The Jockey’s Weapon
The feature race in Italy this weekend is The Jockey’s Weapon (G1), which will be held this Saturday over a mile and a half on the turf. The Group I race is offering up a total prize purse of $750,000 and the race will be open to three-year-olds and up. The race should go off over a firm track on Saturday, with a total of eight horses taking to the track for the race. Let’s take a look through each of our contenders for this weekend’s race.
- Rey Donovan (JPN) – corzak10 – M. Humbo – 9/1
Drawing the inside rail, this five-year-old horse by Rey De Oro is making his twenty-seventh career start on Saturday and is taking another try against group company to try to secure that elusive group win. The most recent start for the horse bay horse came in his home country of Japan during the Shimko Classic (G2) at a mile and seven-sixteenths. The horse exited the gate in seventh but never seemed to find his stride in the race, crossing the wire where he started in seventh while setting a speed figure of one hundred four. The most recent win for the horse came in December of 2021 during a listed stakes race over twelve furlongs in South Korea. More forwardly placed in the race, stalking the pace in third out of the gate, the horse took over the lead midway through the contest before going on to win the race by two and three-quarter lengths.
2. Wave Of Thunder (AUS) – stalpascal – D. Evans – 5/1
Sired by Johannes Vermeer (IRE), the four-year-old bay gelding will be making his twenty-second career start this weekend. Most recently starting in Germany in late August during The G. P. Von Baden (G1) over a mile and a half, the gelding came out of the gate and settled off the pace in eighth early in the race. Midway through the race he would pick up the pace only to get shuffled back into eighth in the stretch where he would cross the wire with a speed figure of one hundred nine. His most recent win came in May during The Coronation Pilsner (G1) in England over the same distance. The gelding was closer to the pace in this race, stalking in second, before taking over the lead in the final furlongs to win by a head.
3. Bumble Dancer (CAN) – claimz – H. Harzheim – 17/1
Seeking out his first win against either listed or group company, the Canadian-bred four-year-old gelding will be making his thirty-first career start. His most recent start came during an allowance race over eleven furlongs in British Columbia last month. Sent out of the gate and settling just off the pace in fourth, the bay gelding took the lead midway through the race and went on to win by four and a quarter lengths while setting a speed figure of one hundred three over the good turf. The most recent group start for the gelding was this past April during The San Juan Invitational (G2) at a mile and three-quarters in which he would cross the wire in sixth, twenty-six lengths off the pace of the eventual winner.
4. Si You Southpaw (FR) – iant5 – C. Meads – 5/2
Bred in France, the five-year-old bay horse will be making his twenty-sixth career start this weekend. His most recent start was in August during the Shimko Classic (G2) at a mile and seven sixteenths in Japan. Breaking out of the gate into fifth, the horse moved up into second going into the stretch but was pushed back in the final furlongs to cross the wire in fourth, setting a speed figure of one hundred eight. His most recent win came in late June in New Zealand during The Mihali the Great Stakes (G1) at a mile and three-eighths. Stalking the pace early in fourth, the horse wasn’t urged to move on the rest of the field until reaching the stretch where he would go on to win by half a length.
5. I Want Order (IRE) – jastables13 – G. Porter – 6/1
Returning to group company in this race, this five-year-old horse is making his twenty-second career start this weekend. The bay horse most recently stated in Tasmania in August during a listed stakes race over eleven furlongs. The son of Order Of St George took the field from gate to wire to win the race by three-quarters a length while setting a speed figure of one hundred thirteen, which is a lifetime best speed figure for the horse. His most recent group start was in April of this year in New Zealand over the same distance in the Great Beer Cup (G3) over a yielding course. Out of the gate in fouth, he would fade back in the stretch to cross the wire in eighth.
6. Frankly Woette (ENG) – coolmoreroyal7 – D. Kerckaert – 4/1
Returning to Group company for the first time since last year, this four-year-old bay colt will be making his twenty-first career start. His most recent start was last month in Germany during a listed stakes race over twelve furlongs. The colt came out of the gate stalking the pace in second, and by the midway point of the race he had taken over the front. He would pull away and go on to win by three and a quarter lengths, setting a speed figure of one hundred fifteen. Prior to this he would also win an allowance race over the same distance in Norway. His only group start to date came in June of last year during the Channel Island Stakes (G3) at seven furlongs in England. Once again stalking the pace, this time in third, the colt would falter in the stretch to cross the wire in ninth.
7. Drop Magic Kris (FL) – cacowboy – R. Truitt – 24/1
The morning line longshot of Saturday’s field, this four-year-old grey colt is the only horse in the field hailing from the western hemisphere. The Florida-bred colt is by Magic On Tap and is lightly raced with sixteen career starts. The most recent start for the colt came in the UAE during an allowance race over twelve furlongs in late August. Breaking out of the gate stalking the pace in third, the colt started to fade midway through the race before crossing the wire in eighth and setting a speed figure of ninety-four. His most recent win was in March of this year against listed company at nine furlongs back in the United States. Stalking in fourth early, he would change late in the stretch to win by the race by three-quarters of a length. His only start against group company prior to this was in the South African Derby (G2) at a mile and a half this past April in which he finished eleventh.
8. Southerly Swell (GB) – teece4 – J. Cox – 2/1
Lightly raced with a total of sixteen career starts, this son of Frankel (GB) is a local-bred champion. The brown four-year-old is coming into this race off of a win, most recently starting in Sweden during the Stockholm International (G3) at a mile and a half in late August. Out of the gate in fourth at the break, the colt quickly overtook the pace and coasted to a three length win while setting a speed figure of one hundred seventeen. His only Group I start to date was in June here in Italy during The Milan Gran Prix (G1) over the same distance. Going straight to the lead out of the gate, he would lose position throughout the race to miss the board with a fifth place finish.
Flrancho’s Picks:
Win: Southerly Swell (GB)
Place: Si You Southpaw (FR)
Show: Frankly Woette (ENG)