Zion Turf Sprint highlights three year olds
Three year olds keep top billing this week in Virginia, in the Zion Turf Sprint. The race is open to all three year olds, and runs over a short five and a half furlongs. The purse is valued at $30000 for the event. Spring is approaching, and Virginia got a good soaking this week, and the track has been downgraded to good for the race. The race drew four intrepid entries and oddsmakers are predicting it to be pretty close. With no real rabbits or closers here, it should be a close one throughout. Doesn’t look to be showcasing big payouts at the betting windows, but it should be an exciting race nevertheless.
PP 1) Into The Infield(AUS) Sired by Hussonet, Trained by bsben5. Into The Infield takes his ninth career trip here. This will be his second try against stakes competition and he is looking for his first in in stakes company. He brings in a 3-0-2-2-1 record from his eight, with a top speed figure of 85.5 coming in his last race. That start was a six furlong stakes in Utah, where he made up four lengths in the second half before running out of track, settling for third in a field of five. Seven of eight starts have been on turf, and his comfort level seem higher on the softer surface. He’s had one off track start, and took the field gate to wire easily. Sprinting has been his bread and butter, so the shorter distance shouldn’t bother him. He’s the closest thing this field has to a closer, and with a fairly sedate early pace, that shouldn’t put him far off the lead in this one. He always has a strong second half, and he’s worth a second look in this field.
PP 2) Under Awesome(CA) Sired by Under Caution, Trained by db Under Awesome makes his six career start in this race. This will be his third straight stakes try and he will try to better his pair of second place finishes in this one. He’s gone 1-3-0-1-0 in his first five, capping his speeds with a 79.2 two starts back. His last race was a stakes at this distance in Utah, where he ran out of gas down the stretch after a hard fought race, settling for second. He switch to turf for his last two starts and was rewarded with a nice speed bump, though they were also his first pair of three year olds starts. His only off track try was on dirt, and while he suffered a bit of a speed dip, he claimed his only career win in that race. All five starts have been in this distance range, and he’s only finished worse than second once. He looks to be the pace setter here, but not by much. His average speed comapres well with this field, but there are others here that really appear to be blossoming, and he will need to find that next gear to threaten late here.
PP3) Sheer Barb Genius Sired by Daiwa Major(JPN), Trained by kaleigh. Sheer Barb Genius is making his fourth career start here, and this will be his first try against stakes competition. He has a win and two places in his first three, firing off a top speed of 91.5 in his last start. That race was an open allowance at six furlongs where he finishes a hard closing second in a field of nine. All three starts on turf, and he hasn’t shown his trainer any reason to move him off that surface. He’s never raced on an off track, but his sire winning percentage and average winning speeds both jump almost a full two points on an of track. His starts have all been in short sprints and as with surface, he’s not really found the need to stretch out yet. His speed in his last bested his previoous high speed by well over sixteen points and one has to wonder if it was a sign of sudden maturity or simply a fluke. Good off track speed in his lineage is a postive that could help to offset this. There’s just too many questions for me to come down firmly in his corner here, though he should be in the mix.
PP 4) Deep Sean Fishin(JPN) Sired by Deep Sky(JPN), Trained by cloooch. Deep Sea Fishin is the relative veteran of this field, taking the gate for start number ten here. He’s no stranger to stakes competition, with six stakes starts, but he’s still seeking his first elusive win at this level. Nine starts have seen him run to a 2-1-1-1-1 record, with his top speed figure of 75.2 coming in his last start. That race was a six furlong stakes in Nebraska, where he finished third in a short field by just over five lengths. All of his career starts have been on the grass, and that has been his sire’s strong surface. He’s never been on a off track, and while his sire’s average win percentage is better, his off spring also appear to take a bit of a speed drop. He hasn’t come within five lengths of the winner against stakes competition, and his speeds here are well below the rest of this field. He will really need to come up big in this one to be a factor.