Ball –2/1
In the first slot and returning to group company after taking a step down in class, this five-year-old, despite his pedigree, has found an affinity for the dirt and will be making his twenty-third career start on Saturday. The most recent start for the bay horse came in a listed stakes race in Denmark over thirteen furlongs. The horse went right to the lead out of the gate but faded in the stretch to cross the wire in second while setting a speed figure of one hundred four. His most recent win was in his prior start, which took place at the allowance level in Ireland over fourteen furlongs where he took the field from gate to wire to win by an impressive nine and three-quarter lengths. His most recent group start came this past February during The Cowboy Handicap (G3) at two miles over a sloppy course. Again, out to the lead at the start, he would start to lose ground midway through the race but still hung on to finish fourth.
2. On The Hush Hush (GB) – toughluck – S. L. Ledwith
This five-year-old bay gelding is one of the more experienced horses to go to the starting gate with thirty lifetime starts under his belt to date. The bay gelding most recently started this past April in China during The Olympic Torch (G3) at two miles. The gelding was one of the last out of the gate in the small eight-horse field. Midway through the race he was urged forward to make his bid and went on to cross the wire in second, setting a speed figure of ninety-eight in his first start against group company. The most recent win for the son of Kameko came in a starter allowance race, also in China, over ten furlongs. Facing a small field again, the gelding was one of the last out of the gate and ran the rest of the race in a very similar fashion, winning by two lengths with a lifetime best speed figure of one hundred eight.
3. Catalina Gold (KY) – mightyforego – G. Arnold – 6/1
Making his first start against group company, the son of Catalina Cruiser is lightly raced with sixteen career starts to date. The chestnut gelding is coming into this race off of two consecutive wins. The most recent was this past April in Italy during an allowance race over fifteen furlongs. The gelding came quickly out of the gate at the start and settled just behind the pace in second early. At the midway point of the race he started to make his bid for the front and gradually opened up his lead as the field came into the stretch. He went on to win going away by three and three-quarter lengths with a speed figure of ninety-seven. His other race came over sixteen furlongs in another allowance race, though this time in Denmark where he took the field from gate to wire to win by a daylight margin of five and three-quarter lengths.
4. Caught Rapid (TUR) – thunor – C. Roser – 6/1
Bred in Turkey, this four-year-old colt is making his group stakes debut in this race, though is coming off of four consecutive wins. The son of Bodemeister is a multiple allowance winner and most recently started in April during an allowance race in his native Turkey over fourteen furlongs. The chestnut colt took the field from gate to wire, winning by an impressive five and a half lengths while setting a speed figure of one hundred four, which is a lifetime best of the colt. The remaining three races of the colt’s consecutive wins saw two also at the allowance level and the first when the colt broke his maiden at ten and a half furlongs in Thailand.
5. Galileo’s Fingers (IRE) – padrebri6 – T. Brewer – Even
After making his debut on turf, the son of the late Galileo (IRE) has found his niche on the dirt despite his dam American Fingers running on the turf as well. The five-year-old bay horse has made twenty-one career starts. The most recent of these starts came in the UAE during The Desert Stamina Cup (G1) over a mile and three-quarters. The horse broke out of the starting gate towards the middle of the pack but started to drop back midway through the race to cross the wire in fifth, setting a speed figure of one hundred five. His most recent win came in April of last year in South Korea in a listed stakes race over ten furlongs. The then four-year-old broke sharply and settled into second before making his drive late in the stretch to win by just three-quarters of a length.
Flrancho’s Picks:
Win: Galileo’s Fingers (IRE)
Place: S.S. Identifier (IRE)
Show: On The Hush Hush (GB)