The Pittsburgh Stayer
The feature race this weekend in Pennsylvania is The Pittsburgh Stayer (G2) which will be held this Saturday at a distance of two miles on the dirt. The race is open to fillies and mares of four-years-old and up. The race will be offering up a total purse of $375,000 and will be run over a track listed as fast at post time for this weekend. Set to go off at a post time of 2:50 PM EST on Saturday, the race has attracted a total of eleven contenders, let’s take a look through each of these.
- Prospecting Time – amir1609 – C. Gerkhe – 10/1
Making just the second graded start of her career this weekend, the four-year-old light gray filly is by Not This Time. Her most recent start came in late November during a listed stakes race at eleven furlongs. Off the pace early on, seventh out of the gate at the start, the filly started to advance midway through the race and would get up to cross the wire in second, setting a speed figure of one hundred five. Her most recent win came in the month before during another listed stakes race, this time at twelve furlongs and held in Ontario, Canada. Closer up to the pace stalking in third out of the gate, she would take over the pace midway through the race and would go on to win impressively by eight lengths. Her only graded start to date was in the So Crunchy Stakes (G3) at a mile and three-quarters in Ohio. Well off the pace early in eighth and advancing midway through the race she would cross the wire in second.
2. Interactive Mofo – whip2win – B. Chill – 40/1
Second in the gate and one of our longshots of the field for this weekend, the four-year-old bay filly is by Interactif and is out of the graded placed broodmare Wan Serious Mofo. The filly will be making her graded stakes debut in this race and is coming into it off a win in an allowance race over sixteen furlongs on the other coast in California last month. The bay filly led the field from gate to wire and would win by six and three-quarter lengths with a speed figure of ninety-five, which is a lifetime best for the filly. She also won two races consecutively prior to this, another allowance race and a maiden special weight.
3. Forgotthemaplesyrup (ENG) – 2yopretrain – MJ Kelly – 4/1
Starting her career over the turf, the English-bred filly is sired by Zoustar but is out of a mare by Forty Niner. The four-year-old bay filly most recently started late last month in the Unique Ensemble Stakes (G3) at a mile and seven-eighths. Well off the pace early in tenth, the filly would start advancing the on the rest of the field midway through the race and would go on to win by a length and a quarter while setting a speed figure of ninety-six. The filly has won one other graded stakes race, which came in the Lunar Space Stakes (G3) at a mile and five-eighths this past September.
4. Gunterite – wyndaway – I. Rhodes – 40/1
Coming into this race off of three consecutive wins, the former claimer is taking a big step up in class with going to the post in this race. She has won all three starts for her new owner who picked her up for $10,000 in a claiming race in the middle of last year. The most recent start for the filly came last month during an allowance race in California over sixteen furlongs. Breaking out of the gate nearly last in the four-horse field, the filly coasted along in third until the field reached the stretch where she challenged the other runners and went on to win by four and a half lengths with a speed figure of ninety-one. Her other victories leading up to this would include a thirteen furlong allowance race in Brazil and then a start over the turf at the same distance in Virginia.
5. Not My Monkeys – asrcurlin – R. Anen – 3/1
Coming into this race off of a win in a group race in Virginia, the five-year-old mare is sired by top sire Curlin. She most recently started in late November of last year during the This Means War Stakes (G2) at a mile and three-quarters. Facing a small field of seven horses, the mare came out of the gate and settled off the pace in fifth. She would take over the lead midway through the race and would go on to win by an impressive thirteen lengths while setting a speed figure of one hundred thirteen. This was the mare’s first win in graded company, though she has several other on the board finishes against graded company.
6. Ring Of Steal – karl – J. Maloney – 32/1
Making her graded stakes debut this Saturday, the light grey filly has made eleven career starts to date, the most recent of which came in late November of last year during an allowance race over sixteen furlongs. Breaking third out of the four-horse field, the filly slid into second early and maintained that stalking position until the field came into the stretch where she was let loose and would win the race by three and three-quarter lengths while setting a speed figure of eighty-eight. The filly has won two other starts, one being another allowance race and the second the race in which she would break her maiden.
7. Onrushing (JPN) – davekeon – R. Heenan – 5/2
Bred in Japan, the daughter of Bricks and Mortar will be making her debut over the dirt in this race after having run seventeen times on the turf. The most recent start for the seven-year-old mare, who is the oldest to go to the starting gate on Saturday was in November of last year during The Forever Young Stayer at two miles in Newmarket, England. Stalking the pace in third early, the mare started to make a move midway through the race but would cross the wire in second, setting a speed figure of one hundred seven. Her most recent win was October of the same year in The Floor It Stakes (G3) over the same distance in Paris. Stalking again out of the gate, this time in second, she would take over the lead at the midway point and win the marathon by eight and three-quarter lengths.
8. Jessie Spano – wyndaway20 – B. Morris – 29/1
Another filly making her graded stakes debut in the field, the four-year-old light grey is a daughter of Jackie’s Warrior and is out of listed stakes winning dam Reckless Tap. The filly most recently started this past November during an allowance race at twelve furlongs in Maryland. Third out of the gate in the four-horse field, the filly took over the lead midway through the race and would go on to win by six and a quarter-lengths, setting a speed figure of ninety-seven, which is a lifetime best for the filly. She would win three races leading up to this race including another allowance, a $4,000 claiming race, and a maiden claimer.
9. Capability Map – sprinter0 – D. Raymond – 4/1
Returning to graded company this weekend, the five-year-old brown mare is by Blame and out of the allowance winning dam Cloudy Memories. Her most recent start came in Delaware against listed company at sixteen furlongs. Stalking early in fourth out of the gate, the mare started to make her move midway through the race and would go on to win by a daylight margin of ten and three-quarter lengths. Her prior race, and most recent graded start came in The Rocky Top Oaks (G2) at two miles in Virginia this past November. Off the pace in eighth, the brown mare would rally late but only close the gap to cross the wire in sixth.
10. Baseless Instinct – acarigua14 – A. Cutry – 20/1
Returning to graded company, the four-year-old bay filly is by Basin and is out of a listed stakes placed dam. The filly most recently started in West Virginia during a listed stakes race over eleven furlongs in November of last year. Breaking fifth out of the gate, the filly would start to drop back early and would eventually cross the wire in seventh while setting a speed figure of ninety-five. In October she would face graded company in the Oswaldo Stakes (G3) in Ontario over the same distance and would just get in the money with a fifth-place finish. Her most recent win was in August during a listed stakes race in New York at thirteen furlongs in which she would win by two and a quarter lengths after breaking from the gate in eighth and making her move midway through the race.
11. Unkalaki – given4 – D. Silver – 7/2
One of the more experienced horses in the field for the race this weekend, the five-year-old daughter of Quality Road will be making her twentieth career start this weekend. Her most recent start came in late November of the last year during The Means Wear Stakes (G2) at a mile and three-quarters. The bay mare broke out of the gate and stalked the leaders from fourth. She started to challenge other runner’s midway through the race but would come up short with a second-place finish while setting a speed figure of one hundred three. Her most recent win was this past October during an allowance race over the same distance in New Mexico. The mare took the field from gate to wire in the race, winning by five and a half lengths.
Flrancho’s Picks:
Win: Not My Monkeys
Place: Prospecting Time
Show: Unkalaki