The Winter Sprint
The lone group race on the card this weekend in Victoria is The Winter Spint (G2), to be held over seven furlongs on the turf. The race is set to go off on Sunday at 3:10 PM EST and will offer up a total purse of $375,000 and is open to fillies and mares, three-years-old and up. The week leading up to the race has been clear and those conditions can be expected right through post time on Sunday, so we can look for a firm track for the weekend’s races. This year’s race has drawn a total of eight horses. Let’s take a look through the contenders for the race.
- Frankly Fiction (ENG) – asrfrankel2 – D. Evans – 7/2
Drawing the inside rail and trying to get her first group win, this five-year-old daughter of Frankel has come close. Her most recent start was her latest attempt, which came in The Turf Queen (G2) here in Victoria over seven and a half furlongs. The filly struck out straight to the lead out of the gate. The mare almost held on but got passed by late in the stretch to finish second, setting a speed figure of one hundred fourteen, which is a lifetime best for the mare. The most recent win for the mare came in May of last year here in Victoria during a listed stakes race over five and a half furlongs. The mare took the field from gate to wire in this race, winning by a length.
2. Ardaz Nails (IRE) – dog – J. Cox – 9/1
Making her debut against group company this weekend, this bay filly is lightly raced with fifteen lifetime starts. Her most recent start was in late April during a five and a half furlong listed stakes race in the United States. The filly, sired by The Ghurka, broke out of the gate towards the rear of the field in ninth. She wouldn’t be urged to make her move until the field came into the last furlongs. Here the filly rocketed forward when asked to win the race by a quarter of a length while setting a speed figure of one hundred six. This will be a step up in class for the filly, but she may be an interesting one to watch as she has not finished off the board in her last six starts.
3. Charming Dootsin (GB) – qcutty – B. Jungnitsch – 9/1
Making his third start against group company this weekend, the four-year-old bay filly has made a total of twenty-one career starts. Sired by Charm Spirit, she made her most recent start in late April during The Chasing Carl (G3) at six furlongs in Italy. It was a small field for the race and the filly broke one of the last out of the gate at the start of the race, fell back early, then made a bid late in the race but ultimately crossed the wire where she started in fifth, setting a speed figure of ninety-eight. She saw her most recent win in her prior start which came over six and a half furlongs in a listed stakes race in the United States. Once again, she struck out of the gate near the back. She made her move at a steady pace at the midway point of the race before going on to win by three-quarters of a length.
4. Goulding (ENG) – bsben8 – P. Bangs – 5/2
One of the more experienced horses in the field for Sunday, this five-year-old mare has made twenty-one career starts. The daughter of Zoustar just recently won her first group race and is coming into this race off of two consecutive wins. The most recent start for the bay mare was in The Coolmore (G2) at seven and a half furlongs right here in Victoria. The mare settled just off the pace in second early and stayed there until the field came into the stretch where she overtook the front runner to win by half a length with a speed figure of one hundred thirteen. Her prior start was a listed stakes race over the same distance which the mare also won.
5. Facial Recognition – gowans2010 – GD. Mate – 5/1
Coming into the race off of three consecutive wins, the chestnut filly is already a group winner. The four-year-old daughter of Kitten’s Joy most recently started in Belgium during the Rita Gorr Sprint (G3), also at seven furlongs. One of the last out of the gate in the small eight-horse field, the filly made her move midway through the race and went on to win by one and a half lengths while setting a lifetime best speed figure of one hundred twelve. Rounding out her other two consecutive wins was a listed stakes race at seven furlongs back in the United States and an allowance race over the same distance in the UAE.
6. Kara’s Flowers (FR) – preakness – T. Loesch – 15/1
In her second start against group company and her first attempt at it for this year, this four-year-old chestnut filly is by top sire Wootton Bassett (GB) and is out of group placed broodmare Levine. The filly’s most recent start came in the United States over seven furlongs in a listed stakes race. Coming out of the gate near the rear of the field, the filly was urged to take on the front runners midway through the race and went on to win the sprint by one and a quarter length with a speed figure of one hundred nine. Her only group start to date was last year early in the fillies three-year-old season, and also in the United States, during The Red Carpet (G3) at six furlongs where she would finish eighth. She will be going off as the longest shot on the board for the race.
7. Rainha Invencivel (JPN) – shaihulud – C. Wyatt – 5/1
Lightly raced at thirteen career starts, the four-year-old Japanese-bred filly will be making her third group start this weekend. The bay filly most recently raced here in Victoria during The Turf Queen (G2) over seven and a half furlongs last April. Held just off the pace early in second out of the gate, the filly would hold onto that position up until the stretch where she got caught by a group of late closers and was shuffled back to cross the wire in fourth, setting a speed figure of one hundred eight for the race. Her most recent win, which was her prior race, came in Norway during The Disco Ball Stakes (G3) at seven furlongs. Further off the pace at the start, coming out of the gate in eighth, the filly quickly started picking off the other horses spread out in front of her and winning the race by half a length while setting a lifetime best speed figure of one hundred thirteen.
8. Name Day Incrhys (AUS) – delwoodleah7 – N. Nation – 5/1
In the far outside gate, this locally bred mare is seeking her first group win, though she has come close on a few different occasions. The five-year-old bay mare is well seasoned with twenty-one career starts to date. Sired by Snitzel, the mare is out of the Group I winning Invincible Cadet. The most recent start for the mare came in April during The Charted Well (G3) over seven furlongs. The mare was up against a short field in the race and came out of the starting gate in fifth. She began to make her move midway through the sprint and went on to cross the wire in third, setting a speed figure of one hundred six. January saw the mare’s most recent win which came in a listed stakes race here in Victoria over seven furlongs.
Flrancho’s Picks:
Win: Frankly Fiction (ENG)
Place: Goulding (ENG)
Show: Rainha Invencivel (JPN)