Classic Turf Stakes
The feature race for this upcoming weekend in New York is the Classic Turf Stakes (G1). The grade I race is held over a mile and a half on the turf course and will be open to three-year-olds and up. Offering a total purse of $750,000 the race will be run over a firm track this year with a total of nine contenders going to the gate. Let’s take a look through these contenders.
- Dark Man X – appower – MJ Kelly – 9/2
Drawing the inside rail, the five-year-old son of War Front will be making his twentieth career start on Sunday. While a grade II winner, the brown horse has yet to win a group I race. His most recent start was last month in the Windy City Turf Classic (G1) at a mile and a quarter in Illinois. Settling into the middle of the pack in fifth, he faded back to seventh at one point in the race before rebounding to cross the wire in fifth, setting a speed figure of one hundred eleven. The horse’s most recent win was in March during an allowance race over the same distance in South Africa. Out of the gate in ninth, he started to challenge other runners at the midway point of the race before winning by eleven and a half lengths.
2. Humbled Nature – asrtapit – L. Radzinski – 12/1
Next in the gate will be the four-year-old light grey colt who is sired by top sire Tapit and will be making his eighteenth career start. The scratch bred colt will be making his graded stakes debut this weekend and has made most of his starts on the main dirt track, through he has made five starts over the turf, though has never won over the surface. His most recent start came here in New York in a listed stakes race over ten furlongs on the turf. Breaking sixth at the start, the colt started to advance midway through the race and getting up to finish on the board in third, setting a speed figure of one hundred twelve. His most recent win was in March during an allowance race over the dirt at twelve furlongs, also here in New York. Off the pace again in sixth, the colt took the lead at the halfway point in the race and went on to win by nine and three-quarter lengths.
3. Just Street Talk – ddstables32 – F. Gossett – 3/1
Sired by Triple Crown winner Justify, this six-year-old horse is one of the older contenders in Sunday’s field. Making his twenty-sixth career start this weekend, the horse is coming into the race off of a win right here in New York. This race came last month during the Sword Swallower Stakes (G1) over a mile and a half. Stalking the pace early in fourth, the horse took control of the pace midway through the race before going on to win the race by a quarter of a length and setting a speed figure of one hundred sixteen.
4. Forty Percent Oz (JPN) – corzacan8 – C. Orza – 17/1
Returning to the turf after venturing out to try a race over the dirt, the Japanese-bred four-year-old is a son of Benbatl (GB). His most recent start was at a mile and half over the dirt here in New York during the URC A Tribute To Smokeglack (G1). Out of the gate towards the back in eleventh, the colt never seemed to fire over the new surface as he went on to cross the wire tenth with a speed figure of ninety-nine. His most recent win came in June across the pond in Newmarket during an allowance race at eleven furlongs. Late out of the gate in this race as well, the colt started picking up the pace midway through the race before going on to win by two and a quarter lengths and setting a speed figure of one hundred seven.
5. Frankie’s Impact (ENG) – spkrbx – F. Duffy – 6/1
Returning for graded company for this race after a step down in class, the four-year-old bay colt most recently started last month in a listed stakes race over ten furlongs, The ESR J-E-T-S. Out of the gate in seventh early in the race, he began to pick up the pace midway through the race before getting up to cross the wire in fourth and setting a speed figure of one hundred twelve. His most recent win was his prior start, which came in June during an allowance race over eleven furlongs. The colt took the field from gate to wire in the race, winning by an impressive fourteen and a half lengths. His last graded start was in March of this year during The Sanka High (G2) in Japan over a mile and a quarter in which he would finish second.
6. Regal Rocks (IRE) – stcbiesbol – J. Hernandez – 5/1
Returning to graded company for this race, the four-year-old son of the late Fastnet Rock (AUS) most recently started here in New York during a listed stakes race over ten furlongs, the ESR J-E-T-S. The colt looked like he might take the race in gate to wire fashion but faltered in the final furlongs to cross the wire in third, setting a speed figure of one hundred twelve. Prior to this was the colt’s only graded start which came overseas in France during The Coupe (G3) over the same mile and a quarter distance. His most recent win was in April in Japan over the same distance during an allowance race. This time the colt did go gate to wire, winning by five and a quarter lengths.
7. Good Beer (GB) – beerkeg19 – P. Campbell – 8/1
By top sire Dubawi (IRE), the five-year-old gelding is coming into this race from New Jersey when he last started in July during the United Country Stakes (G1) at a mile and three-eighths. Off the pace early in tenth, the gelding would drift off to cross the wire in eleventh, setting a speed figure of ninety-nine for the race. The gelding most recent won in October of 2023 during The Vicky Derby (G1) in Australia over a course rated as good at a mile and nine sixteenths. The gelding was closer to the pace in this start, eighth out of the gate. He started to advance on the rest of the field midway through the race before going on to win by a length and three quarters with an impressive speed figure of one hundred twenty, which is a lifetime best speed for the gelding.
8. Frankhill (ENG) – falvelon – O. Young – 7/2
Coming into the race off of two consecutive wins, this four-year-old gelding is a scratch bred son of Frankel (GB). His most recent start was in late July during the United Country Stakes (G1) at a mile and three-eighths. Off the pace at the start and out of the gate in eighth, the gelding started to pick up the pace midway through the race and going on to win by a quarter of a length while setting a speed figure of one hundred seventeen. Prior to this, the horse also won the NY Island Cup (G1) at a mile and a quarter. Further off the pace in tenth early, the gelding started to make his run earlier in the race. He would eventually win by the narrow margin of a head bob.
9. Gold’s Impact – snakebite – E. Banner – 21/1
Coming into this race off of two consecutive wins, the three-year-old colt is the youngest in the field for Sunday. The colt is lightly raced with just eight career starts and this will be his first start against grade I company. His most recent start came in July during The Colonial Derby (G2) at a mile and a quarter in Virginia. Off the pace in eighth at the start, he picked up the pace midway through the race and would go on to win the race by three lengths with sitting a speed figure of one hundred nine. Prior to this the colt also won an allowance race over nine and a half furlongs. The win was by an impressive margin of ten and three-quarter lengths after stalking the pace early in fourth. He will be going into the race as the morning line longshot.
Flrancho’s Picks:
Win: Just Street Talk
Place: Frankhill (ENG)
Show: Dark Man X