Thumb Route
The Upper New York track hosts a duo of Grade One marathon races this week including the two mile Thumb Route for fillies and mares. Fourteen females line up for the $500,000 purse and the field can be divided into those with experience at the distance and those without. We have three millionaires in the field and they are representative of the field. Three Buck Doot is a two mile specialist, Run For Summer has done well at distances under two miles and Sadlers Ekati is an up and comer who is new to the marathon game but has taken to it with gusto. Let’s take a look at the field.
#1 Inhuman Rampage is a seven year old daughter of Bernardini out of the a-grade Thunder Gulch x Deputy Minister mare Donner. Donner was a grade one winner as far as a mile and three eighths but fell flat in her only two mile try. Inhuman Rampage has done her best running between a mile and one quarter and a mile and one half, but she hit the board in her two tries at two miles. Both of those efforts came in graded competition. She does her best running when she can go out to an uncontested lead and play catch me if you can.
#2 Three Buck Doot is a six year old daughter of Silver Charm out of the f-grade Woodman x Private Account mare Count Pinkie. Count Pinkie has produced one other graded winner and an additional stakes winner, both of whom excelled at much shorter distances. Three Buck Doot’s last six starts have all come at two miles and she has a 3-2-0 record. Her wins in that skein include the Grade One Scottsdale Stayer and the Grade Three All Nighter. But her experience at this distance goes well beyond her recent record – she won this race in 2010 and was fifth in 2011.
#3 Free Spirits Joy is a six year old scratch-bred daughter of Awesome Again x A. P. Indy x Mill Reef. Much like Three Buck Doot, Free Spirits Joy’s last six starts have all come at the distance but her record is not quite as impressive with one win and three seconds during that time. She was second behind that rival in the Grade One Scottsdale Stayer although she finished ahead of Three Buck Doot in last year’s Thumb Route where she finished third.
#4 Kingmont Quality is a four year old daughter of Elusive Quality out of the d-grade Dynaformer x Rainbow Quest mare Kingmont Road. This is Kingmont Road’s only foal and she herself did her best running around a mile. Kingmont Quality has only tried the two mile distance once. She took the Grade Two Pittsburgh Stayer in her most recent race beating Free Spirits Joy, among others. Kingmont Quality has early speed but doesn’t need the lead to get the win.
#5 Evil Light is a five year old daughter of Unbridled’s Song out of the d-grade Rahy x Seattle Slew mare Primeval Light. Primeval Light won as far as a mile and one quarter and her other two foals have mostly raced at shorter distances. Evil Light has never tried the two mile distance and only recently started running longer distance races. She has an allowance win at a mile and three quarters and a stakes placing at that distance. Evil Light is another filly with early speed who will likely be contesting the pace.
#6 Vegas Way is a five year old daughter of Giant’s Causeway out of the b-grade More Than Ready x Believe It mare Vegas. Vegas was a miler and her only other graded winning offspring Alpire Frost does her best running around a mile as well. Vegas Way is another making her two mile debut but comes in on a three race win streak. She’s won at a mile and five sixteenths, a mile and one half and a mile and three quarters, each time trying the distance for the first time. Her latest victory came in the Grade Three Miss Bourbon Street.
#7 Sing For My Oats is a five year old scratch-bred daughter of English Channel x Thunder Gulch x Singspiel. Her record at two miles is 3-1-1-1, all against allowance company. She did finish second in the Grade One Empire State Stayer at a mile and three quarters and third in the Grade Two Old Lady at the same distance. Sing For My Oats will benefit from what should be a solid pace.
#8 West Kendall is a five year old daughter of Galileo out of the f-grade Deputy Minister x Seeking the Gold mare Deputy Flanders. Deputy Flanders’ first foal was the a-grade Creepshow who won grade one races as far as a mile and one half. She has also produced a stakes winning miler and two stakes placed runners from seven foals to race. Much like her elder brother, West Kendall’s farthest winning distance is a mile and one half. She has never tried the two mile distance before but in two starts at a mile and three quarters she is twice stakes placed, including a third place finish in the Grade One Empire State Stayer in 2010.
#9 Now Brown Cow is a five year old scratch-bred daughter of Big Brown x Gone West x Ela-Mana-Mou. In her only run at two miles she finished third in the Grade Two Pittsburgh Stayer behind Kingmont Quality and Free Spirits Joy. She does have a stakes victory going a mile and three eighths and is a grade three winner at a mile and one eighth.
#10 Alexandrova is a five year old daughter of Medaglia D’oro out of the d-grade Danzig x Private Account mare Sacer. Sacer was graded placed going a mile and one sixteenth and her other stakes winner, Sarmaticus, does his best running between seven and eight furlongs. Ten of Alexandrova’s last thirteen starts have come at two miles and she has won six of those, including two stakes races. She has not faired well when tackling graded competition, finishing sixth in a grade two at two miles and fourth in a grade three at a mile and three quarters.
#11 Spuntastic is a five year old daughter of Hard Spun out of the f-grade Smart Strike x Summer Squall mare Close Cover Before. Spuntastic is the only stakes runner from three foals to race for the mare. She has shown flashes of brilliance in her career which includes a win in the Grade Two Hunted By Lions at a mile and one eighth at age three. She has never run two miles before and her only try at a mile and three quarters was a very slow but very easy victory in an allowance. Spuntastic is capable of jumping up and running a big race when she feels like it.
#12 Run For Summer is a six year old scratch-bred daughter of Bluegrass Cat x Northern Dancer x Roberto. She has only one prior start at two miles, finishing fifth in the Grade Three Water Cube Stayer last April. Since that start all but two of her ten starts have come at a mile and three quarters however she only saw the winner’s circle in one of those starts. Run For Summer is a grade one winner and millionaire but the form that got her there has been lacking in recent starts.
#13 Bigchalksmacktalk is a five year old scratch-bred daughter of Distorted Humor x More Than Ready x Stormy Atlantic. She was fourth in her only two mile start, an allowance last September but since then she has been first or second in all but one of her seven starts. That includes two stakes wins including one at a mile and five eighths.
#14 Sadlers Ekati is a four year old daughter of Tale of Ekati out of the g-grade Sadler’s Wells x Woodman mare Hypnotized. Hypnotized’s two other foals are both stakes placed but neither has shown good form in long distance races. Sadlers Ekati only started running beyond a mile and one quarter four starts ago, but she has won three of those races and was second by ¾ lengths in the other. Her biggest victory came in the mile and three quarter Grade Three Ladies Stayer Classic.
Good luck to all!